The Tie

There is a little red splotch on my tie. I don't know whose blood it is. My father's most likely. I focus on it and my mind doesn't explode from the image of my mother crying in pain or my father coughing up blood from the mouth he used to kiss my forehead with. The tie is what is on my mind.

It was a gift from Alfred. A week before Tommy Elliot and I were rough housing too much during recess and my uniform was dirty from mud and dirt, but that classy black school tie I had was destroyed. My mother had slight disappointment in me by destroying it and my father gave me a talking to, but Alfred surprised me and said, "Boys will be boys".

Alfred gave it to me the night before my true self was born. It was his when he was a boy and attended school in England. He told me that the first time he ever used it was his father's funeral. He didn't know I would wear it at my father's as well. Alfred told me that I am going to do things someday that my parents won't understand but I should do them to grow in life. At the time he was talking about having fun in the dirt and embracing who I was, but now I get it truly.

I wore the tie on my first day back to school after my parent's funeral. Tommy asked me to wrestle and when we fought in the yard, I made sure the tie didn't hit the dirt. I was able to sweep his legs out from under him and I walked back in and buried myself in a book about the history of Gotham. Tommy came in angry and yanked me by it and my jaw slammed on the desk I was sitting at. I hurt and bled more on to it.

Alfred wanted to have a talk with Tommy but I said it was my fault. He asked why and I told him how I beat him. He told me I did nothing wrong, and how to evade what Tommy did, and he cleaned the tie, but I still could smell the blood. I gripped it tight and thought of the talk with Alfred. My mind was at ease.

I packed the tie away and didn't see it again until my first high school date with Julie Madison. Homecoming meant nothing to me and I should have been with a trainer in Tibet but I liked her. She meant something to me. It didn't fit well and it made me look like more of a child than it should have. We danced and I was in bliss. I ran to get us punch and some spilt on the tie. I panicked and thought of that night in a way I hadn't since it happened. I ran away from Julie and the crowd and cried in an alley for hours. Alfred found me and held me.

He whispered to me, "It is okay Master Bruce. We all have our days." He kissed my forehead like my father did and I held the tie he gave me and calmed myself. The next day we both arrived in Tibet to begin my training.

I never wore the tie again. I grew out of the use of it as a tie but as a symbol to me, it was priceless. The feel of it on my hand is calming. You think someone who has punched Darkseid wouldn't need some item but I do. I am just a man in land of Gods. I always have it on me.

The left compartment on my utility belt has a secret compartment. You press the button on the front and hold the compartment down and there lies the tie, still with a microscopic splotch of my father or my mother's blood. On rough nights I hold the tie. Nights when I am a just second to late, when children lose parents, when I lose faith in myself, and it reminds me that there are always times when you will lose but there is always a chance for you to do better and greater the next time.

Thank you for reading. I saw the image that I will use for the header and thought of this.

Until Next Time...