Running Home
"Wallace," the voice of the teacher said, breaking through Wally's distracted thoughts.
"Yes, Ms. Kats," Wally said pulling his eyes from the window. He looked up at his teacher. It was so beautiful outside, and he would have much rather been out there than inside for hours waiting for the bell to ring.
"Why aren't you taking your test?" Ms. Kats asked kindly. She loved being a teacher. Some days she wondered what she had been thinking picking this career, but everyone had those moments.
"I finished it," Wally explained. His face had gone as red as his hair. He didn't like having the whole class looking at him, like he was a nerd. Sure he was smart and he knew it, but that didn't mean he wanted everyone calling him a nerd. Most of the kids in his class were his friends, but that didn't change how he felt.
The rest of school passed without any excitement for Wally. He wished that school lasted longer. He didn't want to go home just yet. Wally got to his feet as the bell rang loudly.
"Wallace, could I talk to you for a minute?" Ms. Kats asked smiling, but Wally could see that something was bothering her.
He stood in front of her desk as the other kids filed out of the class room.
"Is everything okay?" Ms. Kats asked.
"Yes," Wally answered. Why wouldn't it be? He was a little confused as to why he had to stay behind. He'd been getting A's, he hadn't had any problems with the others, and he hadn't been causing trouble in class.
"Well, you haven't been very…," she struggled for the right word. "Active in the class room." she said finally.
"But my grades-" Wally started. Sure he had been quiet lately, but he was doing his school work and it wasn't like the teachers liked it when the kids talked during class.
Ms. Kats put up a hand to stop him. "Have been good, excellent in fact, but you don't respond when I talk to you. I find you looking out the window almost all day. In short you're distracted. Can you tell me why?" Ms. Kats asked patiently. She was a little worried. This wasn't like Wally. He loved school. His hand was the first to shoot up when she asked a question about what they had been learning.
"I don't know," Wally said shortly. He looked down at his worn sneakers. "Ms. Kats, can I go now? I'll miss the bus."
"Alright, Wallace. I'll see you on Monday," Ms. Kats answered. She didn't know what to make of the ten year old's behavior. She would try and find out at the beginning of next week.
The bus ride home wasn't very long, but it gave Wally time to think without shouting in the back ground. He knew what was distracting him. He didn't mean to be, but it was hard to think about school when all he could think about was his parents.
Wally's dad had lost his job a few months ago and he couldn't find another one. His mom's job paid next to nothing. They had just gone through the last of their savings. To get to the point, things were hard.
Wally's parents had been fighting nonstop. He understood that married people fought. It was part of life, but this was different. This was all the time from the time his mom left for work and it would start up again the second his dad walked through the door from spending the day looking for a job. Wally would stay in his room and listen to them. Sometimes he would side with his mom and other times he saw where his dad was coming from. He never said anything while this was going on; he knew it would only make things worse.
The bus stopped and Wally and a few others got off. He walked the rest of the way home. He had always liked going on walks. He and his parents used to walk down to the park that was near their house, but they hadn't gone in a while. His mom was working double shifts, and his dad was trying to find some kind of job. There wasn't time for walks to the park anymore.
It was so calm and peaceful out. The trees were starting to bud and soon school would be out for the summer. Wally couldn't decide if he was happy to be on break or not. He loved to be outside, but he would be home all day and there would be no escaping the fighting. Maybe his dad would find a job and everything could be like how it used to.
Wally reached his small house. He was surprised to see his mom's blue car in the driveway. She should have been at work until five o'clock, and it was only three-thirty.
"I've had it, Rudolph!" Wally heard his mom scream. All of the neighbors could hear her, too. Wally's face turned red at the thought. They must think the worst of the Wests. "I'm leaving!" She said stuff like that all the time, so Wally wasn't worried.
He was about to open the door, when it was pulled open from the inside by his mom. She walked out of the house, a suitcase in each hand. It was then that Wally realized she'd hadn't been making meaningless threats. She really was leaving. He got out of the way of the suitcases. One of them was his.
"Mary, where do you think you're going?" Wally heard his dad shout. Rudolph stepped out of the house in time to see his wife throw the luggage in the trunk of her car.
Mary saw Wally. "Get in the car," she ordered, ignoring her husband. She had had enough of this. Mary was done with Rudolph and his pathetic inability to hold a steady job. She had gotten a hold of an old friend from high school who was in Metropolis. Her name was Lois Lane, and she had said Mary and Wallace could stay with her for while they got back on their feet.
Wally got in the car like he was told. He couldn't believe this was happening. It was so unreal, like something from a movie. What was even happening? Where was his mom planning on going? And why did he have to go? He wanted to stay at home. He didn't want her to leave, and he didn't want to leave. Things weren't really that bad, were they?
"I don't care if you leave, but you are not taking Wally," Rudolph shouted. He honestly didn't care if he never saw Mary again, but Wally was his son, his whole world. She wasn't going anywhere with him.
Wally didn't know what to do. He didn't want to be around his parents when they were fighting, so he got out of the other side of the car. He slipped away quietly and hid behind the shed that was on the side of the house, out of sight. His parents kept shouting and he heard what sounded like someone hitting the car. He looked out in time to see his dad jump back from the car as it roared to life and sped away. This would be the last time Wally saw his mom for a long time.
Rudolph went and sat down on the front steps, his head in his hands. He had tried to open the back door and get Wally out of the car, but Mary had gotten in and locked the doors. Rudolph had hit the metal over her window and screamed for her to stop, but she had just left. Mary had left with Wallace. What was he supposed to do? Call the cops? Would that be considered kidnapping? Where was she going?
Wally came out from behind the shed. As he got closer, Wally could tell his dad was crying. That scared him. His dad never cried, no matter what happened.
"Dad?" Wally asked in a whisper. He was within arm reach of the steps by now.
Rudolph's head shot up. Tears were on his cheeks, but his face lit up when his saw Wally. He pulled his son onto his lap and explained that things would be different from now on.
runninghome
It had been two weeks since Wally's mom had left. He missed her and it was hard. He tried not to think about it too much. The first few days he had worried when she didn't come home at five, but he had reminded himself that she wouldn't be back. Wally had ended up having to tell his teacher what had happened. She wouldn't stop asking what was wrong. She had looked very sorry and said things would be okay.
"I think I found work," Rudolph announced, when he got home that night. Wally had been home for a while, making what passed as hamburger helper. His cooking really needed practice.
"What is it?" Wally asked happily. If his dad got a job things would get better. Maybe his mom would come home. Wally told himself not to count on it. There was no sense in getting his hopes up.
"I'll tell you after supper. So how was school?" Rudolph asked as he sat down at the kitchen table. He was putting off telling Wally. It was bad enough, but then he had to go and tell his son what he was doing. How was he supposed to look his son in the face ever again? He would just have to get over it. There was nothing else to be done about it.
Wally talked about school while they ate. He ate quickly, excited to hear about his dad's day. He could tell something wasn't right, but he pushed the feeling to the back of his mind. Why wouldn't everything be fine?
"Leave the dishes for right now," Rudolph said, getting to his feet. He went over to the couch and sat down. Wally followed him and climbed up onto his lap. He had been clingier since Mary had left.
"So what are you going to be doing?" Wally asked, smiling up at his dad. He tried to smile even when he didn't feel like it, so his dad wouldn't see how sad he really was. He didn't have to try to smile now. They would be able to get things they needed. Wally didn't want to tell his dad, but he needed new shoes; the ones he had now were falling apart. Kids and teachers were starting to notice that his clothes were getting too small for him and were wearing out. Wally hated the pity in their eyes when they looked at him.
"Wallace, it's very important that you never tell anyone what I'm going to tell you. Okay?" Rudolph said seriously. He knew Wally could keep his mouth shut.
Wally nodded. Looked like that bad feeling he had had some foundation after all.
"I'm working with some people….what we're doing is against the law. Do you understand?" Rudolph asked. He couldn't believe he was telling this to his son, but then again he never thought Mary would leave, but look how that had turned out.
"Yes," Wally answered. He didn't know how to respond to this. This was coming from out of nowhere. What did his dad mean against the law? What was he doing? Part of Wally didn't want to know, so he didn't ask.
"We'll have money and everything will be okay again," Rudolph continued. "If anyone comes to the house asking for me just come get me as quick as you can. If I'm not home, don't answer the door. You got that?" He didn't trust the men he was working with and if he messed up they could come to the house, looking for him. He wasn't going to let his actions hurt Wally.
"Yes, Dad," Wally answered. He felt like crying. His dad was going to break the law. Were they really that desperate? He knew the answer to that was yes. He wished life could go back to how it was before his father lost his job, but he knew things would never be the same.
The reality of it all set in over the next few weeks. Wally learned about his dad's new friends. Their names were Max Cable, Mark Folds, and Frank Ruben. He didn't like them. They would come over to the house and be there all day, just sitting around watching TV. At night Wally's dad would go out and not come back till morning. On those nights Wally would sit up waiting for him to come back.
Wally told himself he did it so he could hug his dad, when he walked through the door, but the real reason was Wally thought his dad would leave him like his mom had. For some reason Wally felt that if he went to bed and fell asleep his dad wouldn't come home, but if he stayed up he would.
Wally's grades started falling. He fell asleep in class and on the playground. He had to make up for the sleepless nights at home somehow. His teachers just shrugged it off as him being upset that his mom was gone, and he said nothing to correct them. He never told anyone about what his dad had told him or anything really. He pulled away from all his friends. He'd found that it was easier to hide the truth the further he got from the people around him.
Wally figured out what was going on a few days after he and his dad had had their talk. He had been looking at the newspaper when his eyes landed on an article about a robbery at a gas station not too far from his house. Wally's dad had been out that night. The same thing happened again and again. Wally didn't have to be a genius to see who was committing the robberies. He'd stopped reading the paper after that.
Wally sighed as he walked home from the last day of school for the summer. When he got home Max, Mark, Frank, and his dad weren't sitting on the couch waiting for dark. Instead the three men weren't there and his dad was in the kitchen, cleaning.
"Your Aunt Iris is coming over to visit and she's bringing her new husband. I need you to clean the living room up," Rudolph said almost without looking up. He didn't really want to see his sister at the moment. She had a good job and the respect of the family. He was the black sheep. They had been close growing up, but he had purposefully cut ties with her and everyone else. She didn't seem to get the message and continued to call. She had even invited him to her wedding.
Wally quickly got to work. He'd been doing a lot of the house work since his mom left, so he knew what needed to be done before their guests arrived. He didn't remember Aunt Iris very well, just a face in the crowd at Thanksgiving and Easter. There was one time she had let him sit on her lap. He'd been five at the time and his parents had gone in the other room to scream at each other. Everyone had been able to hear them so it didn't matter whether they had stayed or not.
He wondered what her husband was like. He hoped he was nice. Of what little Wally remembered of his aunt she had always been kind to him and everyone else. She deserved someone nice and good like her. Wally had learned not to put too much hope in people, so he wasn't going to bet on his new uncle being anyone more than someone who his aunt had found convenient to marry.
runninghome
Barry glanced around at the neighborhood as he drove. He was starting to think Iris didn't know where her brother lived.
"Are we on the right road?" he asked Iris who was smiling at him. They had planned to get married for so long and they finally had. Their dreams were really coming true. They had had some rough times and come away closer because of it. Iris had nearly locked him up when she found that he was the Flash. She had calmed down after a bit and she understood why he had to do this.
"Yes," Iris answered. "This area didn't use to be this rough." There were no kids play outside of the homes, even though it was warm out and the whole place had a watched fearful aura about it.
"Is everything alright with you and your brother? He's not mad at you for something is he?" Barry asked. He had been an only child safe for an older step-brother who hadn't really been around when he was growing up, so he didn't really understand how sibling relationships were.
Iris sighed. "I don't know. He did sound funny on the phone and he hasn't called lately. I know he didn't come to wedding, but he said he had to work that day."
"What's his wife like?" Barry asked. He was trying to get an idea of the family he had married into. So far all of the Wests he had met had been very nice, all a little standoffish, but that was just because they didn't know him yet.
"Mary is pretty nice, but she has a temper just like Rudolph's. They can get into some loud arguments when they're both worked up. They've been married for about eleven years and had Wally ten years ago," Iris said happily. Wally was by far her favorite nephew, not that she let anyone know that. He was a sweet little boy while most of her other nephews and nieces were spoiled and could be really bratty when they didn't get what they wanted.
"I think you showed me a picture of him. Red hair, big green eyes, right?" Barry said thinking back to that picture. There was something sad about the little boy's eyes.
"That's him. He's so quiet and-. Oh there's their house," Iris said pointing to a house at the end of the block.
It was small and looked neglected. It had been painted white, but now the paint was so chipped away and dirty that Barry almost couldn't tell what color it had been. The lawn which no one had bothered to water was dead.
Nice place, Barry couldn't help thinking. He parked the car, and he and Iris got out. They walked up to the front door, and Iris rang the doorbell.
runninghome
Wally just finished straightening up the bathroom when he heard the doorbell ring. His dad was in the master bedroom shaving, so he went to answer the door. He found himself looking up at Aunt Iris and a man about her age with blond hair and blue eyes.
"Hi, Wally," his aunt said sweetly. She stepped into the house and gave him a hug.
"Hello, Aunt Iris," Wally said hugging his aunt back. She reminded him of his mom when she was in a good mood. They both had red hair and brown eyes. Iris could have been his mom's sister with how much they looked alike.
"This is your new uncle. His name is Barry," Aunt Iris said turning to the man.
"Hello," Wally said shyly.
"Hi, Kiddo," Uncle Barry said, smiling. He offered a big hand for Wally to shake, which he did. "Are you a Flash fan?" he asked looking at Wally's shirt. It was red and had a yellow lightning bolt on it.
Wally nodded. "He's the coolest superhero ever," he said seriously. Sometimes he wished Flash would catch his dad and the others, so they would stop stealing from people, but other times he was glad they didn't get caught.
"I have to agree," Barry said. Great, the kid already liked him.
"I'll get Dad," Wally said and went to let his dad know their guests were there. It was nice to have people over that were just normal family. It had been so long since anyone other than his dad's friends had come to the house.
Rudolph came out and the two of them went to the living room. He had had to explain to the others why they couldn't hang out at his place that day. They had been annoyed at the news. They didn't want to be at their homes all day, but they didn't want to anything to look suspicious so they had found somewhere else to go.
"It's been a long time," Rudolph said hugging his sister.
"Too long," Iris said clearly happy. She could feel that something wasn't right, but she was going to ignore it. She was happy, and no one was going to mess that up. "This is my husband," she said gesturing to Barry. Iris had hoped Rudolph would be more welcoming, but she could see that she was just going to have to put up with whatever kind of mood he was in today. He had liked doing that when they were little. Everything had depended on what he decided his mood was going to be that day.
"It's good to meet," Rudolph said, shaking Barry's hand. Okay, so maybe he was going to have a good attitude.
"Where's Mary?" Iris asked, listening for the sound of her sister-in-law's step, but she didn't hear anything. Iris noticed that Rudolph and Mary's wedding picture that had always hung on the back wall was gone. That wasn't a good sign.
Rudolph stiffened. "Wally, can you go up to your room for a minute?" He didn't like to talk about Mary with Wally around. It was as if they didn't talk about her then nothing had happened or changed. At least that was how Rudolph felt. He knew he had failed and talking about that with Wally around just made it worse.
Wally had sat down in a chair out of the way, but he got up now and left the room. He knew his dad didn't like to talk about his mom. He understood, he didn't like to think about how things had changed.
"Mary left me about a month ago," Rudolph said flatly. There, it was out.
There was a long moment of shocked silence.
"Rudolph, I'm so sorry. Why didn't you call me?" Iris said. She felt awful. She should have seen something was wrong when her brother had stopped calling.
"I don't know. I just couldn't," Rudolph said. What good would calling her do? Could Iris get him a job? Could she get Mary to come home? Could the new Mrs. Allen help him in any way? The answer to all of these questions was no. Iris couldn't do a thing so there was no reason for Rudolph to try to be part of her life. Maybe he could at least get some sympathy out of all this. "She tried to take Wally with her, but he hid until she was gone." He had them. The both felt sorry for him. Good. It a few months he would ask them for a 'loan' and then he would get himself and Wally out of Central City. The police were getting too close and they would be looking even harder after the hitch at the gas station last night. Besides splitting the money four ways didn't go very far.
"Wally, you can come down now," Rudolph said loudly.
Barry looked up to the top of the stairs, when the little boy appeared. He understood the sadness in Wally's eyes now. How could someone leave their child? Sure Mary had tried to take him with her, but she hadn't come back for him. Some people just couldn't put aside themselves to take care of what was their responsibility.
Wally came down and sat near his dad. He was very quiet, but Barry could tell he was listening closely to everything that was being said.
Iris was trying to think of something to talk about that would take everyone's minds off the fact that Mary wasn't there. She brought up the first thing that popped in her head.
"Have you heard about all those robberies lately?" Iris asked. "They've all been in this area, I think." She had been worrying about that. What if those people broke into her brother's house? She hoped the police or Flash would catch them soon. The neighborhood where she and Barry had moved to was one of the nicer areas in Central City and two of their neighbors were detectives as well as Barry's coworkers.
Wally felt like throwing up. Those were the robberies his father had committed. It was bad enough to know they were happening, but to hear people talking about them was a thousand times worse.
"Yeah. It's been in the paper almost every day. How many times do they have to rob someone before the cops catch them?" Rudolph said calmly. He hadn't even blinked when his sister brought up his crimes. He was honestly proud that he and the others had evaded the police and the Flash for so long, but he knew their luck would run out.
"Well, they've upped their game. Last night they shot a store clerk," Barry said darkly. He'd been there to look at the crime scene and to take the body away. The clerk hadn't had any weapons or way to defend himself. The next time these people stuck the Flash would stop them.
Rudolph sent Barry a look. "What is it you do?"
"CCPD: CSI," Barry answered. "That's how I met Iris. She was reporting on Mayor Conway's murder and I had just been transferred to that part of the city." Iris had just moved from Keystone City, Kansas, to Central City, Missouri. She hadn't had any family or friends in the area and she and Barry had become close over a short space of time.
Iris had said that Rudolph and Mary moved to Central after he had lost his job and a friend from high school had had a job for him in Central City.
Wally, who hadn't been looking well for the past few minutes, got up the nerve to ask a question. "What does CSI stand for?"
"Crime Scene Investigator," Barry answered. He was glad Wally had asked him a question. Iris had told him that her nephew was shy and didn't talk to anyone much, unless it was about science, and then he would talk for hours. "When someone commits a crime I look at the science part of it, like DNA, finger prints and ballistics. That way I can tell who did it and how."
"Oh," was Wally said. He would have liked to ask some more questions, but he was scared he might let something slip about what his dad had done. A little while later Iris and Barry left the old house.
"Dad?" Wally asked. His voice was shaking. He didn't want to ask this question, but he had to know.
"Yeah, buddy," Rudolph answered. He had gone to the kitchen to get something to drink, but he was back now.
"Did you shoot that man?" Wally asked. Maybe Max, Mark or Frank had done it.
Rudolph didn't look too happy at that question, but he answered it. "Yes, I did. He was going for his phone, and I couldn't let him call the cops." He was calm as he said this.
Now, Wally really did feel sick. He jumped to his feet and ran to the kitchen. Wally spent the next few minutes throwing up everything he had eaten that day into the sink. How could his dad kill someone? What if the police found out? Of course they would find out; they always found out.
"Wally," Rudolph said gently. He was standing in the doorway, looking at his son. "Are you okay?"
Wally shook his head. No, he was not okay. How could he be okay? How could anything ever be okay again? He sat down on the cracked tile floor and started to cry.
Rudolph went over to his son and sat down next to him on the floor. He rubbed circles on Wally's back until he stopped crying.
"Dad?" Wally asked. He was hard to understand around his shaky breaths.
"Yes, Wallace," Rudolph answered. How could he do this to Wally? He was getting out of Central City as soon as he could. Maybe they could go Keystone. Wally would like it there.
"You wore gloves, and the gun wasn't yours, right?" Wally asked. He was terrified that his dad would be arrested. Part of him knew his father should get in trouble, but Wally didn't want that to happen.
"Of course, buddy. I won't let your uncle catch me," Rudolph said, faking a smile. He silently added to himself. 'And I won't let anyone take you from me.'
runninghome
"Did that seem weird to you?" Iris asked as Barry started the car.
"A little," Barry answered carefully. Something was definitely off, but he didn't really want to upset Iris by telling her that.
"I can't believe Mary left. I know she and Rudolph always had problems, but it was never bad enough to break up an eleven year marriage," Iris said sadly.
"Did Wally seem okay to you?" Barry asked. He was worried about his nephew. It had to be hard to lose his mom like that. Top that off with the fact that he clearly needed new clothes and more food.
"I think he's just sad about his mom," Iris answered. That was the only explanation she could think of. "Plus he's probably scared with all the robberies around here."
"Maybe," Barry said thoughtfully.