He had ported. 

“So, Roll shoved Rock over Roll.  And Rock ended up on his backside.  Roll started laughing like a hysterical maniac.  He put the back of his wrist on his forehead and waggled his fingers and hollered that three stooges taunt, woo-woo-woo.  Yeah, I guess the whole thing was a little like the Three Stooges.  Then he ported away.”

Viz caught up with Roll the next evening at Snake Lake Loop.  She knew of another of his secret spots to be alone, along the trail.  She found him sitting on a mossy patch overlooking the lake.

Evidently, she had had enough of his antics.  Roll spotted her out of the corner of his eye.  He held up the bottle, an invitation for a drink.  She pushed it away.  “Dude, you’ve got to straighten up.  You’re messed.”

Roll sounded irritated.  “What you going to do about it?  Raise your eyebrow at me?  Scold me?  You always were good at that.”  He laughed.  Then he stood up and looked at her as though he dared her to do something.

Viz cloaked, moved behind Roll, and uncloaked.  “You better straighten up, or we will be mixing.  You want that?”  Then she cloaked.

Roll ported just behind the spot her voice had come from and gave a little shove.  Viz had moved.  Roll was acting more and more reckless.  What if she had stepped backward?  He may have untangled and killed them both.

She cloaked and shoved him from the side, a light shove.  Then she reappeared.  “You keep porting around like that, you’re going to kill us both.”

Rolls eyes widened, considering what she had said.  Yeah, he thought, I can be an idiot sometimes.  He ported away.

Roll had messed around with the wrong crowd.  These guys were warriors.  More to the point though, they loved him.  There would definitely be a confrontation.  For Roll’s sake there would be a confrontation.

Roll didn’t show up for the meeting the next day.  He didn’t even bother to call in sick.  It was past time for a loving intervention.  The team put a good deal of thought and research into how they could best confront Roll.  Mr. T called Roll and asked him to come to the office.  It was urgent.  Roll agreed to come in.

Roll showed up at the office later in the day.  He was actually close to being on time.  As requested, Mr. Peabody notified Mr. T of Roll’s arrival.  At the same time, Mr. Peabody informed Roll that he should proceed immediately to the small conference room.

As Roll walked toward the room, he took note the windows had been set to opaque.  It would be a private talk then.  Roll knocked and entered.  He was surprised to see the entire Shockwave team, even Muncle.  His dad was there.  The door was set on auto-close.  Mr. T gestured that Roll should take a seat.

Troubled as he was, Roll was still insightful.  “I see this is an intervention.”  He turned and looked at the door.  “I could just port you know.”

Mr. T acknowledged that.  “True.  We hope you won’t.  It’s time to work this out Roll.”

Roll shrugged.  “This is nothing new.  I’ll work through it.”

Viz wouldn’t have it.  “This time is different Roll.  You’re hurting yourself.  You’re hurting us too.  We rely on you Roll.  We need you back.”

Roll snapped at Viz.  “We rely on you too Viz.  You freeze under pressure.  I drink a little.  We all have our issues.  Like you always say, deal with it.”

Viz looked down but then she looked up and had a little smile. “You’re right.  But I’ve faced the root cause of my problem.  I wish it could have been done a long time ago.  Someone could have been killed.  The really sad part is, my problem was based on a stupid misunderstanding.

“It should have been resolved when I was five.  But it wasn’t.  The problem festered for years, all due to that initial misunderstanding.  And it has weighed me down like a millstone.  But I’ve been set free Roll.  Really, I have.  And you can be too.”

It was quiet for a while.  It was an uncomfortable silence.  But everyone could see that Roll was doing some thinking.  He finally spoke up.  “How did you do it?  Did Mr. T delve you?  Whatever your situation, mine is different.”

We were all a little uncomfortable.  On top of the general circumstances of the intervention, Roll’s dad didn’t know any specifics about their abilities, like delving.  A lot could come out during the meeting.  Maybe he would shrug-off any unusual terms as youthful slang.  Still.

Roll went on.  “I understand my issue.  I can read a psychology book.  At times I realize it’s stupid to let it bother me so much.  I should be able to work through it.  But it doesn’t seem to go away.  I even know my antics are a cry for help.  So, I get this.  I can see all of that, but I still act like an idiot.”

He looked at his dad, keeping his features hard, not willing to let a single tear roll.  But his voice was sedate.  “I heard you and mom arguing just before she left.  All those years ago.  I understand it’s my fault she left.  No doubt, I’m the reason she turned to booze.  Two is too much.”

A tear started to run down his dad’s face.  “Oh son, you been carrying that all these years?  I’m so sorry.  Whatever you thought, you got it all wrong.  I loved your mom dearly.  I did.  But she was so troubled.  She had a drinking problem before you were a twinkle in our eye.  I thought we could get past it.  I tried to help her get past it.

“She loved the both of you in her own way.  She truly did.  But she couldn’t even handle her own life.  Looking back, it might be we shouldn’t have had a family.  But look at you and your brother.  Look at you!  And I know more than you think I know

Добавить отзыв
ВСЕ ОТЗЫВЫ О КНИГЕ В ИЗБРАННОЕ

0

Вы можете отметить интересные вам фрагменты текста, которые будут доступны по уникальной ссылке в адресной строке браузера.

Отметить Добавить цитату