Felixentric

Scene 25

Fortunately, a week went by without much happening. Janette came over everyday still and it seemed as though Felix was putting together a new routine and finding his comfort again.

Hale did spook him one day, though, the same way he spooked him at the library. Felix was sitting in the kitchen, eating a bowl of Cheerios and reading one of the books from the thrift store. This one was lesser in vocabulary, but had a more fantastical plot. It was faster and he felt more inclined to read it than some of the classics. Quinn in the last week had gone on and on about how reading different genres was the best way to take a peek into the whole of literature.

At this point, Hale appeared next to him in the other bar stool. "You we're looking for dad."

Felix flinched at the sound of his voice in a silent room prior. He put the book down, pages to the table, and stared at him. "Wouldn't you?"

"He'll find you when he's ready, don't you think?"

First Felix liked the thought. It would make him worry less if he knew the situation would work it's way out. But it didn't make any sense. "If I were around at the right time, he would have already found me."

"No, no, no." Hale shook his head. "It was a ploy. He wanted you to know he was around, but wasn't ready to meet yet."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you're Jesus Christ, right? And if he's your father, doesn't that make him God? All I'm saying is that he knows what he's doing."

"And what are you? The Holy Ghost?"

"Well, the Son, Father, and Holy Spirit are all one in technicality. And I am just a part of your imagination, so we're technically each other without being the same." Hale said, but he sounded frustrated. He was trying to be stubborn, the way he was sometimes for reasons Felix didn't know. Maybe it was when he was stressed, because he certainly seemed so right then.

"But I'm not Dad and you're not him either."

"But we came from him. We're a growth off his scalp. Honestly, Felix."

Felix looked away for a moment just to try making sense of the jumble. But when he turned back, Hale was already gone and Felix cursed him.

Quinn walked in a bit later, from the newspaper office. "What's up?"

Unable to focus on reading, after Hale had slashed his thoughts and Quinn would be making noise around the apartment, Felix murmured, "I think I'm just going for a walk."

"Want me with?" Quinn asked, but he looked busy with photography files and work. He'd been in a better mood in the last few days. A lot of his bruises and cuts had fixed themselves up and he'd been getting more sleep.

"It's okay. I'm independent enough to walk through town by myself." The truth was that he was still afraid someone might try stabbing him in an alley, but he knew he couldn't live with the fear forever.

But it was also because he had a small plan right when he got out the door. He waved Quinn off, ran down the staircase, and across the greying streets.

He found the nearest public bathroom and went inside. The bathroom near the forest line was catastrophic. It wasn't that it wasn't clean; it just had a paranormal grime falling from the ceiling. It was no big deal, yet. Felix had seen the same kind of thing in flower shops and, one time, Janette told him it happened in the church. No big deal, he thought, as a big glob of goop fell from the ceiling and splattered in the sink he was standing over. It exploded all over the bottom of his new shirt and open palms, but he continued with his business by looking into the mirror and yelling, "I'lloozjhen! Are you there?"