by Night, H. T.
Normally, I’d be nervous in this situation, but the calling Jason had on his life made me exceptionally nervous.
I’d always kept an extra eye on Jason in public. This was the one time I hadn’t. Ontario Mills Mall was a pretty large mall.
“We need to find him,” I said to my family. “Let’s go this way.” I wanted to go to the right, back to where the Rain Forest Café was, but something happened that changed things.
My son said, “No, Dad, he’s this way.” Joshua pointed in the opposite direction.
“Are you sure, son? Did you see him?” My five year old was still not very tall, and I couldn’t imagine he could see him. “Son, time is of the essence. Do you think he went that way?”
Lena looked at me as if I had lost my mind. “Let’s just find Jason fast!” Lena said.
“Something tells me that we should listen to Joshua,” I said.
“Then I guess that’s what we’re doing,” Lena replied.
The three of us made our way left, deep into Ontario Mills Mall. I couldn’t imagine Jason being intrigued by the stores in this section. It was all outlet stores. Mainly stores for women.
Then we hit another part where, did we go left and follow the clothing stores, or did we go right and make our way toward the exit?
Joshua was leading the way. My heart sank and I saw we were heading for an exit. But then Joshua stopped in front of a pet store. “He’s in there!” Joshua said. Thank God!
“Are you sure?” I ran inside the store and sure enough, in the back of the store, sitting next to a box of puppies, was Jason.
“Jason!” I called out.
He looked up at me and put the whisper finger sign on his mouth.
“I’m your father. Don’t tell me to shush. We have been looking everywhere for you!” I said, almost beside myself. It was the most stern I had ever been with Jason.
“Dad, these puppies are sick. I have been healing them.”
“You’ve been what?”
“I’ve been putting my hands on their chests and healing them.”
“Son, your heart is in the right place. But, you can’t abuse your gift.”
“I’m not abusing it. These puppies needed healing and I gave it to them.”
I looked at my son and the relief I had that we found him outweighed any other feelings I might have had. I was just happy I found my son.
“You sure did son, you did a good thing for those puppies.”
I turned around and Joshua had a big smile on his face while holding his mother’s hand. Lena was as relieved as I was.
“Joshua, how did you do that?” I asked. “How did you find your brother?”
Joshua looked at me and said, “I don’t know. I could feel him. The more I thought about him, the more I was sure where he was.”
“Is this the first time you have ever felt this way?” I asked.
“No,” Joshua said. “I can often find Jason just by allowing my heart to show me where he is. Even if it’s just in the house.”
I was blown away by his comment. He, too, was just five years old. Did I have the two smartest kids in the world?
I learned something about twins that day, that they were scary individuals who had a connection that very few individuals were allowed to understand. It must be phenomenal having a twin, a twin you could locate just by feeling him in your heart.
I continued to stare at the picture on the hallway of my boys when they were five years old with their arms around each other’s shoulders. There they were the two best buds. Joshua stepped up that day. I knew then that I had two very blessed boys.
Chapter Nine
Our castle was pretty old school on the outside, as one would imagine a sixteenth-century castle to be. Like I said, on the inside, it was very modern, or as modern as 2028 could be.
I often would sit back on my chair and just observe Jason and Joshua as they played. It was quite a sight. Now they were older, and the only playing they seemed to be doing was in video games.
Jason wouldn’t allow Joshua to cheat. And whenever he could, even at a very young age, he had the diplomacy to say it in a way where he gave Joshua an opportunity to take his move back saying that it was obviously a mistake.
He knew his brother cheated, but yet, his brother was able to retreat his move and still have a high level of respect for himself. Jason was a phenomenal kid, because he understood that was what his brother needed.
I had to be honest, Jason frightened me outright, sometimes. I wondered if he was perfect. I looked further on the hallway wall and looked at a recent picture of my son Jason. He had taken at a studio that his mother made him and brother go to. She loved having pictures of her boys.
I looked at Jason’s photo. He strained to give the best smile he could. He was handsome boy, and his waters ran deep. Profound wasn’t the word. Jason was like having a mini-Deity in the house. But that didn’t happen overnight. Both boys went through a lot of trials before either one of them sincerely grew up.
Once they understood their destiny, that was when things changed, but that their knowledge of who they were didn’t happen overnight. There were a lot of talks. That started at a very early age.
I remembered the boys were almost seven years old, and we were in our main bedroom, wrestling. Joshua was really aggressive and would just clobber me without a care in the world. He knew I could take it and he knew that was the only chance he had. Jason, however, knew my weaknesses, very ticklish feet. He would always figure out a way to make me say “uncle” by tickling my feet. He was very tactical in that way. In his mind, getting me to say “uncle” was the only goal. It didn’t matter if I did it through pain or laughter.
Lena came to the door. “How are my three boys doing?” she yelled out.
“We’re taking down Dad!” was Joshua’s reply.
Lena smiled. “I know two boys who are really stinky and need a shower and I am not referring to Jason.”
“Very funny,” I said.
“He’s like a flower. Seriously, have you ever smelled B.O. on that boy?” Lena was referring to Jason.
“No.” I laughed.
“Well, there you go!”
I knew, early on, I was going to two completely different relationships with both my sons.
I remembered later that night, Joshua came into my bedroom to tell me goodnight and said, “Daddy, there are a lot of different types of animals on this island. Some alive and some dead.”
I was scared to know where this is going. Joshua had a tendency to be a bit morbid at times, to the delight of his Uncle Tommy. As a matter of fact, Tommy encouraged his bizarre behavior on just about every subject.
I know I had to ask the question, so I let her rip. “Why, son?” Then I held my breath, preparing myself for what he was about to say next.
“Sometimes, I think I see a dead animal.”
“Why is the animal dead?” I asked.
“I don’t know. Something might have killed it or it died naturally, but it always looks really dead.” Then Jason said to me, “It’s not dead, it’s sleeping.”
“Jason says that to you?”
“Yes, and he’s always right because every time, that animal gets up and walks away.”
I looked at Joshua and knew exactly where this was going.
“Jason always wakes them up by putting his hand over their eyes. One time, this rabbit didn’t even have a head. Jason said it was asleep and put his finger on the rabbit’s belly and his head popped out from his neck like a jack-in-the-box.”
“Wow.” Great, my son was healing road kill.
“Joshua,” I said, as morbid as he would like it. “Everything dies eventually, animals, people, and even headless bunnies.”
“You promise? Everything dies?”
“I promise, son. Things die.”
“Thanks, Dad.” Joshua kissed me on my forehead and ran out of my room.
“Did you hear any of that?” I yelled to Lena. She was in the bathroom and
was quiet during that exchange.
“Yeah, I heard it.”
“You know, you could have helped me out!”
“I thought the superhero had it all taken care of,” she joked.
“Are you going to start with that?” I said.
“I’m just saying. You can save the world, but you can’t tell your son that his brother is a healing freak. I love my little healing freak, but he is a healing freak, nevertheless.”
“If it’s so easy, next time you tell him.”
“I’m just saying...”
I looked up and Jason slowly made his way into my bedroom. Jason had a peaceful demeanor and usually a giant smile on his face that gave off an ounce of confidence and happiness. It was so odd seeing a six year old have so much peace within himself.
“What’s up, son?” I said to my little rascal.
“May I climb into bed with you and have a talk?”
“You sure can, little man.”
Jason climbed up on the bed and laid next to me. We both were lying on our backs with our faces facing the ceiling.
“What’s the word?” I asked my very intelligent son.
“Daddy. Why am I different?”
This was the first time he had ever approached me about his gift in any way.
Lena heard from the bathroom, came in, and laid on the other side of Jason.
We knew this was about to be a very heavy conversation and we both needed to take part in it.
The three of us all sat up, so we could see each other’s faces.
“Why do you think you are different, son?” I asked.
“I know I’m different!”
“Why?”
“I see the way people look at me. But most of all, I see the way you look at me.”
“How do I look at you, son?”
“You look at me like I’m different.”
“What do you think makes you different?” I asked my five year old, in absolute disbelief that I was having this kind of conversation with him at such a young age.
“I know, Dad.”
I began to get freaked out. “What do you know, son?”
“I know I have a plan on my life.”
“How is that possible? You’re five.”
“You know it’s true. I can feel it deep in my heart.”
“Deep in your heart, huh?” I looked at my son and just hugged him. He wasn’t going to get an answer out of me, not on this night. But what he was going to receive was a father’s love.
After a couple of minutes, Jason got up and headed for the door. I stopped him and said, “Son, have you ever felt angry?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“These two boys were picking on a girl and I was so mad. I wanted to show the boys the right way to be nice. But they didn’t care.”
“That’s what makes you mad? Seeing injustice?”
“I think we should tell him,” Lena whispered in my ear.
“He’s too young,” I whispered back.
“Is he? His I.Q. is higher than both of ours.” Lena was crazy to think he was old enough to know his future.
“But he is still just a five year old,” I said sternly.
“Daddy, please tell me what’s going on. I need to know, how to save the people.”
‘Save the people?’ What the hell was he talking about? I stopped in my tracks and gave Lena a sharp look.
“What do you mean, Jason?” Lena asked delicately.
“I need to know how to save the vampires.”
“How do you know any of that?” I asked, not so subtly. I looked at Lena and gave her a look as if to say, “Did you tell him?”
“Son, what is a vampire?”
“You are. Mommy is.”
I nearly peed my pants as the words came out of my son’s mouth. “Son, who have you been talking to?”
“Nobody.”
“Then how do you know this?”
“It is what is in my heart.”
I looked at Lena and she was as baffled as I was.
I looked at my son and asked him, point blank, forgetting that I was speaking to a five year old, “How much more do you know and where does the information come from?” I asked.
“It’s deep in me. I know that the world will someday be a better place, but I’m going to have to pay a price for that.”
My stomach dropped. Did Lena already explain it to him? I realize she hadn’t because Lena was giving me a look that said, Have you told him this already?
“How do you know, son?” I asked. “Who told you?”
“No one told me. I know it is what needs to be done. I don’t know how, but someday I will be chosen to do an act so unselfish that it will save all mankind.”
What the hell was he saying? Who the hell had been talking to him! Mankind? The kid was six. “Son, you seem to know a lot.” I said. “What exactly is your question?”
“I don’t have one, I just wanted you two to know that I know.”
“And you’re okay with that?” I asked.
“Do I have a choice?” my six year old said.
“We hope you might,” I said, trying to console my son. But instead of that happening, my son consoled me.
“It’s going to be okay, Dad. I will always watch over you.”
What the hell did my son just say to me? Then Jason hopped off my bed, took off, and went to his bed. No kiss, no hug. Just creepy insight.
That was the first of many weird talks with both our sons that seemed to get us to talk in circles while resisting telling them what we were told about their destiny.
Chapter Ten
I decided to walk to the kitchen. Some Nestlé’s Quik chocolate milk sounded good about right now, unless my boys had gotten to it first. They had been known to devour a whole container with a gallon of milk between them in one sitting.
I went to the cabinet and was pleased to see that there was still half a container left. I poured myself a glass of milk from the refrigerator and mixed in the necessary ingredients and before I knew it, I had chocolaty goodness. My boys weighed heavy on me, this night. The funny part about it, my boys had weighed heavy on me since the day I knew they were to come into the world.
The older they got, the more they were becoming like their dad, especially Joshua. It seemed that he had inherited his dad’s kick-ass gene. He was ready to go at a moment’s notice, just like his dad, no matter how stupid the odds were. I first discovered this a few years back.
I remember they were eight. They were at a birthday party in Pasadena, California, thrown by one of Tommy’s second cousins. Tommy always invited the boys out to any function that dealt with kids their own age, or in this case, close to it. Apparently, Tommy’s cousin was turning twelve. My boys were big, but they sure didn’t look twelve.
All the kids were in the back yard, playing party games. My boys were young but had little trouble blending in, mostly because Joshua was such a people person. He’s a funny kid. His sense of humor was crass and borderline inappropriate, even for an eight year old. So, of course, he was Tommy’s favorite.
Tommy and I were inside, sitting in the living room having a beer. I wasn’t a big beer person, but what’s a dad to do, waiting for his kids at a birthday party?
Tommy stared at me and gave me one of his classic smart aleck looks. “You still want to live out in the middle of the boondocks?” Tommy teased me. Tommy hated that I lived on my island.
“It’s the way it worked out,” I said. “Not all of us were given a nice house in the OC by Hector.”
“No, you just got yourself a damn island and castle to go with it.”
“Trump! I always lose this argument.”
“Can we both admit that we have both been blessed?” Tommy asked.
“Cheers, my brother.” Tommy and I bumped beer cans like a couple of dorks.
“How’s Lena?”
“You know us. One week, everything is perfect. The other, we are at each other’s throats.”
“She’s a tough cookie.”
“Tell me about it.”
“How’s Yomaida?”
“Trust me when I tell you it’s complicated.”
“When is it not?” I replied.
“Women, God’s forbidden fruit.”
Suddenly, we heard a lot of commotion in the back yard. I looked out and to my surprise, Joshua was taking a swing at a bigger twelve-year-old kid. Not only did he take a swing, he laid the kid out.
I ran to the back yard and screamed, “Joshua, what are you doing?”
Joshua ran over to me and said, “He was picking on Jason. I told him to stop. He didn’t. Instead, he flicked Jason in the ear.”
I looked at Jason and he had concern for his brother and that was about it. He didn’t seem to worry about anything else.
Tommy took control of the situation. By this point, all adults and kids were in the back yard and my two sons, Tommy and me were at the middle of all the commotion.
The little boy who Joshua laid out got up, wobbly, and walked over to his mom. My sons were a head shorter than the rest of the boys at the party, so the mom didn’t know how to take the fact that her kid was just pancaked by an eight year old.
“So, what happened, exactly?” Tommy asked the boys. All the kids were around Joshua, Jason and the boy who Jason had punched.
“They were making fun of Jason. All of them were,” Joshua said.
“What were they saying?” Tommy asked.
“They were calling him mute and saying he didn’t have a tongue. I told them he had a tongue, he just didn’t talk a lot.” Joshua was being very passionate and it touched me how much he was willing to defend his brother. I loved that kind of loyalty.
Joshua continued, “Then they were making fun of him, saying that he didn’t know how to talk or that he stuttered. I kept telling the boys that my brother was just quiet. Then the brown-haired kid with the ripped jeans began flicking Jason’s ear without him seeing. I caught him doing it and warned him that he better not do it again. So, he flicked my ear. That’s when I punched him.” Joshua paused, took a look around the party, and then said, “And that was the end of that.”
