The Answer

Chapter 7

It took several hours of work, but the house was now spotless. Gerard couldn't remember a time it looked so clean- he and Carol has been so caught up with working and taking care of Max that the house just kind of remained in the works of being tidy. The only truly clean place was Max's room, they made sure that their messy ways never affected his personal space.

Max was always the kind of kid that enjoyed the functionality of things. Ever since he was born, he was always fascinated by the mechanics of things. If you needed him to stop crying, you simply needed to show him how a door worked, or how the keys on a keyboard made music. This fascination only grew as he did, before his parents knew it he was taking apart appliances at the house and often than not unsuccessfully putting them back together.

Carol and Gerard were struggling to work, keep the house clean, tend to Max's needs and hide every single tool they could think of. Despite it all, Max always found a screwdriver and inevitably took apart something else. As the years went by, the two of them began to notice that their appliances weren't falling apart anymore. They assumed he'd stopped taking them apart.

It wasn't until Gerard came home early from the precinct to check up on Max when he took a sick day did he realise that his son was still taking things apart, he'd just gotten good at putting them back together. Gerard pondered over what to say to his then three year old son, whom he was more than proud of even in the face of the situation.

They both sat down on the front porch and enjoyed the spring breeze, Gerard breaking a silence gently, "I know you're very bright for your age and your Mom and I have just been trying to keep up with you. We assumed you'd understood the risk involved in messing with the gadgets at home and just stopped, but it looks like you actually outsmarted us."

Max smiled nervously, "Am I in trouble?"

Gerard sighed, smiling "I want to say yes, but I kind of don't feel like I need to punish you for this."

Max laughed, "Why? Mom is going to be angry."

"No, buddy, I think we've not been listening to what you need. Do you not feel challenged enough by school?"

Max shakes his head and pouts, "colouring is boring, all we even do is stay within the lines and write four letter words."

"Okay, so you want to be doing what kids in higher grades are doing?"

Max's eyes shown and he jumped up in glee, "Yes, please!"

After a long chat with Carol, they arranged a meeting with the principal the following day. Unfortunately, he didn't think it was well suited for Max to be promoted to a higher grade no matter how brilliant he was. Disappointed, Max tried to put on a brave face and told his parents he didn't mind.

In the following weeks, it became more than obvious that he did mind. Max began defying his teachers, picking fights with the other kids and inevitably his parents were at the principal's office again. Much to the dismay of Carol and Gerard, his resolution to not promote Max to a higher grade was much stronger now and he even threatened to expel him for his behaviour.

This time Carol had a talk with Max, explaining that throwing a tantrum doesn't make life fair. Max's stern look softened and he sighed deeply, "okay."
With that, things were back to normal again, but a sad overtone loomed over everything. Gerard was annoyed that his son couldn't get to further his gift because a school didn't want to accommodate him.

After much hunting and several phone calls, he finally found a school that agreed to take Max- provided he passed a series of tests. It was a nice public school, not too far from their home but far enough that Max could get the promotion to a higher grade, provided he kept his real age a secret from his schoolmates.

The request seemed strange, but the principal explained that the pressure to perform and the jealousy of his classmates would be too much of everyone knew. Gerard and Carol agreed, they only hoped Max would.

On a warm Saturday afternoon, Max was googling how to charge a phone using a potato when his parents sat him down for another talk. He dropped his six potatoes and wires and joined them on the couch. They explained about the school, the tests and the secret he'd have to keep. He listened patiently and asked for the brochure. Carol gave it to him, wondering how much of it he could even read and understand.

Max returned to the computer, reading the brochure and googling the words he didn't understand. Carol and Gerard were impressed, he seemed to have grasped everything fairly quickly for a boy of his age.

"I couldn't even tell the time when I was four," Gerard whispered to his wife. She giggled.

Later that day, Max declares he was ready to give it a go and appear for the tests. A week of tests later, the principal was happy to inform them that Max could join the third grade that fall. The three of them were thrilled.

Max flourished in the new school, enjoying the work and enjoying keeping his little secret more. Gerard meant to tell Travis and the others the good news, he'd been bottling up the entire situation the whole time. Before he even go a chance, shit hit the fan and Gerard left the force. While everything was so much better for his son, everything went downhill from there for him.

Gerard had never seen the house this way since then, he was determined to keep it this way for when Max came back home. A loud grumbling came from his stomach. He checked the fridge and couldn't find anything edible in it. Annoyed, he threw all its contents in the trash.

He checked the time, it was 3AM. No chance he was going to find any takeout apart from stale fast food and even that was a ways away. He put on his jacket and grabbed his keys, strolling towards the nearby gas station.

He night was cool and damp, the beauty of the night was the lack of people. He looked at the row houses as he walked by, all the windows were dark and he wondered how many of them were lying awake in the dark worrying about something. He wondered if he would get any sleep, given everything that's been happening.

The gas station was deserted, just like everything else at this hour. As he walked through the door, the door made a soft jingling sound and the old man at the cash counter continued to snooze. Gerard wasn't in a rush, he wandered through the aisles. He picked up a few packs of chocolates and come beef jerky, he was stocking up all of Max's favourite things.

He reached the back of the store and stared at the row of fridges. He watched lazily as he passed the rows of every drinks and sodas. He picked up some energy drinks, hoping purchasing and consuming some caffeine would fill the large void alcohol had suddenly left vacant. He found himself stopped in front of the alcohol section. He stared longingly at the six packs of beer, unhappy with how hard it was to quit them.

He frowned at the booze and turned into the aisle behind him, only to find more alcohol staring at him from either side. Dismayed by the racks of temptation, he went straight for the soda machine and filled up a large cup of Mountain Dew. He noticed the sweat trickling down his forehead for the first time, he wondered how long he'd been profusely sweating.

The soft jingle of the door snapped him out of his spiral. He picked up his large cup and lidded it, taking it and the basket full of snacks to the cash counter. He raised an eyebrow on finding nobody behind the register. He heard some tinkering from the back room and decided to wait, it's not like he had something better to do.

He watched the empty road, kind of hoping for some movement to pass the time. He heard some rustling from the over end of the store, he assumed it to be the other person who had entered. He listened to his movements until he stomped up beside him, waiting in line. Gerard felt his eyes on him, making him feel a little uneasy. Where is the cashier?

"Long night or early morning?" A voice asked from behind him, Gerard rolled his eyes and turned around to reply, "Long night, going to call it a night soon hopefully."

The man was elderly and seemed to be transitioning from middle aged to frail and old. He had a broad smile across his face and a glimmer in his eye, almost mischievous. Gerard was annoyed by his eyes, it was like he knew something that he wasn't going to tell him.

The man shook his head and laughed, "I'm sorry, how rude of me to not introduce myself. I'm Doctor George Wallis."