There was absolutely no way he needed to be here any longer. These people didn’t even know him, not really. It was just a bunch of old people his parents had invited in order to fill up the house on this “special occasion”. Sure, it wasn’t every day that he graduated high-school, but that didn’t make it any more special. It was just friggin’ high school… His mom kept saying something about it being important to have this sort of thing; it gave the adults in his life a chance to give him money and things as graduation gifts. The problem with that logic was that these adults were barely even in his life. There was perhaps a single uncle milling around somewhere, one he hadn’t seen since he was ten or so, and then the old neighbor couple, who had to about a hundred years old… There were a few of his dad’s business associates, people he’d remembered “impressing” when he was in kindergarten… There was absolutely no point to this, these people didn’t own him anything.
Musing over the injustice of having to stay inside on a beautiful sunny afternoon, to dance for his dinner (so to speak), Dante stared out at the spectacle of ancient old fogies ignoring him for the opportunity for more favourable company (namely themselves). His mother was holding court in the dining room, laughing loudly and pulling the attention of everyone in the vicinity. Even she seemed to have forgotten about the purpose of this little shindig, forgotten all about the fight they’d had that morning. Dante knew the truth. This party was about her. ‘Look what I made’, ‘look how well I raised my baby’, ‘look at what a nice college my boy is leaving us for’, ‘look, my son is finally leaving the house’, ‘look my husband and I finally get our lives back, I’m so happy’. It made him sick to his stomach.
A brief flash of intense sensation took over his awareness; it lasted only a moment, but the feeling was overwhelmingly satisfying. He shook his head violently, however, to rid his mouth of the taste of his mother’s blood, and he slouched deep in his chair to remove himself further from the din of ‘his’ party.
He needed to get out of there.
The voices had been growing louder, more insistent, as the years had passed. He found himself day-dreaming more and more, in the light of day, even. His intense feelings seemed to trigger his flashes, and he was feeling choked in that moment. Just as his fingers gripped the arm-rest, a foundation to pull his ragged body up from the chair so he could escape the cloistering air, a pair of shiny wing-tips entered his field of vision. He looked up into the face of a man he truly and honestly could not place.
“Dante, my boy, your mother has told me wonderful things about you. Congratulations on the college, son. I wanted to give you a little something to help you out.” He pressed a thin envelope into his hand, a check most likely, then turned immediately to walk away, no further conversation necessary.
Dante stood rooted to the spot. Somehow this tiny gesture, officially an act of kindness, was the breaking point. Tomorrow was his eighteenth birthday. It was time.
-
In his sparse room, at the top of the stairs and to the left, Dante found very few things he felt he actually wanted to bring with him. There were a few shirts, he only needed a single pair of jeans, and all of the money he’d earned over the years. He had very few interests to waste his funds on so he’d managed to save up a good cache…. enough to keep him going until he’d gotten a new job, at the very least. And besides, college was mere weeks away… He would make it.
No comments:
Post a Comment