28 The Boys Take the Trash Out

A few minutes later after leaving Olympus, still in half a trance, the boys were back on the streets of Manhattan.

"So... What now? " Percy asked the other boy. "What are your plans now that the quest is over?"

"Oh..." Albert said, regarding the other with a tired but satisfied smile. "There are so many things to do... I have to go back to camp first and meet with Chiron, Uncle Joseph, and Silena. What about you?"

"I gotta pay a visit to my stepdad, actually," The boy replied bitterly. "I have no idea what to do with him though. He is a jerk. My mom deserves better and you saw what he was saying on the news. He hates me."

Albert thought about Gabe Ugliano's original end, quite the cruel one, even for a prick like him. He would have been turned into a statue after Percy receives Medusa's head at his home address, accidentally or not, Gabe ends up taking a good look at Medusa and turning it into stone. Sally Jackson sells him and invests in her studies. Yet, this time this was an impossible end. Albert's fault. 

"Can I go with you?" The brown-haired boy asked tentatively. "I can lend a hand, you know how persuasive I can be. I can make it easier for you and your mom to get rid of that guy."

"Wait, seriously?" Percy asked in surprise and excitement. "Yes, that would be awesome. Like... Yes. I would like that a lot."

Albert laughed at his enthusiasm, this was nothing for him. It was literally the easiest thing he had decided to do in like two weeks. Percy managed to catch a taxi to his mom's apartment.

"I bet you've never been to a place like this before," Percy said awkwardly laughing a bit in nervousness. "Rich kid stuff and all."

"Don't be silly, Jackson..." Albert said neutrally, then he chuckled "After seeing Olympus and Hades' Palace I feel like a peasant anyways... Your place is fine. I haven't even seen my own place in New York yet though. Monsters stuff and all."

Percy smiled at that. "It's hard to compete with a place like Olympus."

He rang the doorbell, and for a moment he was stunned, there she was—his mother, smelling of peppermint and licorice, the weariness and worry evaporating from her face as soon as she saw me.

 "Percy! Oh, thank goodness you're ok. Oh, my baby. I am so sorry."

 She crushed the air right out of him and they both stood in the hallway as she cried and ran her hands through his hair. Albert felt like he should not be there, like he could be anywhere else, but there.

 Percy's eyes were a little misty. He was shaking, he was so relieved to see her.

"What? Why?" He asked stuttering. "They said you would be at Montauk, why are you here?"

 His mother told him she'd just appeared at the beach house that morning, but she quickly made her way back home, scaring Gabe half out of his wits. She really didn't remember anything since the Minotaur, and couldn't believe it when Gabe told her he was a wanted criminal, traveling across the country and had a criminal record. She'd been going out of her mind with worry all day because she hadn't heard the news. Gabe had forced her to go to work, saying she had a month's salary to make and she'd better get started.

 Percy swallowed back his anger and told her my own story. he tried to make it sound a lot less scary and dangerous than it had been in actuality, but that wasn't easy to make a coherent story without so many details. He was just getting to the fight with Ares when he awakwadly stopped and looked at a dead silent Albert apologetically.

"Mom, this is Albert, he is my friend," Percy said coughing awkwardly with his ears red. "He helped me in the quest."

"Oh, I am sorry, forgive my manners," Sally Jackson said equally as flustered as her son, "Thank you for taking care of my son, I will never forget what you did for us."

"There is nothing, Ms. Jackson," Albert politely said. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you, ma'am."

Suddenly, a loud voice yelled: "Hey, Sally! That meatloaf done yet or what?"

 The woman closed her eyes in embarrassment and cold anger. She smiled apologetically at the boy and turned to Percy "He isn't going to be happy to see you, Percy. The store got half a million phone calls today from everywhere after that interview... something about free appliances. He is livid."

 "Oh, yeah. About that..." Percy said in guilt.

 She managed a weak smile. "Just don't make him angrier, all right? Come on. You too, Albert, would you like some water? Tea? Coffee?"

"A water is fine, ma'am. Thank you for the courtesy."

 Percy was happy his mom and Albert seemed to be getting along fine. In the month he'd been gone, the apartment had turned into Gabeland, just as he expected. Garbage was ankle-deep on the carpet and the sofa had been reupholstered in beer cans. Dirty socks and underwear hung off the lampshades.

He quickly located Gabe and three of his big goony friends were playing poker at the table.

When the disgusting man saw him, his cigar dropped out of his mouth. His face got redder than lava. "You got nerve coming here, you little punk. I thought the police—"

 "He's not a fugitive after all," His mom interjected. "Isn't that wonderful, Gabe?"

 Gabe looked back and forth between them. He didn't seem to think my homecoming was so wonderful. Percy wasn't happy to see him either.

 "Bad enough I had to give back your life insurance money, Sally," Gabe growled. "Get me the phone. I'll call the cops!"

 "Gabe, no!"

 The man raised his eyebrows in surprise and frowned at her. "Did you just say 'no'? Do you think I'm gonna put up with this punk again? I can still press charges against him for ruining my Camaro and messing up with my store."

"But—"

 Gabe raised his hand, and his mother flinched.

 For the first time in his life, Percy realized something that made his hands go cold. Gabe had hit my mother before. He didn't know when, or how much. However, he was sure he'd done it. Maybe it had been going on for years when he wasn't around to see. Percy felt terrible. He felt powerless and guilty. His mom has been enduring this to protect him, so he felt like this was his fault somehow.

"Jackson, why don't you take your mom for a talk in your room?" A voice asked.

Percy felt Albert's hand squeezing his shoulder reassuringly, he turned and saw the boy looking at him with a knowing serene look. He truly was way too pretty, more than a boy should ever be. Percy felt he could breathe again.

"Who is that?" Gabe yelled. "Did the pest bring a brat home with him? I always knew he was sissy that boy."

"Gabe you can't-!" Sally protested but she stopped feeling her son's hand, dragging her away.

"Come with me Mom, don't worry about anything," Percy said, but he didn't look happy or dare to look back, almost as if he feared he would actually commit something that would earn him a criminal record.

"What-what about your friend?" She asked in worry.

"He will be fine, trust me."

Finally hearing the noise of a door closing, Albert sighed and looked at Gabe Ugliano right in the eyes. He was unsurprisingly... ugly. It wasn't the fact that he was fat and hairy, no. He was ugly in a way that was more deep than simply appearance-wise.

 Gabe was confused, but he just laughed. "What is this about, punk You touch me, and you are going to jail forever, you understand? You should just go back to wherever you came from and forget about that pest."

"Hey, Gabe," A man interrupted, he was one of his poker friends. "He's just a kid, let him go."

Gabe looked at Albert scornfully and mimicked in a falsetto voice: "Just a kid."

His other friends laughed like idiots at the table, like this was a particularly endearing spectacle. The boy wondered if they knew about Gabe beating up Ms. Jackson or if they ever witnessed it happen and just kept quiet, the more he thought, the more glad he was for deciding to come. He felt responsible for taking care of this trash.

"Sit down," Albert commanded the nasty man, invoking his power. It felt more natural than ever. He turned to the other men at the table and said, "You stay where you are. I am not done with you."

Gabe was dazzled and obeyed robotically, his friends looked similar. 

"You are like a pig, you know?" Albert said, taking a good look around the aártment, the place reeked. "Do you enjoy beating up Sally Jackson? Do you even feel remorse?"

"Why should I?" Gabe replied, still in a trance. "That bitch deserved. She and her bastard are the worst, she always complains and complains. I just taught her a lesson. A man should be respected by a woman, and she should have known her place. Isn't that natural?" 

"Did you all know about this?" The boy asked the rest of the men. "Have you all done the same with your wives and girlfriends?"

They nodded. He considered sending them to Alecto right there and then, but he had spilled enough blood and killed enough monsters for the time being. He wasn't the one to enjoy cruelty.

"Well, let's start with you all then," He said. "I want you all to go straight to the police station, confess all the crimes and your friends committed, Gabe included. I bet you must have some evidence too, the bastard must have bragged to you. Hand over the evidence too, all of it to the authorities. Now, scram!"

The men almost sprinted out of the apartment with unfocused looks, leaving only a mess behind and empty beer cans. Albert truly felt like he had been nice, he was giving them a chance to repent and grow from this, instead of simply ending them. They were shitty people, but he had been generous to the God of War, he could extend the courtesy.

"Now, now, no doubt the cops will be here in a few minutes," He said regarding Gabe Ugliano, "You gotta clean up your mess in the meantime. After they come, just surrender yourself and confess, don't make a fuss. I don't you to ever think about harassing Sally and Percy or anyone really, this is the best I can do for trash like you. Now, go, start cleaning up! I want a perfect job!"

Gabe nodded and agreement and hurried to obey the commands. Albert had put enough power to be sure he wouldn't resist or disobey. He truly disliked the man. He was the sort of loser he could hardly gather empathy, but he wasn't a bastard like the water bed guy. He was beyond what a mortal prison could fix. This guy was done for, but he would at least keep his life and that of his friends. It was unlikely he would ever truly regret what he did or become a better man, but he would give him the opportunity. It was better than death or being petrified.

Albert decided to go and talk to Percy and his mom. He found them in another messy room. They had been crying, he could tell by the red eyes. He saw how the boy's hands still trembling with rage. The room had been completely filled with Gabe's junk. There were stacks of used car batteries, a rotting bouquet of sympathy flowers with a card from somebody who'd seen his Barbara Walters interview, and lots of dirty clothes.

"It's done," He said somberly. "Gabe is cleaning up, but the cops are coming soon, he would confess. Mr. Jackson, I advise you to testify. It would make things easier. He won't harass you two again. Ever. He and his friends will be paying a visit to jail for a long time."

Percy looked at him with intense eyes, "You're not kidding, right?"

"Do I look like I am kidding?

Percy's mother looked at him with a complicated, but mostly grateful expression. "Is it really over? I'm sure it will work out if I have to."

"Mom, it'll never work out. Not as long as Gabe's here," Percy stated agitated. "Albert knows what he is doing. It's over. You don't have to do that for me anymore. Gabe is finally done for."

Sally wrung her hands nervously, almost afraid to believe. "I can... I'll take you to work with me for the rest of the summer. In the fall, maybe there's another boarding school—!"

"Mom," Percy said with a tone of finality.

She lowered her eyes. "I'm trying, Percy. I just... I need some time to believe it's over, honey."

"Do you want Gabe gone or not?"

"Percy, it isn't that simple. I—"

"Mom, just tell me. That jerk has been hitting you. Do you want him gone or not?"

She hesitated, then nodded almost imperceptibly. "Yes, Percy. I do. I really do."

The jail was more than Gabe ever deserved, Percy thought. He despised that man so much in a way that scared him, not even monsters had made him feel so angry. He wished he could have ended that guy with his own hands, that's was heroes would have done in Ancient stories. However, he knew it was wrong.

Hero's story always ended in tragedy, Poseidon had told him that. Percy didn't want his life to end in tragedy because it would hurt the ones he cared for. He had to be different from his mom too. The boy was more grateful for Albert and his skill than he ever thought he would be when he agreed to accept his help.

Percy remembered the Underworld. He thought about Gabe's spirit drifting forever in the Fields of Asphodel, or condemned to some hideous torture behind the barbed wire of the Fields of Punishment—an eternal poker game, sitting up to his waist in boiling oil, listening to opera music forever. Did he have the right to send someone there? Even Gabe?

 Not this time, he wouldn't do that this time. He would have to deal with his anger, he couldn't become a jerk like Ares who felt happy about violence. He refused.

 "Poseidon called you a queen, mom..." Percy suddenly told her. "He said he hadn't met a woman like you in a thousand years."

Sally looked surprised and faintly flustered, but more than anything she was worried about her son. "Percy—that's not-!"

"You deserve better than this, Mom. You always have..." He said, almost crying. "He will be gone after he leaves. You should go to college, and get your degree. It's your dream. You can write your novel, meet a nice guy maybe, and live in a nice house somewhere pretty." He choked between sobs, "You don't need to protect me anymore by staying with Gabe. I am okay now. I will become strong enough so you will never have to worry or sacrifice yourself for me again."

She wiped a tear off her cheeks and that of the boy's. "You sound so much like your father. He offered to stop the tide for me once. He offered to build me a palace at the bottom of the sea. He thought he could solve all my problems with a wave of his hand."

"What's wrong with that?" Percy asked in confusion. 

Her multicolored green eyes seemed to search for something inside him, "I think you know, Percy. I think you're enough like me to understand why I could never accept that offer. If my life is going to mean anything... I have to live it myself by my own choices. I can't let a god take care of me... or my son. He is also someone I can't ever truly have. He has a wife and other lovers. I have to... find the courage on my own, Percy. Your quest has reminded me of that, dear. I promise I won't accept a shitty guy like Gabe again and I will live a life I am proud of."

Albert felt happy seeing that scene unfold in front of him. Sally Jackson was Percy's mom, they were uncannily similar personality-wise. Loyal to a fault. Stubborn like mules. Caring and protective over their loved ones. Both knew their worth and wouldn't settle for less than that. 

Soon enough, the police arrived and Gabe was dragged away in cuffs. The boys and the woman watched the man leaving without an ounce of resistance. After that, Sally offered to make them a nice meal, Albert took a bath and borrowed some of Percy's clothes. The boy was looking at him with a weird gaze that Albert couldn't quite figure out, but was too tired to care.

Eventually, the afternoon came and the boys were ready to leave again. Percy and his mom were saying their goodbyes.

"Where will you two go now, Percy?" She asked, full of pride.

"Half-Blood Hill," Percy replied with a smile. "We have to go back."

"For the summer... or forever?" The woman said, almost hesitant to ask.

"I guess that depends."

They locked eyes, and many things were said without words. They would see how things stood at the end of the summer.

She kissed his forehead. "You'll be a hero, Percy. You'll be the greatest of all, be good to Albert ok? We owe him."

"No, ma'am," The other boy quickly denied. "I enjoyed taking your trash out. Grandma always makes me do that anyway. It's fine." He winked at the mother and son duo, "We gotta go now, Chiron and Uncle Joseph must be worried sick. Annabeth and Grover might actually have a meltdown if we don't show up." 

Sally Jackson laughed and winked back with a knowing and grateful look. The last thing they saw was Percy's mom waving at them as they left in a taxi. Finally, one less thing to worry about, now there was only one more thing for Albert to take care of. He wasn't sure the smiling boy looking at him was ready for the blow that was coming for him, but he knew he would survive. They all would.