Out of Our Hands

Dean 2

We all waited patiently outside. There was no sign of Tanner. Lincoln and I got out of the van and walked toward Sondra's car. 

"I've been calling him and sending messages." Sondra told me.

"This is so strange." I responded. I mean seriously, what was going on? Why was Tanner ignoring our calls and texts? It was now 1 pm, he had to be up by now. We couldn't just walk into the dorm because we didn't have card access. The students at Obion either had a physical ID card or they had their ID card on their phone. Both forms served as the only way to enter buildings on campus. I figured I could just bang on the door until I got somebody's attention. "Lincoln and I are going to see if somebody can get us in. We'll be back soon." Sondra and the others nodded their heads and I headed toward the dorm hall door. I knocked repeatedly and didn't see anybody through the glass door. Finally someone exited their room, but they were walking the other way. I slammed my fist violently on the door, I thought I was going to break it. The young man heard my aggressive knocks and finally turned around to come let us in. He wore just a towel and must've been on his way to shower. He opened the door. 

"Thank you! I'm Tanner's-" But before I could say anymore the boy walked away without any interest. Lincoln chuckled behind me. "Okay Lincoln, we are searching for room 344." We located the staircase and marched up the stairs until we reached the third floor. 

We finally located room 344 at the end of the building. I expected the door to be propped open so that we could easily move things out. Instead the door was closed. I stared at Lincoln and he shrugged his shoulders. I approached the door and knocked repeatedly. After a few more knocks I heard steps approaching the door from the other side. 

"Hello?" A voice came through the other side. A voice that wasn't my sons. 

"Hi! Is this Aden?" I could feel the kid examining me through the peephole. "I'm Dean, Tanner Richards' father.  After hearing this, Aden finally opened up the door. 

"Oh yes! Mr. Richards how are you?" 

I was so distracted by the messy room and the lazy appearance of Aden that I almost ignored his question. But what I was most concerned about was the fact that Tanner was not in the room. "I'm good kid. Do you happen to know where Tanner is?"

"Nope. The guy is usually just doing homework." After he said this, I glanced over to what would be Tanner's side of the room to see absolutely nothing. There was not a single piece of clothing or anything else that belonged to Tanner. "Well, at least that's what he would do when he lived here."

"What do you mean when he lived here? Are you not his roommate?" I asked confused. 

"No, I mean I used to be as you obviously remember. Tanner switched rooms at the beginning of April."

"What? I had no idea he switched."

Aden laughed. "Yeah. Said he didn't like how I took care of the space." 

"Well, it is a mess." Lincoln chirped in behind me. 

"And you are?"

"I'm his brother."

"I see the resemblance, quiet and always looking mean." I saw Lincoln shoot Aden a harsh look after this comment. 

I reentered the conversation. "Look, do you what dorm Tanner moved into?"

"No. He stopped talking to me as soon as he moved out. What? Do you not talk to your kid or something?" 

I was done with this kid. "This is useless. Let's go Lincoln." Lincoln and I abandoned Aden in his doorway.

Aden to himself but loudly said, "It's not my fault you can't seem to connect with your son! No one here could either." After saying this, Aden entered back into his room.