Jordan and Cody - 6. Chapter 6

Just then the door opens. And a tall blond haired man wearing casual clothes walks in. It only takes me a few moments to realise who it is. I rush to Jordan and hide behind him. It’s Dad.

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You see, I look like Dad with the long blond hair and the blue eyes, but I act totally opposite. He likes doing no exercise where as I like to bike. Dad is anti-gay and a homophobe but obviously I’m neither. So here I am cowering behind Jordan and the hairstylist looks puzzled. I don’t think Dad has recognised me yet because of my lack of hair.

“Hey Jude, how are you?” He asks the hairstylist kissing her lightly on the lips.

I want to throw up, Dad kissing another woman? It is not right. I start to feel queasy. I grab Jordan and rush out the door, not saying a word to anyone.

“What was that about?” He asks softly.

“D-d-dad.” I say shakily.

“Oh shit.” He says softly.

I start to feel unwell, I let it all out I throw up all over the path. I hear the sound of running feet. I look back and see dad and Jude running towards us.

“Are you…” Dad starts to say.

“Oh shit. Cody?” He says as if he just found out he has a son.

I cower behind Jordan.

“What’s it to you?” Jordan asks sounding pissed.

Dad’s eyes widen. “Oh Cody, it is you!” He says.

He starts to walk towards me. “Don’t you take another step.” Jordan says menacingly.

He just rolls his eyes and keeps coming. “Hey I miss…”

Jordan gets angry. He sends his leg flying into Dads stomach. “Offff.” Dad says.

“Back off.” Jordan says calmly.

Dad is lying on the ground in agony. Judy is by his she helping him up trying to avoid the vomit. I pull out my phone and hand it to Jordan.

“Mum.” Is all I can get out.

Jordan has a quick conversation with mum, not letting on any details. Mum can’t have been far away because she was there in a few minutes.

“Cody is you…” She starts until she sees dad nearly upright.

“What are you doing here?” Mum asks quietly sounding pissed.

“I live here, I should be asking you?!” He says angrily.

“If you must know he is having treatment, now leave!” Mum says, voice rising.

“What kind of treatment.” He spat.

“Take a quick guess?” She says

He looks at me then my lack of hair. He turns as white as a sheet, nearly going green.

“Come on boys we are leaving.” Mum says swiftly.

Jordan gets up then aids me in getting up and to the car; Dad and Jude are rooted to the spot. We get in the car and drive back to the hotel.

“I’m sorry you two had a run in with him.” She says softly while driving.

“Yeah but it was only a matter of time before we saw him again, no doubt he will try to find us now that he knows.” I say in a similar tone.

“Let’s not think about that right now.” Jordan says.

I don’t know what will happen when we have another run in with him. I hope Jordan is there but also Mum or Ruby. I don’t want to have to deal with him any time soon. We head back to the hotel. Once we get there I go to our room and Jordan sits on the couch to watch telly. I plonk myself on the made bed, I look over at the dresser. On top I see my iPod. I grab it put in my headphones. I click onto Ronan Parke and shuffle his songs. The first song is ‘Stronger than I Am’ once that is done ‘You Gotta Be’. For some reasons I can relate to the lyrics of these songs. I fall asleep with Ronan Parke playing softly.

I can see a figure in the distance, a figure that is curled up into a partial ball. I try to walk over there but I am rooted to the spot. I try to yell, but all that comes out is a faint whisper. The figure looks up, what hits me first is the bright blue eyes. The dream abruptly fades into darkness. I wake with a start. I glance at the clock and realise I should get up. I can still vividly remember the person with the blue eyes. Before I get up I decide to look up Ronan Parke on google. What comes up doesn’t surprise me. A cute English boy, another one to add to my celeb crush list (Dakota Goyo and now Ronan Parke). I decide to watch telly with Jordan.

“Hey sexy.” I say grinning. I look to the right and in the kitchen is Ruby blushing crimson. She looks as she is holding back a laugh. I just roll my eyes and snuggle up by my boyfriend. I pull him into a soft but passionate kiss. Ruby wanders over to the couch and flops into it. We end up in a group huddle just watching TV. I hear the phone ring. I jump up quickly regretting as my eyes cloud over in a fuzzy black haze. I regain my vision after a few seconds of groping around and pull the phone off the cradle.

“Hello Cody speaking.” I say in a monotonous voice.

“Hi Cody! Do you wa….” Is all I hear before I place the phone back, I hung up because I know that voice of an older male that used to be a part of my life.

“Who was that hun?” Ruby half yells from the couch.

“Nobody, just a prank.” I say faking a smile.

“Okay then.” Ruby says.

I return to the huddle and we finish off watching the movie ‘Black Sheep’. Just before the credits roll Mum walks in.

“Where were you Mum?” I ask.

“Just went for a walk to clear my mind.” She replies.

“Oh, okay.”

I pull Mum into my bedroom. She looks at me inquisitively.

“Dad called.” I say with no emotion.

She groaned. “What did he say?”

“I don’t know. I hung up before he got the chance to speak.”

“Good boy. I have no doubt that we will cross paths in the next few days, so if you do, contact call me immediately.” She says looking guilty.

I pull her into a hug. “It’s not your fault Mum. We all know that.” I try to say without my voice breaking. Then I remember that fateful day.

I follow Mum in the door like a lost puppy. We got to the kitchen, we see Dad sitting at the table.

“Karen, we need to talk.” He says, without showing any type of emotion. Mum sits down cautiously.

“I’ll be straight, so listen closely. I am leaving. I am getting married to another woman who I have been seeing since before Cody was born.” He says again with no emotion. Mum just sits there she looks shocked then she turns angry then tears start to flow.

“I-I-I th-th-ought y-you l-loved me?” She stutters.

“I did, a long time ago. I have found a partner who I have loved for a long time.”

I have no idea what is happening. Dad says he will be leaving, but he will come back. He will, I know it!

Mum then straightens up. “What about Cody? Huh? He’s only 7!”

“To tell you the truth… I have another kid.” Dad says.

Mum stands up. She walks over to Dad and slaps him as hard as she can.

“GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE, YOU USELESS CROCK OF SHIT!” She yells at Dad. I start to bawl.

Dad stands up and walks out of the kitchen, I hear him walk up the stairs and then back down with what sounds like a suitcase. He walks back into the kitchen.

“Goodbye Cody.” Is all he says, he walks out and Mum rushes over to me and hugs me tight. We stay in this embrace for a few minutes before Mum straightens up.

“Right, we’re gonna have to live without him from now on. Okay hun?” Mum says softly.

“O-okay.” Is all I can say.

For the next few weeks we found it easier to do everything without him around. Mum’s parents also gave us a bit of help.

After a few months Mum decided to move from Cromwell to Invercargill. Mum finds a nice enough house and she purchases it. We move and after a few months Mum’s parents move down too.

We end our embrace and head back to the lounge.

“Who wants to go out for dinner?” Mum asks.

“Me!” The rest of us chorus.

We get changed into some tidy clothes and head out. We splurge and go to a fancy restaurant. We have light conversations of dinner. I start to feel nauseous so I walk to the toilets. I sit in front of one of the toilets and try to calm down. I start to cry, I can’t bear to think what is gonna happen over the next few weeks. My tears are in steady flow. The door opens.

“Cody, baby you in here?” I hear Jordan say in a worried voice.

I stand up wipe my tears off my face and unlock my cubicle.

“Yes?” I say confidently.

He rushes over to me and hugs me.

“It’s gonna be alright Cody! We will get through this TOGETHER!”

I just melt into him. I break our embrace and walk over to the sink. I splash some cold water on my face and smile weakly at Jordan. He smiles weakly back. I don’t know how I got such a caring and beautiful boyfriend. I don’t deserve him at all. We walk back to the table hand in hand getting a few dirty and some accepting looks from other diners.

“Are you okay Codes?” Ruby asks with a worried look on her face.

I nod and get back to eating. Once we finish we head back to the hotel and I lie on my bed. I feel Jordan lie down and hold me tightly. We both drift into the unknown world of dreams.

I see a boy standing in the corner, blue eyes shining in the dim light in the small room. He looks just like me, the same cheekbones and lips and same colour hair. I try to walk over to him but my dream dissipates into another scene. I see the blue – eyed boy getting beaten with a belt. I try to cry out to the person who is whacking him.

The dream slowly dissolve’s and I find myself opening my eyes. The clock reads 8:45am. I get up and get ready for another day in the clinic.

Over the next few weeks I have the same dream over and over and my health deteriorates. Ruby has been coming and going as she has to work as well as look after me. Jack comes up with Isaac every few days.

We have a scheduled appointment with my doctor today. Mum, Jordan and I head to his office. We arrive at his office and we are told to sit in the waiting room.

“Cody, please come in!” Dr Fowler sounds excited, this makes my hopes run high.

We all walk in and sit in the three chairs.

“Let me start by saying, you have been through a lot in the past few weeks Cody so this will come as a relief to you.” I start to get excited.

“Your leukaemia has disappeared! When we did your last scan I went through it thoroughly. It seems that the radiotherapy has worked a treat! You are now free to go home!” He says with a wide grin.

“YES!!!!” Jordan yells.

I can’t stop smiling.

“Thank you sooooo much Dr Fowler! I owe you my life!” I tell him.

“No you don’t owe me anything. Just stay up here for a few days of R&R and you can go home.”

We all thank him and we head out. Dr Fowler recommended some vitamins and minerals to help my health to get back to normal.

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