Dead Boy Walking (Puke)(PercyxLuke)

This Is Okay

Paul

Sally actually cried tears of joy as she walked over, ignored Percy, and hugged Luke.

Yes, she's pregnant so if it's a mood Swing or a genuine thing, or both, I'm not sure.

Luke looked kind of confused, though. But he was smart. Just went with it.

That went down well, and I was still a bit excited. A friend Sally went to high school with and I went to college with was coming up here for the weekend. She leaves in West Virginia. So of course we offered for her to stay at the cabin, and she showed up when we unpacked. Her son lives in the city or something. May Castellan. She's a sweetheart.

We both have her a hug and what not.

"Is your boy not staying here?" I asked her, and she shook her head.

"I still need to track him down." May explained to us. "I know he lives in Manhattan. I don't know where in Manhattan."

"What did you name him?" Sally questioned.

"Luke."

"Oh, shit." I remarked. Because I remember names as a teacher, and Luke's last name was Castellan.

"Hm?" Sally and May questioned my reaction.

"He's already here." I explained. "I don't think he knows you're coming, though. He's unpacking right now."

"Why is he here?" May questioned.

"He came with Percy." Sally answered. "They're both inside. Come on."

We brought her inside and showed her her own room, in which she put her stuff down and headed back out of her room. Hopeful to see her son, I suppose.

Luke came out to grab something, I believe. But either way, he was out here and May got excited, and took her chance to hug the absolute shit out of her kid. Acting like she hasn't seen him in ten years or better. Which was a sad thing to consider.

"Percy is in the room and his parents are right in front of me," Luke started. "Who the fuck are you?"

Well, um...

"That's not a nice way to talk to your mother, you know."

I didn't even blink, but Luke was gone. The bedroom door was shut.

"Well that was..." I remarked.

"Rather rude." Sally finished. "You hugged him. He's your son. He's acting like he didn't expecting you to do anything after you haven't seen him in....?"

"You don't want to know the answer to that, Sally."

"No, seriously." I added on to Sally's stated question. "How long has it been?"

May looked down, ashamed.

"Well if it's 2011." May tells us," July. That would make it, as of May... 12 years...? Yeah, 12 years. 1999 was when he left."

He...

12 years ago!?

Sally and I had sort of the same reaction.

"I'm sorry." Sally insisted. "But what the fuck, May? He was 15 then!"

"I wish I knew," she told us. "He went to his boyfriend's house for the weekend. His parents for home, Luke's stuff was gone, and his boyfriend had killed himself. Just on random day in May. I woke up to a call that my son has vanished from Westport. They searched for the entire weekend and showed up Sunday night saying that he was gone. We never found him, never heard from him. On a hunch, a kid who was one of Luke's friend decided to come to Manhattan, and decided to visit a strawberry farm, went behind it, and said that Luke was just there. But he was 17. Not 27."