The Devil Child

Chapter Twenty Two

 Minny wasn't real.

Minny wasn't real.

Minny wasn't real.

Benjamin sat in the chair at the dining room table. His suit was pressed. His hair was combed. He smelled rustic and woodsy. He looked like a painting.

His parents sat at the heads of the table, looking elegant and classy, like dolls. They looked like the product of too much money, with expensive fabrics and fake faces. It was a scene from a movie or a picture, and it was just as fake.

There was an empty seat across from Benjamin. It belonged to Lennard.

His mother took a sip of wine. The third glass already. His father cut into his steak with a large knife.

"How was school?"

Benjamin straightened. "Fine."

His mother finished her glass. His father brought his fork to his mouth.

Benjamin didn't want to be there, sitting at the dining room table in his parents' house. He wanted to be back in his own apartment, with his normal clothes, and he wanted to stop acting so formal.

He wanted to stop acting as if this was all okay.

"And your grades?" This came from his father.

"They're fine."

His father was not happy with that answer. Benjamin knew he wouldn't, because his father was never happy with him - not a surprise. Ever since Benjamin could remember, his father hated him. He was never good enough, but his twin was the greatest thing to walk the Earth. Even after Lennard ran away, he was the perfect child.

Benjamin was sure it was because of what happened all those years ago. He was sure that if things had happened differently, then his father wouldn't be so upset with him. But, it was too late, and Benjamin knew there was no turning back. Just groveling, now that he was trapped under his parents' roof.

Benjamin could see the fire in his father's eyes. It was the same fire that drew his mother to drinking. The same fire that made Lennard and Benjamin run away in the first place. "Fine isn't good enough! Fine doesn't get you into a good school. Fine doesn't begin to even equate to your brother-"

Benjamin stood up. "I'm not Lennard! How you would you even know how he's doing? He's not here, now is he? I get it, he was your favorite. But he is gone."

Benjamin didn't want to be Benjamin anymore. He wanted to be Minny, but his parents didn't like that side of him. And why would they - Minny dressed and acted like a normal high schooler. His parents didn't want that.

His parents wanted a scholarly son that would go off to Harvard, or Princeton, and make all the other rich people in his parents' circle proud.

Minny didn't want that. But as long as he was under his parents' roof, he was Benjamin. And he didn't have an option. Not when his parents were threatening him.

Well, more like his father. His mother was a different story.

"Do not talk to me like that. Now sit back down because we're having dinner. And you will listen to me, Benjamin. You can't escape this time."

Benjamin knew this. And it had all to do with the compact he gave to Polly.

He also knew that Lennard's disappearance pushed his parents over the edge. He'd always wished that he had been the favorite son, but that would never happen. Not when he was the youngest, the most worthless, and clearly the most embarrassing son. He was supposed to go out, make a living, and be someone worth something, but all he wanted to do was be himself. Be Minny.