Tsugi No Level

Chapter 11: A Family Talk

Ten and his uncle 21 are sitting at a table in an empty restaurant. The waitress brought them water and a menu. Ten just looks down at the menu without opening it. 21 sees how troubled his nephew is and thinks he can help.

"So, what have you been up to?"

Ten looks at his uncle with the driest of looks as he answers.

"Work, getting into debt, trying to improve my HR to make some more money."

This wasn't the answer 21 was expecting or hoping for. His nephew's eyes and answer somewhat unsettle him. But he doesn't want to get into an argument with Ten so he tries to choose his words wisely.

"Yeah, I got me some debt as well. Being an adult ain't easy huh?"

Ten doesn't answer the question assuming it's rhetorical and just opens his menu instead and glances through the pages.

"I want the cheese fries and a milkshake."

21 calls the waitress and orders for Ten and a burger for himself. As the waitress walks away, Ten looks at 21 with a look of distrust.

"What did you want to talk about?"

21, shocked at the directness of the question takes a few seconds before answering.

"How come you never visit her?"

Ten's eyes open up with a surprised look as the question feels weird. As if his uncle should know the answer already.

"You know why."

"That happened over 10 years ago. And I understand why you're mad, but it was not her fault."

"Then whose fault was it?"

"Noone's. Sometimes bad things just happen."

"Bad? Were you there? BAD!!?? She just stood there!"

"I know, I know but that's not her fault. She been like that."

That one line triggered a memory in Ten. He remembers the day after his father hit him over trying to manipulate his rock. He was at his grandmother's house. He was crying because he was still upset. His grandmother tried to console him to the best of her capabilities by holding him as he cried and gently rocking him back and forth.

Ten through his tears vented with a broken and tearful voice.

"Why didn't mom help me?"

His grandmother didn't say anything, she just kept hugging him and softly rocking him back and forth to get him to stop crying.

"She let him hit me. I hate her."

His grandmother heard that last sentence and it startled her a bit. She stopped rocking Ten and instead put him on her lap so she could look him in the eyes as she was about to speak.

"Ten, your mother loves you."

"No, she doesn't."

His grandmother fully understands that Ten isn't in the right mind to hear this right now, but she feels that if she waits any longer he will turn his feelings into facts and that will forever ruin the mother and child relationship.

"Ten, what do you do when you're scared?"

Ten through his tears looks at his grandmother and doesn't really know how to answer the question. So he just thinks of the first thing that comes to mind.

"Run away."

"Well, your mother also runs away. But she runs away to a special place in her mind."

Ten doesn't understand what his grandmother is trying to say so his tears are now covering a very confused looking face. So his grandmother tries again.

"Do you have a very happy memory?"

Ten nods his head, and the grandmother gently smiles.

"Your mother does too. When she is scared, she goes to that happy memory. For her, it's a special place where no one can hurt her and she is safe."

Ten slowly starts to connect the dots to what his granny is saying.

"So she didn't help me because she was in her happy memory?"

"Yes."

"Why can't she help me and be in her happy memory?"

Granny takes a deep breath and sighs as she knows that the answer isn't one Ten will like or understand. But she tries anyway.

"Because when your mom is in her happy memory, she's no longer here. She goes to that happy memory to escape from what is scaring her."

"But I am scared too."

"I know child, I know."

His uncle who is looking at Ten being lost in thought decides to snap him out of it.

"Ten!"

The sudden sound of his voice brings Ten back to reality.

"Why do you visit her every day?"

"She's my sister, it's what family does."

Ten looks down at the table, thinking to himself that when he needed help from his family the only one who was there was his grandmother. So that can't be what family does in his mind. But before he can rebuttal, his uncle interrupts him.

"I want to help you with your debt."

"What?"

"I'm running a business that's going pretty good. And I feel bad for how I left things, with you and your mother. So I want to help you."

Ten does a special hand gesture that turns on Mai in stealth mode. So that she is on, but only Ten knows she is.

"You want to help me clear my debt, just because you're my uncle? You don't even know how much I own."

"I might not be able to clear it all, but I'm sure I can help you bring it down."

Mai, understanding the situation goes through a quick analysis to deduce which uncle is sitting across from Ten. She realizes it's 21 and immediately starts going through his financial records and criminal records to see if what he is saying is viable. As she cross-references all the information she finds something disturbing that sends warning signs all over her screen.

Mai turns on and immediately starts speaking to Ten.

"There is an emergency at work. They need you right away."

Ten looks down at Mai surprised she turned off the stealth mode to warn him like this. He figures she must have found something that warrants this kind of reaction. Ten immediately stands up and moves away from the table.

"Sorry, gotta go."

As he walks away their orders arrive. His uncle watches Ten walk away, with an agitated look. Ten doesn't look back and hastily leaves the restaurant. As he's outside he looks at his hand with Mai on it.

"What happened?"

Mai doesn't want to run the risk of his uncle walking out and hearing any part of their conversation. So she just answers with a short reply.

"We need to talk somewhere private."

Chapter 11 Fin