The Midas Touch

Ch. 31

Friday, April 19th, 10:15pm
TW: verbal abuse

I remember when I was twelve years old I got in trouble for tripping a kid during lunch and making him spill the contents of his tray everywhere. The kid was eating a salad and a bread roll, so it didn't make much of a mess, but nonetheless I got sent to the office.

Just that morning I had witnessed a fight between my dad and my mom that ended in a broken cereal bowl and a small cut on my finger  from dropping it. Broken china was a big no-no, so I had rushed out of the house to grab the school bus and had been in a nervous funk ever since.

And since it was just my luck, some kid named Dillon or something like that decided to take a crayon to my art project during art class. So I felt it was only fair that I ruin something he loves too; food.

Anyway, I got in enough trouble to send me to the office and he got to go back to class.

I barely had time to acknowledge the unfairness before the secretary was telling me they were calling my dad. My palms started to sweat, but I was too paralyzed to do anything to stop it in the moment. And what was I supposed to say? "Please don't do that, I'll get in a lot of trouble"?

The phone rang three times before it clicked, and I heard her greet him. I swear I blacked out for a second while she talked to him because one minute I was standing there and the next I was in the back of the office staring at a telephone they had transferred the call to.

All of a sudden I was thrown into this terrifying moment. A moment where I knew I was going to be in trouble, but I didn't know how much trouble I'd be in. Did he know the full context? Is he going to assume I was being a jackass because of this morning?

Me standing now in front of this telephone at the police station is feeling eerily like that day again. I'm at that moment, looking at my fate, wondering just how much trouble I'll be in.

I picked it up.

"Hello?"

"Kazuya."

With that simple word I knew I was utterly screwed. I started my defense. "Listen, dad, I-"

"Save it. I've already talked to your mother. In fact, she's right here next to me."

I stopped dead in my tracks. My mom? The busy lawyer? Leaving work early? My parents hadn't been in the same room for at least a few years, at least since I'd gotten my license. This was a shock.

"Hi, mom" I murmured, just in case she could hear. "Hello, Kazu." I heard her voice and immediately sensed she was upset. Pensive. I bit my lip.

"Kazuya, what the hell did you do?" My dad came in full force. "I'm having a perfectly good day with my wife when suddenly I get a call from your mother about you in jail for public indecency." The words sounded strained like he had to force them from his mouth.

"Kazu, you've been on a good streak since you joined the baseball team. I thought we were over this misbehavior!" My mom chastised. I hung my head in shame, wishing I was anywhere else.

"Who was it with?" My dad hissed. I hesitated. In truth, I knew I couldn't tell them. But in reality, I had to. It was time for me to come out, I guess.