Goon - 11. Chapter 11

The Battle for Micah’s Freedom was fully engaged by the time Micah walked out of the school’s halls with his schedule in his hand and a memory of a coach practically salivating over having Micah on his team. Micah had a handful of forms beneath the class schedule that his guidance counselor had left for him at the office desk. The skinny geek there had looked nervous handing it to Micah and telling him his guidance counselor was busy.

Even involved in what he viewed as a full-scale battle, Micah refused to intimidate a kid who probably had enough problems in his life. His smile seemed to worsen the situation until Micah reached across the counter, squeezed the guy’s shoulder and said ‘thanks’. The guy looked terrified at first but when nothing worse came, he almost relaxed. Micah spent five more minutes talking to James, and left fairly sure that James wouldn’t be afraid of him in the future.

Naturally, his mother’s car wasn’t in the parking lot, so Micah set off at a slow walk towards the house, humming one of his favorite songs. The walk gave him time to think, and he began to adjust his plans a little bit. He still liked the overall idea. His mother’s reaction to not sending him back to Huntsville was based solely on his love for Corey. That was unacceptable, it was wrong, and needed to be resisted. If she’d had other, valid reasons, he would have to consider them no matter the consequences, but not this.

He also had to set out rules. If he wasn’t careful, he could turn the high school into a real battleground, with real casualties, and he needed to plan out how he would deal with various situations. Mike and Katy had probably exaggerated their stories about life in a regular high school, but he’d find out the truth soon enough. As long as he prepared for the worst, he could be ready to deal with lesser situations without compromising his beliefs.

Most of the students at the school were bystanders, like the villagers in Afghanistan. As long as they didn’t try to help the bad guys, they were off-limits, and helping the bad guys didn’t mean comforting friends or family who are injured. The same thing went for the people inside his home.

Little John and Gina did not deserve to be caught in the middle and he would do his best to not put them in a bad situation. John was a different story. He was like the village snitch, the one who would come to the firebase at night and whisper about activities. You never knew if they were being upfront with you or playing some other game, but the information they gave was usually good enough you had to at least take a look, and pay them the money.

He was surprised as he approached the house to find his mother’s car nowhere to be seen. Katy was in the living room with little John and Gina. He answered her questions about school, ignored the grin on her face as he described dealing with Sherry, found out the blond haired guy’s name was Jedidiah, or ‘Jed’ for short, and was the Big Man on Campus. After a few minutes of talking, he managed to extricate himself from the living room, and she kept little John busy as he went upstairs to pull out his laptop.

Are you okay? The message popped up as soon as he was connected to the internet and came from Corey.

Fine. Micah replied, glad for the typing lessons in the first year of the Academy. It sucks not being there with you, but we can communicate like this. My mother took the phone.

I know. Corey typed back with a smiley face. She already called Dad and told him she was taking all your ‘toys’ away. I hope she doesn’t take the laptop.

So do I. Micah said and then typed out a rather long explanation of his plan. When Corey started typing suggestions instead of protests, he relaxed a little. It was Corey who suggested an idea that he put into play later that night when John got home.

Katy had long since gone home, and he’s spent the afternoon playing with his little brother and his little sister. When Gina was laid down for her nap, he took little John into the backyard and they played catch together. Micah missed the fact that he’d never finished the season with his team back in Georgia, but teaching little John how to catch and throw was fun.

His little brother was tired out and taking a nap in his room when John finally came home, still dressed in his coveralls and frowning. Micah was in the kitchen, cooking one of the few meals he’d learned how to prepare from Melissa, and nodded at his step-father when the man walked into the room. John pulled a beer out of the fridge and sat at the breakfast bar as he watched Micah cook.

“You can cook.” The man said in a neutral tone.

“A little.” Micah answered as he put the lid back on the asparagus and turned around to look at his step-father. He pulled the printouts and forms out of his back pocket and put it down in front of John.

“What are these?” John asked him without looking at the papers.

“You know Mom sprang the ‘not going back to Huntsville’ thing on me today.” Micah said with a visible frown, leaning on the counter.

“I expected you to be a lot angrier.” John admitted with a shrug.

“I’ve decided the best thing to do is to just do everything she tells me to do.” Micah said and saw John think that through.

“Don’t try to get me caught between the two of you.” John warned him. “She’s my wife, Micah.”

“I know.” Micah said with a grin. “Those are forms for me to play football. I’ll need to get a physical from the doctor to play, too.”

“What else?” John asked, picking up the football forms and then flipping through them to the ones on the bottom. “DMV forms?”

“I’m sixteen and I passed Driver’s Ed last semester.” Micah said. “I can pass the written test. All I need is a parent’s signature.”

“Why don’t you ask her?” John asked him.

“I’d rather not have to ask her for permission on anything.” Micah said. “If she doesn’t want me to do any of these things, fine, but wouldn’t it help having an extra driver in the house?”

“We won’t be able to afford you getting a car.” John said with a frown. “We had to forfeit half your tuition because we cancelled so late.”

“Don’t worry about that.” Micah said and the man frowned even deeper.

“She won’t like you getting a car from them either.” John told him.

“Then let her take it away.” Micah grinned.

“I thought she took away your phone.” John stated.

“She did.” Micah said.

“You know she won’t be happy when their number shows up on the phone bill.” John told him firmly.

“It won’t show on the bill if I call collect.” Micah said with a shrug.

“I don’t know anything about you keeping in touch with any of them.” John told him with a frown. “As for these, I’ll discuss them with her tonight before I sign anything.”

“I can live with that.” Micah said.

“I’m going to tell her that if we’re forcing you to live here when you’d rather be at that school, the least we could do is let you get your license and play football.” John continued in a steady voice, his eyes never wavering from Micah’s. “I expect you to pull your weight around here and to behave.”

“I will do my best, sir.” Micah said steadily.

“Then I’ll do this.” John said with a sigh. “Where are the kids?”

“Gina’s asleep in her room, and so is little John.” Micah answered and then he told the man everything he’d done with both of them during the day after coming back home.

“Poor Katy won’t be making as much money from us now that we have you here.” John said with a smile. “Your mother should be home soon. She’s expecting to have to make dinner.”

“I hope everyone likes baked lemon chicken with steamed asparagus.” Micah said and John shook his head.

“I don’t think the kids will know what to do with a fancy meal like that, but they’ll learn.” John chuckled as he walked out of the room with the forms. That had gone better than he had hoped. His mother’s wary surprise when she got home was priceless, and dinner was like the opening moves of a battle when two opposing forces were firing pot shots, trying to figure out the skill, positions, and armaments of each other.

Little John looked at the food with a frown until Micah told him that it was cooked by him, and then he dug into the meal. Micah’s mother frowned at that, but gave no other reaction. When the meal was over, Micah was directed to clean up the kitchen and acquiesced with a very quiet ‘yes ma’am’ that left her frowning.

“What’s this nonsense about you wanting to drive and to play football?” She demanded as he was putting the last of the dishes into the dishwasher. He’d already cleaned the kitchen up and was pretty much done. His mother was standing near the fridge with the papers in her hand, grasped so tight they would be wrinkled.

“If I’m going to live here, I thought I should make the best of the situation.” Micah said calmly as he looked at her. “Isn’t that what you want?”

“What game are you playing, Micah Jericho?” She demanded with a frown.

“I’m playing the ‘give them what they want’ game, mother.” Micah said calmly as he looked her right in the eyes. “You want me to stay here and be happy, have a girlfriend and all that, right?”

“I want you to live like a normal teenager, yes.” She said with a frown.

“Then as long as I am in your home, I will give you what you want.” Micah told her with a smile on his face.

“But what you said today was…” She started to say and her voice drifted off. “Do you still mean all that?”

“Yes.” Micah said calmly. “While I’m here, I’ll be your perfect son. As soon as I turn eighteen, I am walking out those doors and never looking back.”

“That’s not what I want.” She said calmly, although she was frowning.

“Then send me back to Huntsville.” Micah said just as calmly.

“Never.” She said vehemently. “I’ll never send you back there.”

“Then you will have a perfect son for the next two years and then you’ll never see me again.” Micah said calmly.

“That just means I’ve got two years to show you how wrong you are to want the things they keep dangling in front of you.” She said with a frown. “Tomorrow, I want everything that any of them bought or gave you to be packed up. We’re sending everything back to them.”

“You do realize that will leave me nude, don’t you?” Micah asked with a raised eyebrow as he began to doubt that he could fulfill this commitment.

“You said you’d give me what I wanted.” She said. “A normal teenager doesn’t run around wearing all those fancy clothes.”

“A normal teenager doesn’t spend an hour a day working on keeping his skin clean either.” Micah said. “Shall I dump all the beauty products you taught me to use?”

“Don’t be foolish.” She spat with a frown. “I want all of it packed up by tomorrow morning, Micah, including that laptop I’ve seen you playing with.”

“Fine.” Micah said with a frown. “Are you going to sign those forms?”

“You have to choose.” She said, holding them up in both hands. “Football or driving, but not both.”

“I actually get to choose something in my life?” Micah asked her as he allowed sarcasm into his voice. The thunder that rumbled across her face showed it was a mistake.

“Fine, you don’t get a choice.” She said as she tore the papers up. Micah sighed and began to walk out of the room. “Where are you going?”

“To pack up everything given to me by people who love me for who I am, not for who they want me to be.” Micah said.

“Get back here right now, young man.” She snarled at him and he stopped, turning around to face her angry face. “That was uncalled for, Micah. I love you.”

“But you don’t like me or appreciate me for who I am.” Micah said. “Most of my life, you were too busy seeing the guy who tricked you into sleeping with him and killed another kid.”

“Don’t talk about things you don’t know about!” She snapped at him. “John never should have told you about any of that!”

“Are you saying I shouldn’t know the truth about my past?” Micah asked her.

“You’ve never been the brightest of kids, Micah.” She told him. “You need a firm hand, firm guidance or you’ll end up in jail.”

“Just like my biological father, right?” He pushed and for a second he thought she was going to slap him.

“Go to your room and get packing.” She snapped and he turned to obey. There was just something about dealing with her that got his temper flaring, and he couldn’t seem to say the right things to push her in the direction that was needed. Whatever he thought was going to happen, she’d say something and they’d be off fighting about something else. It was horrible, and he really didn’t want to give up his nice things.

He shut the door behind him and stopped to think about that last thought. Why was he so upset about giving up the nice things? They were just clothes and material things, and they shouldn’t matter as much as they seemed to right now. He fingered the shirt he was wearing and remembered going to the store with Mrs. Howard to buy it.

That had been the day they’d just spent a few hours walking through the various stores and ended up visiting a new store in a rather small shopping center off the beaten path. Everything in there was horribly expensive, but seemed to fit him far better than most of the clothes they’d bought before, even after having them tailored for him. They’d ended up going back twice to get more clothes, and there was one set from that place he was planning on wearing the first day of school.

Then there was the laptop. Giving that up was what hurt the most at the moment. It represented his only contact with Corey and the Howards at all. No, that wasn’t quite right. The more he thought about it, he realized he had other ways to get in touch with them. There were computers at the library, or at the school, and he could get into his email there. He even had a secret or two stashed in his wallet, and another stashed over at Mike’s that his parents did not know about and he would never tell them. It still hurt, though; again because they represented a connection to people he cared about.

“Micah?” John’s voice came through the doorway as he knocked and Micah took a step away from the door, wiping at the tears that threatened the corners of his eyes.

“Yep.” Micah said and John opened the door, sticking his head around the corner and looking in with a slightly worried expression.

“Are you doing okay?” John asked.

“No.” Micah admitted as he sat on the edge of the bed. John opened the door all the way and came inside just enough to shut it behind him and lean against the wall.

“Tiff told me she demanded you pack up all the stuff you have.” John said. “Do you have other clothes?”

“The stuff you guys bought me last year didn’t fit any more so we gave them to Goodwill.” Micah said with a shrug.

“I’ll see if I can get her to let you keep a few of the things.” John said. “You know she’s doing this because she loves you, right? She cares about you and wants what is best for you.”

“She’s ashamed to have a faggot for a son and wants me to be ‘normal’.” Micah said with a frown. “I kind of always figured she’d take that position given that church she goes to, when she goes to church.”

“Yeah, you might want to prepare yourself for that.” John said with a heavy breath.

“What do you mean?” Micah asked.

“On Saturday, she’s taking you to some special youth group thing they have going where they’ll teach you to be straight.” John said with a shake of his head. “I don’t get it. Either you’re straight or you’re not, and I don’t think no church group is going to change that. Lord knows if you took me to some gay group and tried to make me gay it’d never work.”

“I don’t think she’s thinking right.” Micah said. “She’s got this image in her head of what she wants and she’s going to do what it takes to push me into that image.”

“You’ve been thinking about this, haven’t you?” John asked him with a rueful smile.

‘Yeah.” Micah admitted.

“Well, it’s good to see you at least are thinking things through instead of just taking what people tell you for granted.” John said. “I always thought that was your biggest problem, which was why I pushed your mother and grandfather to send you to that military school. Plus it got you out from under her thumb and let you grow on your own a bit instead of having us looking over your shoulder every step of the way.”

“I always thought you didn’t like me.” Micah said with a frown.

“I didn’t.” John said with a shrug. “Then when the kids came along, I saw your temper as a threat to them. It reminded me too much of Mark. He had the same temper as you. You needed to learn to control it, and you did.”

“I needed a clear set of guidelines to lead my life, and enough rope to learn to make my own decisions or to hang on them.” Micah said flatly.

“That too.” John agreed. “I like the man you’re becoming now. Your mom may not, but I think you’re reaching towards your potential, and that’s a good thing. The gay thing, well it’s not nearly as important as what kind of person you are, and that’s the way I see things.”

“Can’t you get mom to think the same thing?” Micah asked.

“Not likely.” John said with a shrug.

“What do you see in her?” Micah asked and regretted it from the look of anger that passed through John’s face.

“Your mother’s a good woman, Micah Jericho, and I guess a good woman’s something you probably will never understand.” John said with a flash of emotion that made Micah blush a bit.

“I’ll uh, take your word for that.” Micah said and was happy to see John nod at those words.

“Good enough for me.” John said. “This whole thing about doing what she says until you’re eighteen and then never talking to her again has her scared.”

“I mean it.” Micah said.

“I bet you do.” John said. “She’s got it set in her head right now that she’s got two years to change you and make you see the error of your ways. The way she figures it, either you’ll lose interest in this Howard kid or he’ll move on after two years of no contact with you.”

“She’s got a hard lesson coming her way.” Micah growled. “Corey and I both knew this would happen and we’ve talked about it. She can take away the laptop, the phone, and all that, but she can’t keep me from writing an old-fashioned letter at school, bumming a stamp from someone and sending a letter. There’s at least a dozen ways I can figure for him to send me back a letter, and that’s not even including sneaking around to computers at the library or school to send him emails.”

“You have thought this through.” John said. “You think you can keep your interest in him going for that long?”

“John, you love my mother, right?” Micah said and the man nodded.

“I see where you’re going, and yes I’d have waited for her.” John said. “If she didn’t wait for me, I’d be crushed, but I’d still rather have waited just so I wasn’t the one who ruined the possibility of us being together for the rest of our lives. I love her that much.”

“Then what do you think I’m going to do in a little less than two years?” Micah asked him with confidence.

“You’re going to walk out that door and never look back.” John said. “Johnny is going to be crushed. He’s already idolizing his big brother, and he’ll definitely be old enough to remember you even when he’s grown up.”

“I’ll feel bad about that.” Micah said with a frown. He hadn’t thought about that. Maybe he’d be able to explain what was happening when the time came so little John didn’t think Micah was abandoning him.

“It won’t stop you though.” John snorted. “Damn, I’m going to have to try to talk to her again when she calms down. You’re going to have to compromise with her some, though.”

“What kind of compromise?” Micah asked.

“Put at least half of these things in storage.” John said as he looked around the room and the open closet that was overstuffed. “It’ll start getting cold soon, so maybe put away the summer stuff? You don’t need to make that clear to your mother that’s what you’re doing either.”

“What else?” Micah asked.

“When she takes you to this church thing, don’t fight her or resist it in any way.” John said. “Go, and just keep your mouth shut if you have to, but don’t do anything to upset her on that issue. She’s convinced they’ll make you straight, so cooperate with that group thing. If you do that, I’ll see about getting her to let you play football and maybe even let you get your license.”

“You know if I thought I could get away with it I’d just run away right now.” Micah said with a heavy sigh, not able to look the man in the face any longer.

“I know.” John said. “Micah, we’re getting along decently, right?”

“Yeah, for the first time since I can remember.” Micah laughed gruffly. “I always thought you hated me. Never thought you weren’t my blood father though.”

“I’ve made a lot of mistakes, but if you’re willing to forgive me for the past, I’m willing to make a better go at being your father.” John said and Micah looked up in surprise to see the man standing at his side now, with a look of real concern on his face.

“Why?” Micah asked. “Why now?”

“Because when I look at you I see Micah, and just Micah.” John said softly. “Always before there was the shadow of Mark Tinker over your face, and I see what he did to Bill Holly and I would have nightmares of getting called out to your school to find you’d done that to some other kid.”

“I… I never picked on a kid smaller than me.” Micah said with a frown. “Didn’t you see that?”

“Looking back, yes I do, but not at the time.” John said calmly. “Micah, there’s something you figure out when you get older. Adults aren’t necessarily smarter than kids, they’ve just had more experience.”

“Experience means a lot, but not everything.” Micah stated, remembering his own experiences in what might as well have been a dream for all it related to the world as it was now.

“That’s right.” John said with a sad smile on his face as he clasped Micah’s shoulder in a firm grip. He wasn’t squeezing to hurt, but to comfort. “Do we have a deal?”

“We’ve got a deal, for what it’s worth.” Micah said with a sigh.

“Good.” John said and walked towards the door, stopping with his hand on the handle and turned back around. “You might as well start up that laptop and let your friends know what’s going on.”

“What makes you think it has ‘net access?” Micah asked with surprise.

“Please, I wasn’t born yesterday.” John said with a smile. “Playing a card game doesn’t require tapping all the keys you tap while you’ve got it open. Pretty brave of you to do it with your door open, though. I don’t think your mother has any suspicions about what you are doing with that thing.”

“If she doesn’t, why is she trying to take it away?” Micah asked.

“Because it is one more thing that represents the Howard influence in your life.” John said with a shake of his head. “You might see life get easier if you make her think she’s weaning you away from their influence.”

“That would be lying.” Micah said flatly. “I don’t like to lie.”

“Far be it from me to tell you to lie, but don’t you stretch the truth at times?” John asked.

“Yes.” Micah admitted.

“Then stretch the truth with her when it comes to the Howards.” John said. “She’ll probably want to buy you winter clothes soon, so wear them.”

“I need a good coat, a winter coat.” Micah said with a frown. “I don’t have anything right now and they can be expensive.”

“Now you’re thinking.” John said with a smile. “Give her inroads into your life that let her know she hasn’t been replaced by the Howard family and she might loosen up a bit.”

“Could that be the problem?” Micah asked with a frown. “She feels like she’s been replaced?”

“I think that may be part of the problem, Micah.” John said with a nod. “Why don’t you think on that a bit?”

“I will.” Micah promised, getting his laptop out and booting it up while John left his room. The man had given him a lot to think about.