Heart of an Only Child

By: PurpleCobra247

Rated M for sexual content, adult language, blood and gore, and strong violence

Chapter 1: Born with Fate

For most people, the world isn't so bad, but for others, it can be Hell before they know it. This is pretty much all that's been happening for one particular person… ever since his fifth birthday. He goes by the name of Tommy Jaymes Jones, a man whose name was chosen by his celebrating drunk father, Johnnie Thompson Jones. For the Jones', having Tommy added to the family was a blessing for Johnnie and his beautiful wife, Karthaji Flakyss Jones. There's only one odd thing about this family and Tommy: They are all interracial. Johnnie is pure African American while his wife, Karthaji, is Korean and, as for cute little baby boy Tommy, he was a perfect mixture of the two completely different races. He had his father's skin tone, but has his Mother's smoothness of her Korean skin. He also had his Mother's unique bright green eyes, his Father's hair color, and even the hair was as silky as his Mother's. In other words, guessing his race as he grows will be harder to accomplish than trying to complete every single level in Pac-Man!

After Tommy's birth, time seemed to fly by so fast for the Jones family. He progressed quickly when it came to development. He learned how to walk by age two and he learned his first word, which was "chocolate", by age three. He learned the words "Mother", "Father", "Daddy", and "Mama" not too long after that. By his fourth birthday, he learned how to ride his first tricycle. So, peaceful walks were a breeze because their son would be right next to his parents on his tricycle.

On this beautiful spring day, Johnnie, Karthaji, and Tommy on his tricycle were on their way to nowhere in particular. They were just walking around the neighborhood and, as Karthaji was walking alongside her husband with Tommy not too far in front of them, she smiled with pure happiness as she saw her son's appearance.

"Johnnie, just look at Tommy." She started the conversation with her sweet, but motherly deep female voice. "His hair is already stopping right below his neck at his age of four. How can he progress so quickly, honey? It's just shocking to me."

"Maybe he's just one'a dose boys who has a growth spurt thang goin' on." Johnnie replied in his Southern accent. "Dere ain't too many boys like 'im 'round dese here parts, ya know."

"True, but I just can't help but wonder if… Tommy will be… different from other boys when he gets older."

"He probably will be, baby, but dat ain't gonna stop 'im from gettin' his education. He's passing his class like a champ!"

"He sure is… and he seems to know so much already as well. It's a good thing that Parent and Teacher Conferences are tomorrow afternoon. I really need to know how well Tommy is doing."

"I'm doing good, Mommy." Tommy replied quickly in his adorable four year old boy's voice as they were just turning a corner. Karthaji smiled with love as Johnnie did the same. "I do really good."

"I know you do, son." Johnnie agreed. "See, baby? He's confident."

"I still want to hear from the teacher, though." Karthaji protested gently.

The next day…

Parent and Teacher Conferences were under way at Tommy's preschool and so far, no bad reports were made about any of his classmates, especially his best friend, Bobby Dawson Fallace, who was only one race, which was African American. It was finally Tommy's family's turn to meet and greet the teacher, who was a sweet elderly woman, dressed in a simple pink dress and matching flat shoes.

"Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Jones." She greeted in her gentle voice of a loving Grandmother. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you both."

"The pleasure's all ours, ma'am." Johnnie replied as he sat in a chair with Tommy in his lap next to Karthaji. "How has our son been doin' here?"

"He has been an absolute angel. Ever since that incident with that bully three weeks ago, he has been getting along well with Bobby and his grades are just fantastic. He doesn't even fail naptime."

"Awww, that's great."

"What does puzzle me, however, is this thing he does when he's the first to wake up from his nap. He just… sits there… on his cot… with his head bowed and eyes closed… until everybody else wakes up. Then, he acts as though he's never done it before in his life. What's that about?"

"Hmmmm…" Karthaji hummed in deep thought. "How often does he do this?"

"Every school day."

"Well, he's never done that at home… unless… Tommy?"

"Yes, Mother?" Tommy replied back as sweetly as possible.

"Do you do this thing you do at school at home as well?"

"Before I go to sleep, yeah."

"Why do you do that, son?" Johnnie asked with partial shock.

"I mentally speak with this guy named Fate. He keeps telling me that I'm gonna be the best looking man in the world when I grow up… and I'll be a super cool football player, too."

"Oh, my God…" Both of his parents gasped with shock with the teacher.

"This must be a shocker to you both obviously." The teacher pointed out. "Do you have a motive behind this, Tommy?"

"No. I just talk to him." Tommy replied with honesty.

"Well, Johnnie and Karthaji, what say you?"

"I say 'MY GOD!'." Johnnie replied with humor. Karthaji shook her head with uncertainty.

"I…" She started. "…don't know what to say. Why speak to Fate, Tommy?"

"No reason." Tommy admitted again, which was a little eerie to both of his parents and his teacher.

"Riiiiiiiiiiiight." Johnnie muttered with sarcasm.

Later, on that same night…

Johnnie and Karthaji were just getting into bed for the night. Johnnie turned off his lamp on his respective side of the bed before he laid down on his pillow, but Karthaji was just lying on her back with her lamp still on, not taking Tommy's "conversations" with Fate off of her mind. She stared at nothing in particular at the ceiling as she sighed with deep thought.

"Johnnie…" She started in a whisper. "…I can't sleep, baby."

"I figured that, sweetheart." Johnnie agreed tiredly, still laid down, but facing his wife. "I don't know how I'm even sleepy."

"What if… what if Tommy's so-called 'conversations with a guy named Fate' are actually visions of so many things to come?"

"Well, if dey ain't dreams, den dey must be visions."

"Hmm! I actually don't like what Tommy's doing."

"Why not, Mommy?" Tommy came in unexpectedly. He was standing at the open door of his parent's bedroom with a frown on his adorable face. Karthaji frowned with him as he approached her side of the bed and held his arms up, ready to be picked up. Seconds after she did so, she gently laid his head down on her chest and gently rubbed his back for comfort as he continued. "Most of those conversations are good."

"I know, but do you have these 'conversations' because you're a bit lonely? Being the only child and all?" It was silent for the next three minutes as Tommy stared into his Mother's identical green eyes as he thought about the question. Johnnie slowly sat up and thought hard about the question as well. Tommy knew that his 'conversations' were more than just visions of the future, but they were giving him somebody imaginary to talk to during his alone time, which is always while others are sleeping. Whether he does it at school or home, the excuse is always the same: He was indeed… lonely… with no brothers or sisters to interact with. When cute little Tommy saw that as his true motivation for his visions, he started crying in a millisecond with tears of extreme sadness pouring out of his eyes like a pair of waterfalls. The screams were too loud for any parent to handle, but to Karthaji and Johnnie, it was nothing more than a sad melody playing at its loudest capacity, sending a strong aura of nothing but sorrow all throughout the room.

Karthaji held her crying son close to her chest, letting his massive tears drench her nightgown as she was slowly starting to cry with him. Johnnie kept his determined face on as he was getting teary-eyed as well.

"Well, damn it all." He muttered with anger as he turned around with his back facing his son and his wife. "It's too bad I had a vasectomy right afta Tommy was born."

"I had my tubes tied at around the same time as you, baby." Karthaji admitted through the screams. "What can we do?"

"Hmmm… What day is tomorra?"

"Saturday."

"Okay. Tomorra mornin', I want ya to meet me in da kitchen. I have a feelin' dat his cryin' might literally wear him out tonight."

"Why meet you in the kitchen?"

"I have an idea on how we can make these 'imaginary conversations wit Fate' go away."

The next morning…

"You want to start a humane animal adoption center?" Karthaji asked with shock as she was cooking breakfast. Johnnie was sitting at the table with his arms crossed on the table with confidence.

"Yep." Johnnie replied. "I already have da business experience and I know you've got da animal know-how."

"Yes, but my question is, what kind of animals will we raise for adoption?"

"You tell me. I want Tommy to interact with somethin', since he can't get no broddas or sistas."

"Hmmm… well, I do love animals dearly… but I don't just want to raise domestic animals. I want to raise exotic rare animals that nobody's ever seen before. I can even tame wild animals to be domesticated."

"Now ya talkin'! Dis will really send Tommy into pure happiness in no time flat."

"What about the money?"

"What about it? It doesn't matter how much money we earn outta dis. All dat matters is my only child's happiness!"

"Now you're speaking my language, honey."

And so, it officially began. The Jones' animal adoption center, called Animals of Happiness, was already a big hit the day after that announcement. They started out easy with raising domestic animals, like dogs, cats, birds, fish, and even reptiles that were housebroken or abandoned. As the business progressed, so did the number of animals… and the many types of animals. Karthaji's expertise in humane animal hunting really paid off at every harmless catch of numerous wild and rare animals. Tommy was on the scene of every catch and it made all the events of his nightly "conversations with Fate" seem like nothing more than supernatural dreams. Many customers adopted many strange creatures for one fair adoption fee of five dollars for domestic animals and seven dollars for wild or rare animals. In fact, it was such a big hit that they made over 700,000 dollars in one week!

So, for Tommy's fifth birthday, Johnnie promised him a trip of a lifetime to his favorite country: North Korea. Karthaji was impressed at the fact that he wanted to go there just to see his Korean roots, since their home was in Siberia, Russia. The trip was a promise, not a present, because Karthaji just received word from one of her childhood friends, Parlia Winstead, that a rare Siberian Tiger was spotted near the boundary line between Russia and Europe in a forest. Johnnie and Tommy had to stay home that day, due to the fact that the forest was a little too chilly for little Tommy to withstand.

On this fateful day, Karthaji and Parlia arrived at the location of the Siberian Tiger at around 1:32 PM, dressed in heavy coats to keep themselves warm. As they got out the truck, Karthaji spotted the tiger just lying in a grassy plain, minding his own business. Parlia was shocked to see the tiger being so content in a place like this. Karthaji expected this, thanks to her confident smile before she prepared her humane trap of freshwater salmon on the back on the truck with a ramp attached to the edge for the tiger to enter with.

"Seems like that tiger is already tamed." Parlia quoted in her sweet voice. "Catching him will be a piece of cake. I'll be soooooo jealous when I see who adopts this tiger once we catch him. Look at his fur."

"I see." Karthaji replied as she just finished laying down the ramp. "His fur is snow white, but he has pink stripes and purple eyes. I wonder how he came into existence."

"Who knows? Let's just be happy that he's here, alive, and ready to be adopted. I'll be in the truck. Be careful, girl."

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine. I've dealt with creatures like him before."

After that was said, Karthaji carefully approached the tiger with one of the delicious fish in her hand while she clicked her tongue to get his attention. After two minutes of trying, the tiger finally got her attention and softly roared with appreciation as he stood up from where he was and slowly started to approach her with a smile. Karthaji smiled with him as she carefully lured him towards her truck.

In the truck's passenger seat, Parlia was watching this event from a rear view mirror with a sweet smile, but it quickly turned into a frown as she saw what she didn't see before both of the women arrived: a steel trap… between Karthaji and the tiger. The shocking thing about this event was the fact that neither one of those two didn't see the trap in their path. Parlia was about to warn her best friend about the trap, but before she could even open the car door…

SNAP!

"ROAAAAAAARRRRRRR!" The tiger roared at his loudest as he stepped on the trap he didn't see and it was literally ripping off his right front paw as he tried to get himself free. Karthaji screamed with horror before she tried to help him get the trap off. Parlia poked her head out of the open car door and dashed out to help her best friend with the tiger. After five minutes, police sirens were heard and Parlia quickly ran towards the source of the sound and tried to plead to the officers that it was accidental, but they didn't buy it. They immediately accused Karthaji of being cruel to a rare animal and tried to arrest her. She resisted the arrest by dashing right through the row of officers in a flash and got in the driver's seat of the truck with Parlia not too far behind, getting in the passenger seat before Karthaji drove off in a crazy speed of 100 miles per hour.

Fifteen minutes later…

Johnnie and Tommy just saw Karthaji bust in through the front door of their house and she was breathing heavily with exhaustion with a look of fear all over her sweaty face. Johnnie was shocked and speechless, unable to utter any words of question, but as for Tommy, he had one brave question:

"Mommy, what did you do?"

Immediately after that was asked, the police busted in through the same door and tackled Karthaji towards the carpet floor face first with her arms held behind her back, ready to be handcuffed and put into custody. Johnnie was still speechless and shocked at the event, but Tommy was close to crying at any moment as he watched his sweet, sweet Mother get arrested from his Father's strong arms. Karthaji struggled with all her might and even kicked one of the officers on top of her on his ass and he reacted immediately by counterattacking with a tazer, shocking her with over 5,000 volts of electricity right at the nape of her neck. Seeing this finally made Johnnie speak with extreme anger.

"HEY!" He screamed at the top of his lungs. "WHAT'S ALL DIS SHIT ABOUT?"

"Sir, please do not interfere with this. Your wife is accused of animal cruelty and should be punished." The sheriff replied in a gruff country voice. "Please stay back, if you value your life."

"Ya'll know my wife would neva harm no animals! Ya'll must be stupid!"

"SIR! Don't make me arrest you as well for discrimination!"

"Grrrrr!"

Tommy's unusual watery glare towards the scene of the officers shocking his Mother gives him a piece of a revelation that he didn't want to remember. His conversation with Fate gave him the fact that something bad would happen to someone who is dear to him, but he didn't expect it to be his own Mother, who has been an angel even before he was born! He knows that she didn't do it, but the police were just stubborn about the idea. When the sheriff saw his gloomy stare, he whistled to stop the shocking, leaving Karthaji laying there in an unconscious state. The other officers were confused as to why.

"Johnnie, is that your son?" He asked. Johnnie's angry face became a look of confusion, but he remained cooperative.

"Uh… yeah. He's my son. This is Tommy. He just turned five yesterday." Johnnie replied in a calm voice.

"He's adorable. I don't want to send his Mother to jail, but according to the facts, a very rare animal has been hurt and she was on the scene when the attack happened. Therefore, we only have one other alternative…"

"Just name it, chief!"

"We can send her to a more peaceful prison where she will be treated with respect and you two can move to a home close to her."

"And where will that peaceful prison be?"

"Tokyo, Japan."

"O…kay. Hopefully, it's warmer over there, too. Can Tommy's best friend's family come with us? Tommy just gets lonely at school without his best friend."

"Sure."

"Good. How soon do we need to go?"

"Now."

And so, Tommy's little Fate conversations really paid off. Now, the next thing he faces: his possible future… in college.

To be continued…