THE LIFE
AN: I was watching "The Mannequin 3" on TNT and this one shot came to mind. What if Dean had stayed with Lisa and Ben? How would things have ended?
"How many more times are we going to have to do this, Dean?" Lisa asked as she started to unpack another box at another house. It had seemed that since Dean had come into her and Ben's life. They had been moving an awful lot.
"I am trying to keep you guys safe?" Dean said as he checked the doors and and looked out the window. Satisfied, he resumed his unpacking.
Ben came into the room and plopped down on the couch. "I checked on Facebook. This school has a band. But no football team to speak off, they've never won a game…like ever. They won't let us take our phones to school. And I have a long list of clothes that I CAN'T wear to school…Mom?" He pleaded.
Lisa sighed and shrugged her shoulders. She had been glad to have Dean in her life. At the beginning, but…. She, too, was weary of moving every few months, and usually at night. She had gotten to where she only unpacked what they needed. She would just put the other boxes away because she knew that one night they would be packing them up and heading god-knows-where.
Dean looked at them both. "Look, it's the safest place, right now."
"Safe from what?" Ben asked. He was told he was in danger. But he never saw the danger. And he was tired of having to make up excuses as to why he was leaving yet another school.
"Ben!" Lisa warned.
"No, Mom!" Ben said, challenging Dean. "We have been running for months. What are we running from? What is it that you see that we don't? I get to a town. I start making friends. Then we have to leave. It's not fair!"
"Ben, trust me…it's…you don't want to know." Dean replied.
"Yes, I do. I actually do." Ben retorted.
"Ben, this is not…." Lisa stated, trying to defuse the situation.
Ben looked at his mom. "I am tired of trying to explain something I don't understand myself. I feel like I'm lying to everybody…and I hate it!"
"Ben?" Dean said. He felt bad for the kid. He really did. But, he was doing the only thing and everything he could to keep them safe.
Lisa put her hand on Dean's arm to get his attention. He turned to face her. "This is…it's too much, Dean." She paused. "I love you. You know that. But, this. I can't have our lives interrupted and uprooted every few months. I can't live like that, neither can Ben. I need to work a stable job. Ben needs a stable life. And he's just not getting it."
"I don't mean to…." Dean started.
"I know you don't mean to, Dean. But, I can't do this anymore. Ben, me, we need a stable home and home life." Lisa explained.
"I can be gone in a couple of hours." Dean stated.
Lisa shook her head. "You'll stay for supper. Then you can talk to Ben."
"I can do that." Dean replied.
Lisa and Dean hugged one another. Lisa looked up at him. "You know, as hard as this is going to be, it is for the best."
THE END