Before I say anything, I would like to give a special kudos to my bestest friend forever Alexa. Thank you so much Alexa for helping me figure out what was going to go down in this chapter!
Muy mas abrazos!
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Chapter 7: Taken
'"We'll see about that." What the hell does that mean?', Dirk Strider went over his father's words at least a hundred times in his head. Dirk spent the next hour trying to make sense of his father's words. The only conclusion that Dirk could come up with is that...
'He wouldn't seriously try and, no he wouldn't. He COULDN'T. Not even ruthless business tycoon Derrick Strider would stoop that low', Dirk thought. 'But still, what if he...', Dirk's mind wondered. A bad feeling began to make it's presence known deep in Dirk's gut. Derrick Strider was up to something. What exactly was he planning? Dirk Strider didn't know. What he did know was that he had to make sure Derrick never made contact with Dave again.
The fear of what their father might do, almost made Dirk want to bring Dave home from the Egbert's immediately. But, if their dad showed up here again, he didn't want Dave to see what he would do if Derrick showed up again. And besides, he felt Dave was safe over at the Egbert's anyway. The Striders and Egberts have known each other since Dave and John were in preschool. They have grown to trust one another very well. And Mr. Egbert treated Dave no differently than he treats his own son. And Dirk was fairly certain that if Derrick showed up over there then Mr. Egbert wouldn't dare let Derrick get anywhere near Dave. And besides, Dirk felt Derrick didn't have the balls to do something as bold as to show up at a friend's house and demand to see Dave.
'Maybe I should call and check in on the Little Man. Just to make sure.'
"Hush you guys, Bro's calling."
"Hello?", Dave said answering his phone. "Hey Little Man. Whatcha doin'", Dirk said. Dave caught the sound of his brother's voice. It didn't sound right, it sounded distressed. "Nothin', just talking. What's going on?" "Well, I just talked to Dad. It didn't go to well.", that's all Dirk said. He didn't tell him all what took place. He didn't want to scare him. "Ow, what all happened?" "I tried to talk to him. He wouldn't listen and he stormed out.", Dirk lied to his brother. Yeah, that didn't bring any comfort to Dave at all. He knew his brother was lying to him and he knew something was up. But what? Dave wanted to press the matter, but he knew now was neither the time nor place to discuss it. "Are you okay?", Dirk asked his brother. "Yeah, yeah just thinking that's all." "Well, if you need anything just call me okay." "Okay." "Alright, well I'll see ya later Little Man. Love you." "Love you too Bro. See ya." The two brothers hung up.
"Did Bro talk to y'all's dad?", John asked. "Yeah.", Dave answered. "What did he say?", Jade chimed in. "He said he talked to Dad, but it didn't go so well. He said that Dad didn't listen to anything he had to say and stormed out." "You're not buying that are you?", Rose asked suspiciously. "Not one bit.", Dave answered.
"Okay, what all has exactly been going on?", Rose asked. "Okay Dr. Lalonde, you want it from the beginning?" "From the beginning."
Dave sat down on John's bed and told his friends everything that's been going on to as far he knew. He told them how at the department store, how he was kinda demanding that Dave let him do all that stuff for him and how he irritated he got at the cashier when she thought Dirk was his father, not Derrick. Dave told them how in the past 4-5 days that Derrick was becoming increasingly possessive over him. That at home, he basically controlled his every move, and even picked out the clothes that Dave would wear the next day. Dave admitted that he was uncomfortable around Derrick and was actually scared to be left alone with him when Dirk was at work. Dave said that for the past three days, that he has been taking 2 sleeping pills every night after Dirk leaves for work, so that he won't up with the man for too long.
That bit of information was very disturbing to Rose. If Derrick was as controlling and possessive as Dave made him out to be; then who knows what Derrick could have been doing to Dave when he was out of it. Dave said that he already saw him standing over him one night; and for the past three nights, and for Dave knew, the man could have been...Rose's mind wouldn't go there.
"Okay Dave, to your knowledge. How is the relationship between Bro and y'all's dad?", Rose continued questioning, changing the subject. Dave held his hands up in defeat on that one. "Oh God, don't even get me started on those two."
Dave told them that he didn't know much, but just by the way things feel when those two are around each other, that things between them couldn't have been good. He told them what he told John yesterday, how things at his house felt like that tension you when you try to push two negative magnets together.
After Dave had told them everything he could, Rose could only come up with one conclusion.
"Well, Dave. From what you told me, it sounds like your dad has Borderline Personality Disorder and Bipolar Disorder.", Rose concluded. Rose's conclusion made sense to Dave. That DEFINITELY would explain Derrick's erratic behavior. But, something like BPD and Bipolar Disorder just doesn't come up over night. Derrick's probably had it for years.
Dave plopped his head on John's pillow at the major headache that was coming on. All this speculation, it just rattles the brain.
"Thank you Dr. Lalonde, but I think that's enough psychiatric evaluation for one day.", Jade said. "Now, how's bought some mind numbing video games to kick this party off.", John said. "Egbert, you read my frayed little mind."
All four kids immersed themselves in hours of video games and didn't bring up the subject Derrick Strider any longer. The kids enjoyed their time together, spending hours upon hours playing games, watching movies, and telling stories. It was the first ounce of normalcy that Dave has had since his father made his way into back into the picture.
But still, Dave couldn't shake the feeling that this wasn't going to be the last time that he or his brother would have to deal with their father.
And honestly, he wished it was.
The next day, all four kids arose happily at the fact that it was their day of school. The four could tell, that it was going to be a big day. A very big day indeed. Mr. Egbert got them all ready and swisked them off promptly for their last day of school.
Once at school; Dave, John, and Jade all stayed in the homeroom that they were fortunate enough to share together. For the last day of school, their teacher let the class watch a movie.
But, before the teacher could dismiss the class for lunchtime, she got a call to send Dave up front for check out. Normally, Dave would have been alighted to get out of school early. Not today, he was set to spend the weekend with the Egbert's. That could only mean one thing, something was wrong.
Dave quickly made his way to the front office to see why he was being checked out on the last day of school. Dave could feel the blood drain from his face when he saw his father talking to the woman at the counter. What was he doing here?
'Oh no, Bro!' That was the only thing that could come to Dave's mind, that something had happened to his bro.
"Dad! What's wrong? Did something happen to Bro?", Dave ran up to his father.
"Hello Dave!", Derrick gleefully greeted and wrapped his arms around his son, "No nothing happened to Dirk. He's alright." Dave hugged their father in return. The news came at a relief to Dave, but it raised more questions than it answered. If something wasn't wrong with his bro, then why was he here?
"What happened to your nose Dad?", Dave pointed out the bandage around Derrick's nose. "Oh, it's nothing.", Derrick laughed it off, "I fell down the last few stairs yesterday coming down from the apartment." "Ouch, Bro always warned me to watch those stairs."
"Anyway, Dave we need to be going." "Where are we going?" "You just need to come with me.", Derrick said in a low voice. Dave really didn't want to go anywhere with the man until he got some answers, but he didn't want his father to get mad at him, so he went with him quietly.
"Dad, what's going on?", Dave asked once inside his father's Escalade. Derrick put on a blank face and showed him the piece of paper he had in his coat pocket. It was the custody paper that he shown Dirk, with Dirk's 'signature' on it.
One night while Dirk was at work, he snuck a document with Dirk's signature on it and forged his signature onto the custody paper.
"W-w-what?", Dave sobbed as he looked over the paper. Right there, in black and white, was his 'brother's' signature. Dave didn't know what to think. He was confused, scared, and angry.
'How can Bro do this to me? Doesn't he want me anymore? Am I that much of a burden to him that he would just give up on me?', Dave cried in his head.
"Now, David, listen to me. Your brother loves you very much and only done this because he was sure it would be the best thing for you.", Derrick put on a sympathetic face and spoke calmly to his son. "But why?", Dave cried. "I don't know son.", Derrick embraced him, "All I know is that he wouldn't have done it if he wasn't sure that it was the absolute best for you. He told me that you need stability in your life, and that was something that he just couldn't provide for you. He told me to tell you that he's sorry that he wasn't a better brother and that he loves you with all his heart. He told me to take good care of you." "May-maybe if I talk to him then he'll..." "Nononononono, you don't want to do that. It'll just make you two even more upset.", Derrick told him.
Dave didn't know what to think right now. He was so hurt and mad at his bro that he couldn't hardly stand it. "How, how can he abandon me like that?", Dave sobbed. "Oh Dave, I don't know. Some people just aren't fit to raise children. They just can't handle the responsibility.", Derrick lied through his teeth to his weeping son. "He said it was the hardest thing that he's ever had to do. But he wouldn't have done it if he wasn't for sure that it was the right thing to do."
Derrick let Dave cry his eyes out on his shoulder for a few minutes. "It's okay Dave, everything's gonna be alright.", Derrick rubbed his back to try and comfort him.
Dave was still scared, confused and angry at his bro. 'Why would he do this to me? Was I too much for him to handle? Maybe I am better off with Dad.', Dave's thoughts raged.
"Come on.", Dave sniffled, "Let's get out of here." His voice was dripping with anger.
"Let's go home, son.", Derrick grinned slickly at his son and drove off.
Dave leaned his face on the window. 'Fine. If Bro doesn't want me anymore, then atleast I have someone who does.'
Derrick looked out the corner of his eye and smirked.
Derrick Strider always got what he wanted, one way or another.
