Two Lies and a Truth

Interpretation 2

Clay Emerson was born an illness. With one, too.

The illness he had was hereditary. Treatable but not curable. It made him weak, but he could live, if with care.

His mother, inflicted with the disease herself, should not have continued the pregnancy. She had no real hope of survival afterwards. Neither had his twin, who perished days after birth, their mother following shortly after. His nursery was filled with medicines and medical equipment. He didn't have many toys, because his disease was expensive. Taking him places was rarely done, for fear it would make him sicker.

His father rarely hugged him, because he blamed Clay for the death of his lover, but he said it was because he was fragile. His grandmother hugged him often, because she was old and did not care. He noticed she always smelled like flowers. And when she'd died, when he was eleven, he'd not-so accidentally destroyed a funeral flower arrangement, because it smelled fake and not like his grandmother.

After his grandmother's passing, his father moved them from their home in Massachusetts to an apartment in Louisiana. The move was for a promotion, because they needed the money, and the apartment was subpar, because it was all they could afford. He didn't go around certain parts of the building, because some of the neighbors had scary dogs.

He had never gone to school before, homeschooled by his grandmother. In Louisiana, his father sent him to a local public school. There, he slipped from grade to grade relatively unnoticed by his peers. He spent half his day learning, half his day sleeping. He spoke often only to a girl he met in a history class. After some time, he convinced himself he was in love with her. Shortly after he turned fifteen, she introduced him to a friend, a boy, from another school. He convinced himself he was in love with him, too. Neither seemed to feel the same about Clay, but he told himself he did not care.

Not long after, he lost them. They had gone out without him, and a drunk driver in a massive truck had brought an end to the fun.

He gave up, withdrawing from school, staying inside, sleeping the day away.

Clay's main entertainment was daydreams. He dreamt of a different life, where he didn't hurt people or destroy things because he was weak or unwanted, but because he was too strong. He dreamt of not being tragic.

He dreamt of being fire.