The Midas Touch

Ch. 30

Friday, April 19th, 10:12pm

"Are you okay?"

That's the first thing I heard through the phone, my mom's voice ringing loud and clear through the line. The worry in her tone reverberated through me and I was immediately filled with a bucketful of guilt that spilled right down to my gut.

"Yeah, mom. I'm okay." I practically whispered the words, shame filling every fiber of my being. God, I am such a wreck. Truly, why do I exist? Oh yeah, because of my parents. Duh.

"We heard the policeman's side of the story" my dad's voice cut in, interrupting my thoughts, "but we want to hear yours. What happened, Daz?"

I gulped, thinking of all the events in the mere hours since I'd seen them last at the hospital with Rhea. "Me and Kai..." I started, a little unsure how to tell this story lightly, "well, after we left the hospital we had to go fetch his car from the school parking lot, since that's where he'd left it. That's a whole other story. Anyway, when we got there this random ass guy came up to us and he-"

I hesitated, trying to pick my next words wisely. "He what?" My mom pressed. I took a deep breath. "He kissed Kai and so I punched him."

I heard a loud gasp from the other side of the phone call and I quickly backtracked on my words. "B-but it's okay! He was fine and he just left us alone and I apologized. That's not what I got in trouble for. Thank goodness. But after he left Kai looked at me and I looked at him and things just, um...we got distracted."

My dad sighed on the other end of the line. "I don't even want to know what that means. Well, either way, we're coming to pick you up. You got off with just a warning this time, but Midas...you and Kai need to figure yourselves out. We're going to need to talk-"He yawned, and my mom took over again.

"And Midas if this all started because of us having Kai tutor you-"

"No." I immediately shot that idea down. "Me and Kai have always been complicated. It has never been and will never be your guys' fault, okay?" I knew I was a mess, but it hurt my heart knowing that my parents maybe felt that they were even the slightest bit responsible for my issues. This was my thing to figure out. You'd think me being almost an adult would take care of that, but in my defense the prefrontal cortex doesn't fully develop till age 25...

Not the point.

"I'm going to figure everything out, alright? You just worry about my sisters. I don't want them ever to go through the kind of shit I'm going through right now."

There was a silence on the other end of the phone and I fidgeted with the black twisted cord. "Midas..." my dad said, "don't worry about your sisters. They have their own issues to worry about. You just worry about yourself. We'll see you soon."

My dad's soft and sad voice brought me back to all the times I had been reprimanded as a kid. When I got in trouble back then, and it was a lot, it was always a slap on the wrist type deal because I would end up in tears every time I did something wrong. I'd literally be begging for forgiveness over something as small as spilled milk. I hated conflict and I hated fighting even more.

Hearing his voice and words now is making me wonder how many times I accidentally overlooked things in my selfishness to protect myself. Did I truly know my sisters? I'd failed to recognize Rhea's eating disorder. I'd failed to grasp Iris's depression. What else will I miss in the future? How many hard things did I unknowingly avoid in the past?

I despise everything that me and Kai are having to deal with now and I can only hope that he's doing okay, and that I at least know him. And I really really hope that he doesn't regret what we did in that car. Because I sure as hell didn't.

Suddenly there was a large crash from behind me and I jumped, whipping around to see Kai with his head against the phone booth, phone slammed back into its holder. My immediate instinct was to walk over to comfort him, but before I could move he cried out and punched the wall.

"Fuck!"

"Mom, dad I gotta go. I love you!" I quickly said, watching the scene quickly unfold as I hung up. Two officers approached Kai as he put his head in his hands, murmuring something to himself. He was shaking his head as they surrounded him slowly, like they were approaching a snake, not a person.

An officer, the same one that had driven us here, put his hand on Kai's shoulder and Kai flinched heavily, whacking his hand away in defense. I started towards him but he was quickly reprimanded by two other officers, causing him to start flailing his arms and hysterically cry and kick as he cussed them out. It was like a horror scene out of a movie.

"Kai!" I yelled after him, reaching out my hand to try and push through the officers, but another policeman came and ushered me away, pulling me back to the waiting room. I pushed against him, gritting my teeth and starting to get angry. "Let me see him. Let me talk to him!" I yelled.

"No, he needs some time alone right now" he muttered in response, leading me by my elbow away from the scene. I kept looking back, but Kai was no longer in sight. All I could see was an empty phone booth, and all I could hear was his cries down the hall.

~

W.C.: 1014
A/N: yes indeed this is in two parts. Gotta have a good cliffhanger.

Shorter chapter but I swear it'll be worth it!