Chapter 7: Family Issues
Thomas Garter
Thomas pulled his long dark green sock off of his foot and let the tiny hairs beneath poke free. He sat in his bed and pondered the events of that day. With what had happened to Parker, and Max getting killed...then waking up again...Something told Thomas the world would never be the same again. He knew in his heart that tomorrow would be different from today. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing...
"You, uh...You think Parker's gonna be okay?" Usui asked, pulling his shirt off of his torso to reveal the lion tattoo running across his chest. Thomas always asked him why he had that, and he'd never received an answer. All Usui ever said was that he regretted it. "He's a real ass, but I can't stand to see him die like this."
"I think he'll be fine." Thomas lied. He really didn't know anything for sure anymore, not since he'd joined the army. "Parker's strong. He's not gonna let something like a car crash kill him."
"Man, I hope so..." He sighed, climbing up his bunk bed onto the top bunk that remained empty for him. He slept just above Parker's bed, which was going empty tonight. Thomas slept on the right side of the room on the bottom bunk. The last bed...that one had been empty for months...
Thomas pulled on his loose night shirt he'd slept in for the past week. He'd wash it, but Will always told him, "Clean clothes are a luxury that you won't be able to afford on the battlefield, so don't set your expectations high and wear clean clothes when you're off it." He laid down on his bunk and rested his head on the thin cotton pillow he'd been given. He pulled the sheet over his body and closed his eyes.
"Do you think your parents are proud of you?" Usui asked, staring down at Thomas, forcing him to wake up again. "Like, have you ever wondered, if they knew exactly what you do, day after day, would they be proud of you? Cuz' I know, my father would be pissed at me."
"I like to think so, yeah." Thomas replied, sitting back up on his bed. "They were definitely approving of my joining the army."
"I don't mean joining the army." Usui corrected himself. "Any idiot with good muscular build and a distaste for pot can do that fine. What I mean is, the things you do everyday... Both of us... We were both the oldest children. Our parents gave us the most attention because...well...we'd been around longer. Well, now both of us are gone. I don't even write anymore. Do you?"
"I don't write." Thomas sighed. "But I'm thinking about starting to. I've wanted to tell them how it's going, but with how I left them... I don't know if they'd want to talk to me."
"Your parents?" He frowned down at his friend, and hopped down off his bunk to the ground, taking a seat on the floor. "Hell, your parents would have taken you back with open arms if you killed someone in cold blood like that Everett guy on the news. They love you, Tom. I wish I could say the same about my dad."
"That's a straight up lie, and you know it. Just because he sent you away doesn't mean he doesn't love you." Thomas snapped back. Usui's father, Rei Ousawa, was always a very stern figure in the boy's life. Often, when Thomas would go over to his house for play dates and hangouts when they were older, Rei was a bit of a disciplinarian when it came to times to arrive and leave. If not everything went exactly according to schedule, he would become very angry. This caused him to seem cold at times, but if there was one thing the man was not, it was unloving. "The only thing he wouldn't be proud of is you saying that about him."
"I just...I wish things could go back to normal."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, before I decided to be a badass in high school." Usui laughed through his throat, causing a mild cough that had been there for days. "I wish I could go back in time and slap this kid until he did his homework. We shouldn't have gone into the military, Thomas. It's a damn nightmare here."
