The Façade of Quad in Nimrod ✓ | Satire, family drama, dark society

II

When his father returned, Henry was wiping the sticky tears off his face. He pounded the floor weakly having lost in another argument with his hallucination. "I can succeed, Beagley. I can." His voice was hoarse from screaming.

"Get up boy. Get out of my study." Mordecai glared at him. Henry rose and slowly staggered out the door, but his legs buckled under him in the hallway and he held on the banister for support, dragging his legs behind. 

The knees of his pants were all worn and torn making his kneecaps poke out. His parents rarely bought him new clothes mostly because a man his age would be buying his own clothes, yet, Henry never had enough money having gambled it all off or buying things that put him further and further in debt—most of which was a secret from his father.

When he reached his room, he flopped down in bed. He'd worn these clothes three days in a row because he only had three sets of clothes and rarely did maids do any washing for the 'sorry son of Master Quad'. Mordecai followed him from behind and closed the door to shut in the one oddity of the Quad family. 

It wasn't a secret that the eldest child of the Quad family was not like his father—the epitome of success to many. Henry was odd and a troublemaker, and everyone in the neighborhood knew it, but none of them dared to suggest a way to rid of him—send him to asylum—for Mordecai had power over them mostly in the form of money.

The entire neighborhood below the Quad mansion was strategically crafted when the Quads moved in. Mordecai made sure all, if not most, of his workers moved into one of the high-end houses with their families. 

He was keeping an eye on them, making sure they kept their mouths shut about the Quad situation. If not, he would take away their job, their house, and kick them out of the neighborhood. As long as they were loyal and kept their mouths shut, everything was fine.

* * *

In his room, Henry moaned to his brother, an illusion he fought and reconciled with over and over. To Henry, "Beagley", or Brother as he also called him, was the success of the Quad family, a loving brother that gave advice and kind words, but also one that left him and never returned to take him away from Mordecai's regime.

"You're a scumbag, you know that! I hate you Scumbag, I hate you! I. Hate. You," Henry screamed up at the ceiling and jumped around on his bed.

"Henry!" Mordecai said, stomping down to his son's room. "Be quiet in there your mother and I are trying to get to bed!" Silence followed and Mordecai stomped back to his room. Henry's delusions seemed to get worse as he got older and Mordecai worried that one day it would come out in public. So far, Henry could seem almost normal out in society, yet, it was only a matter of time before that façade broke.

Henry listened to his father's footsteps and heard his mother mention 'asylum', but his father shut her up quick. She fought back and soon the bantering of his parents faded away as they went into their rooms. They used to share a room, but now their bantering kept them apart. They had not slept in the same room in years and both, unbeknownst to the other, were missing the togetherness but they were also too proud to admit their loneliness or reconcile.

Instead of thinking about what he could do tomorrow to raise himself from this grave situation he was in, Henry's mind wandered back to Nelly. He was determined to find her and confess his love to her. The sound of his heartbeat could almost be heard in his room which was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.

"All I need to do," he whispered, "is be a success and impress her. Girls like men with money. As long as I can find a good job and earn globs of money, everything will be fine. Someday Beagley, you'll see. I'll be a brother you can be proud of. Brother was always kind to me. He always had a way with consoling words. I can be good Beagely. I promise. I can be successful like you."