Twenty: Meet Gregory Raven

He promised to tell her everything, but the one thing he wasn't ready for, was for Charlie to meet his father. The demon he kept hidden inside him, the source of his pain, the pathetic excuse of a man whom he feared all his life to be his mirror. His deepest fear was to end up like his father one day, he even believed that he might, until he met Charlie. He swore he would do whatever it takes to never be like him, not if he wants to keep Charlie in his life.

"I can't take you with me, Charlie, not today ... please ..." his hands trembled when she held them.

"It's okay, Tommy, you've told me how he is, I can handle it," she assured him.

He shook his head, "No ... I can't, not today, baby, please ..." he sounded like a wounded boy, pleading for help.

"I don't care how terrible he is, I know you're not like him ... you're not him, Tommy, I'm coming with you," she insisted. He took a deep breath, fidgeting on his seat.

"Promise me you'll stay away ... I don't want him to see you," he leaned his head against hers.

"Don't be silly, I'm gonna be right there with you, we face him together." He squeezed her hands, and kissed them, his eyes filled with grief and sorrow.

Tommy wanted to go back to his father's place to get some of his things, leave some money for his old man and say his goodbyes because he won't be coming back there, ever again. His father was a part of him that he wished he can erase completely, but as long as he was still living in Bluebridge, it wasn't possible.

Greg Raven lived in a small trailer by the junk yard, he had sold his house when his wife left, bought a trailer and drank all his money away. Tommy spent his first few teenage years on that trailer, and what a hell hole it was. He found that living on the streets and on pity couches was better than living with his dad.

His dad was sitting on his chair in front of the trailer, drinking a three dollar bottle of whiskey, looking like a mean old bum like he always did. Charlie wouldn't let go of Tommy's hand, even though he tried to make her wait by the trees. She stayed with him and approached the trailer. Greg took a good look at them and finally realized who they were.

"Oh wow ... look who's here, what are you doin' here, boy?" he didn't sound the least bit enthusiastic to see his own son.

"I'm getting my stuff, dad."

Greg chuckled, his watery eyes pointed at his son, "What makes you think your stuff is still in there?"

Tommy looked down at his feet, "You threw my stuff away?"

"I sold them ... I needed the money, you no good son of a bitch ... never gave me a dime for all the shit I've done for you," he spit on the ground and lit a cigarette.

Tommy took out some money from his pocket, it looked like a few hundred dollars of his Goldstone earnings, and a few hundred more from his delivery money. "Don't say I never gave you money, I've always given you money," he said calmly as he handed the money to Greg.

He snatched it quickly and put it in his pocket, "Not nearly enough from what I had to spend for raising your sorry ass." Tommy swallowed it in, Charlie felt his hand tightened. "Some of your junk must still be in there, I don't know, why don't you go in and check," he turned his glance to Charlie.

"So ... you the girl they talk about? The Ludlow girl?" he asked.

"This is Charlene Ludlow, she's my girlfriend," Tommy answered for her.

Greg burst out laughing, "Now why would a nice girl like you be runnin' around with a loser like him?"

"I think that's a rude thing to say," Charlie couldn't hold her tongue anymore, Tommy tugged her hand to remind her not to respond.

"Well you'll find out soon enough ... then you'll be sorry to ever let him put his tiny dick inside of you," he laughed out loud. Tommy pulled her hand to stop her from replying.

"I'm just here to tell you that I won't be coming back again ... I hope you enjoyed that, 'cause that'll be your last insult to me," Tommy kept his cool.

Greg laid back on his chair and put his legs up back to the other chair, he scoffed. "You won't be missed, if that's what you're thinkin'" Tommy looked away for a moment, felt a sharp pain in his chest from what his father just said. He wasn't expecting anything from him, he didn't realize it could still hurt to know how much his father didn't care.

He kept his composure, "Good luck with everything dad, ... I hope you'll find ways to make some money 'cause I won't be sending them to you anymore."

Greg looked angered, "Look at you acting all better than me ... mark my words sonny boy, whatever you think you're gonna do out there, you'll drag yourself back in this dump and end up just like me, 'cause this is where you belong ... you hear that missy? Take a good look around 'cause this is all he is, and you miss fancy pants ... you'll dump his ass the minute you find someone better, and there's a whole bunch of em' out there, ain't it? And she'll leave you dead cold just like your mama did," he pointed his finger at Tommy.

"You're a terrible person, you know that? And an even worse father! He's never gonna be like you, I'll make sure of that!" Charlie couldn't help it, Greg had said the worst things a son should never hear from his father, she had never met a more rotten person than Gregory Raven.

"Hah! We'll see about that," he lit up another cigarette.

"C'mon Charlie, let's just go, he's not worth it," Tommy said to her.

"You're not getting your stuff?" Greg asked as they were walking away.

"You can have it ... I don't need them anymore," Tommy said without looking back.

He seemed a little shaken from the meeting, but he asked her instead, "Are you okay?"

She nodded, "Are you?"

He lifted his shoulders and sighed, "I hate him ... I really do ... but no matter how much I hate him, I think he hates me even more ... and I couldn't figure out how can someone hate their own son like that," he tried to hold himself together, he felt the burn behind his eyes.

Charlie hugged him and kissed him, he had found his strength in her. She meant more and more to him as he stripped each layer of his life and opened up to her. They mounted the bike with not much else to say. Tommy had made his choice to leave behind a big part of himself, the person he never wanted to become.

She held him close, felt the warmth of his body, if he was going to take her away in that bike, anywhere, near or far, she would let him.