“What! You’re leaving? Really? What about the night we were supposed to have?”
“What night, Seth? You blew it!”
Like a child herself, Keri stomped off and exited the restaurant.
Seth was filled with an anger he’d never felt before. His face became blood red and his hands became rock-hard fists as he began to boil over. He realized he was in public and couldn’t tend to his anger here and now as he would have liked, and he somehow forced himself to cool down.
*
For the next week, Seth tried getting a hold of Keri. Every time he’d call, there was either no answer or one of Keri’s parents would say, “She’s not home.” So Seth decided to give up for a while and focus on starting his business.
*
After the second week of ignoring Seth, Carol decided to have another heart to heart with her daughter. “What the hell went on the other week with Seth? What could he have possibly done to piss you off so much?”
Keri looked at her mother. “It’s nothing he did, it’s about something he wants to do.”
“And what might that be?”
“He wants to start a business, Mom.”
Carol’s eyes grew wide and she shook her head in disbelief. “A business, really? Doing what?”
“What do you think? Filmmaking, Mom, filmmaking!”
Carol chuckled. “Right, sorry, I should’ve guessed. What an epic fail.”
“Things aren’t going well, and I still can’t bring myself to leave him.” She shook her head with disappointment and the enmity within herself. “I look at him with such disgust and hatred, yet the words just won’t come out.”
Carol smiled one of her infamous devious smiled. “Don’t worry, Keri. I’ve got you covered.”
“What does that mean?”
“I’ve already taken the liberty to set you up with another guy.”
“You what? You set me up! Why?”
“Use your head, Keri. Cody can be your incentive to leave Seth.”
Keri shook her head again. “I really can’t believe you did that without my permission. God! What if I don’t like him?”
“You’ll like him. Believe me, you’ll like him. And with any luck you’ll love him.”
“You already know I’ll like him? Someone I’ve never even met, and you know I’ll like him? How do you know this?”
“Because I like him. He has a driver’s license and owns his own car, but most importantly he’s career-oriented. Cody is studying to be a psychotherapist.”
Keri smirked. “And where did you meet my Mr. Right?”
“Well,” Carol blushed. “It’s like this, see, I’ve never actually met him personally.”
“What! You’ve never met him, but you set me up with him?”
“Keri, please, calm down! He’s my boss’s nephew, all right?”
“That makes me feel so much better, Mother.”
“Lose the sarcasm, you ungrateful little bitch! Just be thankful you have a mother who cares. And remember—if you do anything to piss Cody off, I could lose my job. If that happens you’d better get down on your knees and pray to the merciful Christ that plastic surgery can restore you back to your former self. Because I will beat you unrecognizable.”
There was a moment of silence.
“So why am I going out with him if I’m such a high risk?”
“I’ll tell you why. Because he’s a bright, level-headed young man with both feet on the ground. He has realistic goals and impressive achievements. That’s a hell of a lot more than I can say about Seth.”
Carol grabbed Keri’s cell phone and waved it back and forth in her face. “It’s all settled then. All you have to do is call him to confirm the date.”
Just then the phone rang, and Carol looked at the caller ID. “Christ, it’s Seth again!” Carol answered the phone. “Well, Seth, tell me. How is it over there in the wonderful world of make-believe?”
“What in the hell does that mean, Carol?”
“Starting your own filmmaking business, eh? Well, tell me, Mr. Spielberg, where are you going to get the money to start your multibillion dollar company?”
Keri ripped the phone out of her mother’s hand. “Enough. Go!” Keri placed the phone to her ear. “What do you want, Seth?”
“I would like to talk. It’s been over a week.”
“I have nothing to say to you!”
“I have plenty to say to you! Like, why is your mother acting like a bitch?”
“She’s not acting like a bitch. She just hates shiftless daydreamers!”
“I’m not a shiftless daydreamer! I’m so sick of hearing you guys knock me down!”
“Then you’d better wake the hell up, Seth. I mean, trying to open a multibillion-dollar film studio. Come on—get real!”
Seth became really annoyed. “Where the hell are you guys getting multibillion from?”
Keri quickly tried to think of an answer. She hoped Seth didn’t remember too much about what all was said that night they were at the restaurant, because she was going to attempt to turn the tables on him. “That’s what you said.”
Seth sighed. “I never said anything close to that! As a matter of fact, that part of the conversation never even manifested! If I recall correctly—and I do—you stormed out of the restaurant.”
Keri didn’t know what to say. She didn’t want to be on the phone anymore and knew the jig was up. Seth had an excellent memory, and no matter what she tried to say to convince Seth otherwise, it wouldn’t work. Keri tried to think of how she could end this conversation. The only thing she could think of was to hang up, and that’s exactly what she did.
After a few seconds of continued talking, Seth realized he was hearing the soft echo of his voice on the other end of the line. He stopped talking and waited, and the phone started to beep.
He knew Keri hung up on him. Suddenly the anger he felt back at the restaurant returned. His face grew blood red, and he leaped off his bed. Rage overtook him.
Seth violently punched his pillow. After a few minutes he started to hyperventilate and took a few deep breaths to calm down.
About five minutes later Seth decided to try calling Keri again. He reached for his phone and pressed redial. The phone rang—someone picked it up and immediately hung up. This continued for another five tries, and with each and every failed attempt, Seth slipped even deeper into anger. He decided to wait a few moments before trying again.
Finally, after another three minutes, Seth redialled. The phone rang a few times, and on the forth ring, an angry Keri picked up.
“What the hell do you want, you asshole?”
“I’ll tell you what I want! I want—”
Keri hung up again.
Seth screamed a deep, blood-curdling scream and threw his phone hard against the wall, where it shattered. Seth got to his feet and started throwing his books, CDs and movies all over his room. He was so enraged he completely demolished his bookshelf with his bare hands.
Suddenly he became light-headed and weak. Seth quickly became cold, clammy and turned white as a ghost. His heart felt as though it could burst out of his chest. He found it extremely hard to breathe—he clutched his chest and desperately gasped for air.
Seth hit the floor with a thud.
*
Two days later Seth woke to the sounds of blips and beeps. He was in a private room at the hospital. It took him a couple of moments to realize where he was.
A nurse stood in the doorway. “Hello, Mr. Zimmer. How are you feeling today?”
Seth thought for a moment. “Good Lord, did I have a heart attack?”
The nurse smiled and entered the room. “No, thank goodness. You’re just suffering from a condition called atrial fibrillation.”
“What’s that?”
“Atrial refe
rs to the top two chambers of the heart known as the atria, where the irregularity in atrial fibrillation occurs. It falls under a large category of illness called arrhythmias, which are electrical disturbances of the heart. The cause of this varies from person to person, but by the looks of it, we believe yours was caused by high blood pressure, which is often caused by high amounts of stress.”
Seth took a moment to absorb the information. “And what if the stress isn’t eliminated?”
“If your stress isn’t eliminated, your heart could cease or you could suffer a serious stroke, which is the most common effect of atrial fibrillation.”
The nurse checked a few machines. “You seem to be progressing nicely. You just have high blood pressure.”
She got quiet for a moment and turned to Seth. Just then her beeper goes off.
“Well, they’re playing my song,” she said
“I’ll be back to see you later, Seth.” The nurse gracefully turned and left the room.
*
Later that evening Keri had her first date with Cody. Deep down she felt guilty and full of regret. She hated her mother for forcing her to go on a date with another man while still in a relationship, forcing her by threatening to kick her out of the house. She hated every moment of this date. All through dinner, emotions bubbled deep down inside her. And finally, like a volcano, Keri erupted. She started crying uncontrollably and felt sick to her stomach. She didn’t know what to do, as she’d never experienced anything like this before. She leaped up out of her chair and ran to the bathroom, where she proceeded to vomit for 15 minutes straight.
At that moment, for some strange reason, all Keri wanted was to be with Seth. She proceeded to vomit when the realization fell over her that her mother was going to be extremely pissed off at her for botching the date.
After 15 minutes there was a knock on the bathroom door. “Keri, are you in there?”
“Yes, I’ll be out in a moment!” Keri slowly picked herself up off the floor and made her way back to the table with Cody.
Keri sat down and didn’t say a word—she didn’t even look at him.
“You had me worried. Are you all right?”
Keri slowly raised her head and looked across the table. “No, not particularly. Cody, would you mind taking me home?”
Cody stared across the table. She could tell he was disappointed, but he sucked it up. “Sure.”
Keri knew when she got home that she was in for a world of hurt, and she was right.
“Goddamn it, Keri! You stupid bitch! Why the hell did you break the plan?”
“Because, Mother, believe it or not, I still have shreds of humanity and dignity left! Not like you and Oma, who have no regard for human life!”
Carol became overpowered with anger. She raised her right hand and came down hard on Keri’s face. Keri hit the ground and remained motionless for a moment.
Carol stood over Keri and finally realized what she had done. “Oh God, Keri, I’m—”
“Stuff it, Mother!” Keri, a little disoriented slowly got to her feet and stomped to her room, slamming the door. After 20 minutes of staring at her phone, she finally picked it up and dialled.
“Hello?” a raspy older gentleman said.
Keri sniffed deeply. “Mr. Zimmer, is Seth there?”
“Oh, Keri, you have a hell of a lot of nerve calling here!”
“What do you mean?”
“Seth isn’t home.”
“Do you know when he will be?”
“He’ll be home whenever the hospital releases him.”
Keri became overwhelmed and tried to suck back her tears. “What! He’s in the hospital? How come?”
“Excuse me? ‘How come?’ You ought to know; you’re the one who put him there!”
Keri placed her phone on her desk and reached for a pillow and screamed into it. She threw the pillow back on her bed and placed the phone back to her ear.
“Listen, Keri, I really don’t think it’d be a good idea for you to call here again or see Seth. At least for a while.”
Keri was about to reply, but Mr. Zimmer hung up. Keri fell stomach-down on her bed, planting her face deep into a pillow and giving it hell.
After a while Keri tried to collect herself. She left her room and entered the living room. She took a seat and sighed heavily. “Well, Mother, I hope you’re happy.”
Keri became emotional. “I hope you’re satisfied!”
“What are you talking about, Keri?”
“It’s Seth!” Tears streamed down her face.
“What about him?”
“He’s in the hospital!”
Carol stared at Keri for a moment, and then a smile formed. She began to laugh.
“What the hell’s so funny?”
“Oh, come on, Keri. Use your head! You’re smarter than that!”
Keri’s tears quickly dissipated and her sadness turned into offence. “Smarter than what? What is that supposed to mean?”
Carol sighed deeply, quite annoyed. “You should know just as well as I do that Seth isn’t in the hospital. This is all just some sort of elaborate hoax he came up with in a pathetic attempt to get you to talk to him again!”
Keri sat there mortified and disgusted by her mother. “You know, do you? You know for a fact that Seth is 100 percent not in the hospital?”
Carol shut the TV off. “And you’re 100 percent certain he’s in the hospital?”
“Yes I do!”
The tension in the room grew thick.
“Okay … if you know he’s in the hospital, then you should know what he’s allegedly suffering from. What is it?”
Keri was so caught up in the moment and disturbed by the news of Seth’s hospitalization, she just realized she didn’t have time to ask. She blushed. “I don’t know.”
Carol smiled deviously. “Uh-huh. Just as I thought.” Carol took a moment. “Keri, who told you this fairytale of ridiculousness?”
Keri wiped her eyes. “Seth’s father.” Keri became overwhelmed again and ran back to her bedroom.
Carol sat there quietly, thinking deeply for a moment. She dialled the phone. “Mr. Zimmer? Hello. This is Carol Welder, Keri’s mother. What’s this ridiculous story about Seth being in the hospital?”
“Ridiculous story? Lady, you have huge balls calling here and accusing me of lying! Especially about something as serious as my son’s hospitalization!”
Carol quickly fell silent and blushed from embarrassment. She swallowed hard. “Oh, oh, I’m so sorry.”
“Well you’d better be! Who the hell do you think you are calling and accusing? Especially when you don’t have the facts?”
“May I ask what Seth is suffering from?”
“You may, but it’s none of your goddamned business!”
Carol was about to wind down the conversation, when all of a sudden she had an urge to ask, Tell me, Mr. Zimmer, what does Seth’s hospitalization mean for his band?”
There was a moment of silence.
“His band? What are you talking about, band? Seth doesn’t have a band.”
“Oh, really? I was under the impression that Seth was the lead guitar player in a band named Re-Genesis?”
Mr. Zimmer sighed deeply. “Carol, where in the hell did you ever get that stupid impression?”
Carol placed the phone to her shoulder and chuckled. “Seth told me that himself.”
“Well, I don’t know why he would, especially when it’s not true.”
“That’s all I wanted to know. Thank you, Mr. Zimmer. Have a good night.” Carol hung up and laughed.
CHAPTER 9
Two days later Seth was released from the hospital, and a week after that he and Keri made plans to see one another.
Keri was in her bedroom, getting ready to see Seth. Carol knocked on the door and
entered, gently closing it.
“Keri, don’t bother getting dressed.”
“Why?”
Carol took a seat on the bed. “Because you’re not going.”
Keri looked up. “For Christ’s sake, Mother, why not?”
“Because you aren’t seeing Seth again until we get the master plan in order.”
“A master plan? I don’t understand why you won’t let me live my own goddamned life!”
Carol quickly became enraged and slapped Keri across the face. “Listen, you ungrateful little bitch! You no longer have a say in this matter! No daughter of mine is going to date a deadbeat! And if you continue to disobey me, just remember this. Your grandparents and I will disown you!”
Keri was shocked, but deep down she knew it was true. “What do you want me to do?”
Carol smiled deviously. “I think we should put Oma’s plan about you in the hospital into action.”
Keri took a moment to think, and she nodded. “Fine, Mom, fine. I don’t care,”
“Good, honey. I’m glad you see reason.” Carol got up. “I’ll call Oma and tell her the good news!” She exited the room.
Keri planted her face in her palms and began to cry. After a while she lifts her head, wiped her eyes and grabbed her cell phone.
“Well, well, well, Keri. You’ve got some nerve not returning any of my calls or texts. It’s been weeks.”
“Yeah, well things have been rough, Vance. My mom is making me break up with Seth, and she set me up on a blind date.”
“A date? Are you cheating on me, Keri?”
“No, Vance. But I think I should end the affair, at least for a while.”
Vance said angrily, “Fine! If that’s how it is, I have nothing further to say to you!”
“Vance, no! That’s not true, babe. I’m not ending it permanently, not after all we planned. I just need space for a while.”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know if I can trust you.”
“What, why?”
“Well, your mother hates your boyfriend, and you’re empty-headed enough to let her work you like a puppet. To top it off, you even let her set you up on a blind date.”
Growing Pains Page 7
