A Daydream Away

Chapter 5: Daddy's Home

Reese^^^ God. That hair flip.

***

Victor's eyes went wide. Huge. Bigger than I have ever seen them. "Nelly. That won't solve the problem." He explained. "Someone else will just take over and everything will continue as before and not to mention, you'll go to jail."

I ripped off my helmet and turned to him. "What else do I then, Vic?" I yelled at him.

He stayed silent for a moment. "I don't know Nelly. All I know is that murder won't solve it." He sighed. "Daydreams are taken away in a control room. No one knows where it's located except those who work at Town Hall, so your father knows, obviously. I think we need to start by following your father to work and see where it leads us. Maybe we can get in there and shut it down somehow."

His plan sounded better than mine, but I want to avenge my mother's death. Maybe we'll do both plans and see where it takes us. Just then, I got a text from my father saying he just got home from his business trip. I showed Victor the message and he gave me an apologetic look. "How am I going to be able to be under the same roof as a murderer?" I asked rhetorically.

"Nelly. It'll be hard, but whatever you do, you cannot let him know that you know the truth." Victor warned me. "It won't help anything. It will make everything worse for you."

"I know that, Vic." I said very annoyed with him at the moment. "You just don't understand what it's like to lose someone!" I yelled throwing my hands in the air.

"Don't know what it's like..." He muttered. "You don't get to tell me what I do and do not understand, Nelly!" I have never heard him talk to me like that. He gave out an exasperated huff. "I lost my brother, sister, and mother a few years ago." He said, his voice cracking. "My sister, Shannon, was older and my brother, Mark, was younger than me. Shannon died because a drunk driver decided to hit her." He explained, a bitter tone in his voice. "Mark died in a house fire at a friend's house and my mother died from cancer. Both of my siblings died on the same day: November 24th, five years ago and my mother died three years ago."

I stared at him for what seemed like eternity. I never knew he had so much pain in his life. He seemed like an ordinary guy with an overall, good life. Boy was I way off. His mother, his brother, and his sister. I was opening and closing my mouth, probably looking like an idiot, but he was looking straight forward, deep in thought.

No words were needed, so all I did was grab his hand giving it a reassuring squeeze. We sat there for a while in silence, just needing each other's company. You never understand how good your life is until you hear someone who's life is just as or even more messed up than yours.

I imagined what's going to happen when I get home. My dad acting like nothing is wrong, me playing along because I can't do anything about it.

I finally broke the silence. "You know what? I think you need this anger release just as much as I do." I pulled him up by his arm and handed him my helmet and the bat. I pressed the "ready" button and stepped out of the cage. Victor was staring at me in awe, but eventually put the helmet and watched the stoplight change colors.

He began hitting the softballs left and right, up and down, way better than I did.

So he's good at baseball too. Anything else I should know about this boy? Probably.

***

"I feel great!" Victor screamed like the tiger does in the Frosted Flakes commercials. We were back in the car on our way back to my house, or as I like to call it now: hell.

I laughed and punched him in the arm. We pulled into my driveway and he killed the engine. "Are you okay?" He asked me seriously.

I sighed and leaned my head back against the seat. I saw my dad's fancy Mercedes in the driveway, which is powered by none other than my peers' thoughts. "I'm fine. I didn't torture myself with years of theatre performances for nothing. I'm sure I can act like everything is okay."