Final Chapter

After buying and paying for the friendship bracelet, Harold was left with nineteen of Jerry's four hundred dollars. As he walked out of the shop, he looked nervously down at the remaining money in his hands. As he ran the humble dollar bills through his fingers, Penny's spiteful warning was burning in his mind. In the few lousy days that he'd spent with her, he hadn't known her to be truthful, but he couldn't argue that she wasn't smart. She was certainly smart enough to trick boys into doing whatever she asked them to do. What if she was smart enough to know how Jerry would react to Harold's actions? Harold made his way back to the house hoping she wasn't speaking out of personal experience. After all, he wasn't the first sucker she'd fooled.

By the time Harold had changed into his swim trunks and made his way for the beach, it was around half past four. The sunset had created a beautiful blend of bright colors, but Harold had no time to observe it. Instead, his sight was set upon his friends and their dads splashing in the shallow water. Jerry wasn't among them though. Harold found him apparently sleeping on a towel under a beach umbrella, though he was dressed for swimming, wearing only a dark teal pair of swim trunks. Still, Harold was glad that he was separate from the others. It saved him the trouble of having to ask if they could speak privately.

Harold took a deep breath and slowly approached his sleeping father. When he reached him, he almost reconsidered. Jerry looked peaceful as he napped. It felt cruel to have to wake him, but Harold decided that it couldn't wait. So he knelt down and lightly patted Jerry on the shoulder.

"Dad?"

Jerry heard him and slowly opened his eyes. When he saw Harold, he sat up. "Yeah, Son?"

Already, Harold regretted waking him. "I'm sorry, are you tired?"

"Just a little," said Jerry. "The others were playing Chicken and I didn't have a partner so I came back here and got bored. But now that you've decided to join us…"

"No, Dad," Harold interrupted. "I need to talk to you."

"Oh? Well sit next to me and tell me everything."

Harold nodded and sat down next to Jerry. But he had a bit of trouble trying to get words to escape his lips.

"What's wrong, Harold?" Jerry asked.

"Well…" Harold started. "I guess I should start by giving you this."

He reached into his pocket, pulled out the nineteen dollars, and held it out to Jerry, who took it with a confused look on his face.

"What's this?" he asked.

"It's what's left of your four hundred dollars," Harold confessed.

"What?"

"You didn't lose it, Dad," Harold continued. "I took it."

Harold nervously shut his eyes and waited for Jerry to respond, but he didn't so Harold continued.

"But I didn't mean to… Well… Actually I kinda did, but… I didn't. That girl Penny we met the other day, the real pretty one, she made me. She tricked me into taking it, 'cause I knew you wouldn't let me have it. And then she spent almost all of it on stuff for her and… I actually thought she liked me, but she was only using me. And now I just feel rotten. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, and I'm sorry I took your money, and I'm sorry if I ruined the whole trip for you. And I understand if you never wanna see me again. So go ahead and kick me to the curb. Take away my clothes, and my room, and everything else that's mine. And let me live on the streets… Okay, I'm done."

A few moments of complete silence passed.

"I see," Jerry said slowly.

Harold looked up at him. "Is that all you're gonna say?"

"No," Jerry replied. "I'm just trying to make sense of all this."

"I took your money, that's all you need to know," said Harold, on the verge of tears. "I'm a lousy son. You and Mom deserve better than me. Now go ahead and disown me."

What Jerry did next rather surprised Harold.

"Never," Jerry said, throwing his arms around Harold. "Never, Harold."

Harold was stunned by this, but it didn't prevent him from throwing his own arms around Jerry's shoulders and weeping in his bare chest. Once again, he felt the same warmth he felt the other night when he crawled into bed with Jerry. He realized now that it was warmth that only a loving person could provide: something Penny could never understand.

"I'm sorry that happened to you," said Jerry.

"No," Harold protested. "I'm the one that should be sorry. You've always been a great dad and I repaid it by stealing from you and wasting your money."

"Harold, you've done worse than this and I haven't even considered disowning you," said Jerry. "Not even when you stole from Mr. Green."

That was another event Harold didn't like to be reminded of.

"Just remember that you never have to be afraid to come to me," Jerry continued. "No matter what you've done, your mother and I are always there for you."

"Thanks, Dad," said Harold with a sniff. "I just can't believe how stupid I was to think a girl like her could actually like me."

"Think nothing of it," said Jerry. "She's the one who was stupid. She missed the opportunity to get to know a great kid like you. But remember, you're at that time in your life when you're beginning to be attracted to beautiful girls. Now that's not a bad thing, but you have to remember that looks aren't everything."

"I know that now," said Harold, clinging tighter to his father. "But I'm done with girls for now. I just wanna be with you."

"That's sweet," said Jerry. "Still, it's too bad your surprise won't be happening. We can't do it with just nineteen dollars."

"That's okay. What was it anyway?" Harold asked.

"Well I might as well tell you," said Jerry. "I was going to treat us to the Oceanview Spa. We could've gotten massages, mud baths, facials, and hot fudge sundaes."

"Well that sounds nice and all, but… Did you say hot fudge sundaes?"

Jerry chuckled. "But now that I think about it, none of that could be better than this incredible sunset."

Harold looked out at the setting sun, mesmerized by the radiant colors of the sky. Dazzling shades of purple, orange, yellow, pink, and blue all in a vast, endless sky. The sight was breathtaking, and the other boys and their dads were missing it.

"Don't they even know what they're missing?" Harold asked.

"Never mind them," said Jerry. "It means more for us."

Harold smiled with his head on Jerry's shoulder. "Yeah. I can't believe I'm saying this, but this is actually better than all the hot fudge sundaes in the world."

"I can't believe you're saying that either," Jerry said with a small laugh. "But you're right. I can't think of anything that'd make this moment better."

Suddenly, Harold remembered something. "Oh wait, there is one thing that can."

"What's that?" asked Jerry.

"Well let's just say it's my turn to surprise you now," Harold replied. "Close your eyes and hold out your hand."

Jerry shrugged and did as he was told. Then Harold pulled the friendship bracelet from his pocket and quietly fastened it around Jerry's wrist.

"Okay, open your eyes."

Jerry opened his eyes and looked down at the humble yarn trinket on his wrist.

"What's this?" he asked.

"A friendship bracelet," Harold replied. "Just something to say I'm sorry for everything."

Jerry smiled. "That's sweet of you, Son, but you didn't have to buy me anything to make it up to me."

Harold looked puzzled. "I didn't?"

"No," said Jerry. "All you have to do is spend time with me for the rest of the week."

"Oh, well I can do that," Harold said with a smile. The smile vanished as soon as it came. Harold curled up against Jerry's shoulder again and moped. "I am sorry, though."

Jerry threw an arm around his son and gently replied, "I know."

The End

Author's Note: Hope you all enjoyed it! But I won't take all the credit for it. This story was actually inspired by a deviantart picture by Mery1984. It was a request I made to her, and I liked it so much that I wrote this story. For those who are interested, you can see the picture here:

art/Listen-To-Me-My-Son-396794970?ga_submit_new=10%253A1377820119