The Man Who Wasn’t There – Part 46

Brian sees a lot in his dream about Luminous Cayce. Jordan wants to stay with hiim afterwards, but Brian makes her leave. However, she’s there, waiting for him, while he showers and is waiting for him then he wants to get dressed.

“What the hell, Jordan?” He backed into his bathroom. “Can you please leave? I want to get dressed.”

“Not until we talk.”

“Not with me naked, we’re not.”

She said nothing. Brian peeped around the doorframe and she was still sitting on the bed.

“Come on! Why are you so pissed that I asked you to leave last night?”

“You yelled at me and shoved me away!”

Brian growled, yanking at his slime infested hair. “Don’t you get it?”

“Obviously not. Clearly, I’m not smart enough or capable enough to understand what you want and need, Brian. Forgive me for not being a mind reader.”

“Oh, stuff it!” He crossed the room, looming angrily over her. “Jordan, right now I’ve got this—thing—on my shoulder.” He gestured to the area near his right ear. “Do you know what it is? Cause I don’t. I see you and smell you and want you….” Groaning, he turned away. “This isn’t normal. This isn’t me. This is other worldly. The other night in the living room, I would have done you right there, parents or not, if Andre hadn’t come in. It gets worse every time.

“Then last night, after talking to Luminous, feeling his grief, his anger, it was a thousand times worse! But no, this is about you and how you feel and how it hurts your feelings. For once, Jordan, can you just quit being such a girl and see how this affects me? Just for a second?”

The door opened and his father walked in. He stood in the doorway, watching. “Problem?”

“No,” Brian said quietly. “None.”

“Doesn’t sound like that to me. Sounds like something we need to discuss before tonight. You do remember what tonight is, right? Some big, fancy ball celebrating the end of life as we know it?”

Jordan nodded mutely. Her eyes swam with tears. Her lower lip trembled as she fought for breath.

Miles came in, closing the door behind him. “Go put on some pants, son.”

Brian grabbed some boxers and jeans from his drawer and went back in the bathroom. He could hear his father speaking quietly to Jordan. She mumbled a reply. When Brian came out, she was dry eyed, but her face was puffy and her nose was red.

“God knows, you two have more to contend with than just regular teenage problems,” Miles began. “But we’ve got to work past this—now. We don’t have time for touchy feelies and happy joy-joy thoughts.”

Jordan and Brian smirked.

“Jordan, some of what I have to say may embarrass you, but you’ve got to hear it. Son, everything I say is going to embarrass you.” He didn’t sound the least bit remorseful. “Men are horny,” he explained bluntly. “Pure and simple, no getting away from it. Teenage men in particular, have problems with control. They can’t help it, it’s a fact of life. Teenage men want to get laid—repeatedly. While that’s true of all men, it’s worse when you’re a kid cause you’ve never done it before.

“Whatever this Rider is, with all the goings on, lust levels are going to be at an all time high. Jordan, you can’t even imagine what’s going on in Brian’s body right now. None of us can, we’re not the ones experiencing it. What you can’t do is let your feelings get hurt. Believe and know that he’s trying to protect you and do what he asks—even if he’s not nice about it.” He addressed his son directly. “I know that being polite and well mannered isn’t really in the cards when your nuts are in a knot, but try.” He spread his hands, smiling.

“So kiss and make up, forgive and forget and try to be understanding of one another. After all this shit is over, you can hash all this out and deal with all the warm fuzzies and cold pricklies you want. You can yell, scream fuss—provided it’s nowhere near my sleeping baby and you can sort it out like every other couple on the face of the earth. But right now, you aren’t every other couple. You’re the Dreamer and his future mate. You’re a power couple in ways that no Hollywood movie moguls ever will be. You have to work together, or people die. Are we clear?”

“Yes, sir,” Brian replied.

Jordan nodded. “Yes, sir,” she whispered.

“Good. All that fun stuff out of the way. Give her a kiss.” He waited until Brian kissed Jordan. “Hugs all round.” They exchanged a hug. “Good. Now we can eat breakfast.”

“I’m sorry,” Jordan said.

“Me too. We’ll sort this out, Jordan. Like Dad said.”

“Later.” She hugged him again. “I love you and I’m here to help any way I can.”

“Ditto,” he agreed.

They went down to breakfast and put the argument behind them. Claude didn’t come down until almost noon. He’d gone to bed around 7:00, after watching Brian most of the night.

“I plan to go over my findings today,” he explained. “There’s a lot of data. No reason why you have to be around,” he told Brian.

“It’s been a busy week,” Maribelle said. “You two should go be teenagers for a little while. Hang out with your friends at Sweeties, or go drive out to the river. Have some fun.”

Jordan and Brian felt very much as if the adults were trying to get rid of them. Rather than argue, they decided to take the opportunity to relax. Liking the idea of going to the river, they packed a picnic lunch and drove to a park on the banks of the Mississippi. Quite a few people had the same idea, so it was fairly crowded, except for a rocky overlook that was usually deserted.

Brian led the way. True to tradition, the area was quiet. Most people didn’t like the climb, even though the view was magnificent. They spread a blanket and sat. The ground was lumpy and uneven, but Brian solved that problem with a swish of his hand. Jordan laughed, sitting down on the much more comfortable ground.

© 2017 Dellani Oakes

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