Crying: A Dystopian Novel

CRYING: CHAPTER 9

    "Where's Dad?" I ask Laelynn. He hadn't been at dinner last night and I haven't seen him this morning. It is after 10, and the house seems to be in a strange mood.

"Check the radio room." I follow her advice and slip on my shoes. Walking in, I can hear a lot of commotion. John comes out and greets me.

"So. What's the A and B stuff?" I ask, temporarily distracted from my search.

"I- I can't tell you yet. And they told me not to let you in."

"Why? Have you seen my dad?"

"Yeah. I think he was over at the greenhouses."

"Okay. Thanks." I say, turning toward the greenhouses, but I'm not leaving just yet. He never explained why they wouldn't let me in, and I intend to find out. Once he goes back in, I press my ear against the door.

"What did she want, John?" I couldn't tell who it was.

"Looking for you, sir. I sent her to the greenhouses."

"Won't work for long with my daughter." Dad.

"I know."

"Ugh, I feel awful."

"It must be that serum, James." Mom.

"Oh, I could burn that man alive and still have enough anger to throw him off a cliff."

"You really should rest. You've got to let the serum disengage. If you don't, you'll surely be paralyzed."

"Fine. John, please deal with her." At this, I dart towards the greenhouses. I couldn't get caught eavesdropping, and John would be expecting to find me in the greenhouses.

"Hey, did you find him? He radioed me and told me to find you so we could negotiate the exchange."

   "No, but let's go ahead and get this over with. I'll find him later."

Now in the radio room with the door shut, I confront him. "How did he get injected?"

"What?"

"Don't play dumb. I know my dad was in here when you sent me away."

"No, he wasn't."

"Fine. Maybe you don't love me like you thought. If you did, you wouldn't lie to me like this." I can see the defeat in his eyes. He knows I have won.

"We tried to get Michael last night, that was plan A. We were forced to retreat and had almost gotten out, but the man ran up and injected something in your dad, dropped the syringe, and ran. I picked up the syringe and read the label: parahether. If you don't stay still enough for it to disengage, it will paralyze you. He didn't want you to know about the mission, so he couldn't let you know about the serum."

"So, you lied to me just to appease my father's wish to keep a secret."

"No. I-, I didn't want you to get upset about your dad, or that the mission had failed."

"Lying to protect feelings is a poor move that gets you nothing but deeper in a pit." I say. "It would be better to just let them deal with it. Let's get this over with."

"I'm sorry." He's crying now.

"John, what's wrong?"

"We had to retreat because-"

"Because why?"

"He's gone."

I leave and run. I'm not sure where at first,but I end up at the tree house. I think about my dream. Had it happened then? Did Michael's mind come and bid me farewell with that last joke? Would everyone be happier if it had been me?