The Medium Kid

Chapter 18

Koda watched Alfie sit on one of the leather couches, sinking into it and making him look much smaller against the big cushions.

"I have to summon Enya," Alfie said fiddling with the rings on his right hand. "I'm not in familiar surroundings, and I'm not calm enough yet. Do you have any candles?"

Morlen shrugged and turned to his son, expecting him to know. Koda shrugged too, and Alfie saw the similarities in the way their shoulders sat heavy and round and how they stood tall and proud without even thinking about their posture.

"I guess I could try without." Alfie looked around, carefully examining the room. "Morlen, close the blinds and switch off the light." Morlen's posture only seemed to straighten, and his eyes darkened. "I don't have to do this, you know."

Morlen muttered something under his breath and stormed to the window. Koda turned away to hide a smirk. He could feel Alfie's eyes on him and knew he was smirking too. As he crouched by the table, Alfie's head snapped in the direction of the door.

"She's here," he whispered before Morlen had the chance to pull the blinds down. "Stop what you're doing and sit down." Enya had surprised Alfie by turning up without him feeling anything, just like in the art class when she forced him to talk to Koda. Now that he could see her, his energy was pulling towards her like she was tangled in wires that only he could control, and each wire was attached to his muscles.

Koda sat down on the couch opposite Alfie, following his gaze to the door, but he saw nothing. He turned when his father sat next to him. Something softened in his face. The sorrow was melting Morlen's eyes made of glass.

"We have your journal," Alfie said, watching Enya silently move closer to her husband and her son.

"I don't remember the last time I saw them sitting together," she said, reaching her hand up as if to ruffle Koda's hair, then pulling it to her chest, pained and emotional. "I don't remember the last time we- as a family- sat down together. Now we'll never get the chance."

Koda was watching Alfie when he made eye contact. His brown eye was caught in the sun, giving it a golden effect, while his blue eye sparkled naturally. "What is she saying?" he asked. Alfie's mouth dipped from his sad expression.

"She regrets not spending more time together as a family."

Morlen looked down. His hands clamped around one another, and his knuckles started to turn white. "We haven't felt like a family for a long time, not since you started drifting."

Koda could feel his dad staring from the corner of his eye. "Me?"

"Yes, you," Morlen said, not unkindly. "Granted, we haven't been the best parents, but-"

"There's no but in that statement. You haven't been good parents." Unlike his father, Koda's voice was blunt. The harshness sliced a divider between him and his father. They felt so far apart even when they sat right next to each other.

"Enya is telling me to read the journal." Alfie pulled their attention back to him, not wanting to witness a family argument. He held a hand out to Koda and Morlen frowned at his ring-covered fingers. Alfie wanted to throw the journal at him when Koda yanked it out of his jacket pocket and gave it to him.

Alfie, again, ran a hand down the front of the leather. Despite it being A5, it was thick with expensive looking paper. Enya had joined him on the couch, making no noise and not even denting the cushion.

"I didn't want you or my son involved, but it looks like I have no choice." Her voice echoed in his head like she was whispering directly into his ear.