Chapter 7: Bonding With the 'Rents
* Morning With Dad *
"So dad, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Ephram asked nervously while watching his father in a concentrated attempt to snag a piece of raw squid onto the shiny silver hook tied to the line of his fishing rod.
"Of course I know what I'm doing. I've seen people do it many times. How hard can it be?" Andy spoke confidently. Abruptly, the slimy piece of squid slipped out of his grasp and landed on the pavement therefore causing him to accidentally prick his index finger with the hook. "Ow! Damn!!" He exclaimed shaking his hand and sticking it in his mouth to suck out blood.
"You ought to let me do it." Ephram offered and picked up the squid.
"No, no. I gotta do this myself." Andy said with determination. He took the squid from Ephram's hands and proceeded to bait his hook a second time.
"Maybe it wasn't such a hot idea to go fishing. We should've stuck with the arcade instead." Ephram hesitated watching painfully at his father practically mutilating the piece of squid into shreds.
"What? And let you beat me at Racer Derby for the 1 billionth time - I think not. The fresh air will do us both some good." Andy eyed Ephram wittingly. "Besides, I love fishing."
"And it shows." Ephram said sarcastically.
"Do I sense some irony there?" Andy humored.
"Look dad, I know what you're doing. I appreciate us having our father-son outing every Saturday for the past few weeks and I enjoyed it. Really, I have. But you don't have to do this anymore. I don't want to make you do stuff you don't want to do." Ephram remarked.
"OK, so I don't know the first thing about fishing. But it's always good to try new things. Who knows, maybe with beginner's luck, I'll catch the big one today." Andy showed Ephram his successfully hooked bait dangling at the end of his line.
"I'm just saying, it's not like I'm going to kill myself the second you turn your back, you know."
"Hey, do you think this is all about you? I WANT to spend time with you. You don't realize how the people at the hospital are slowly driving me insane. Everyone from colleagues to patients - they all seem to have their own 'expert' opinions on everything. I need to get away from all that chaos at least for a day. And it's an extra special treat that I get to spend it with you. These few weeks, you've shown me a whole new side to life and I may not be good at anything we do, but I sure as hell had a blast trying. I need this as much as you do." Andy lectured with a touch of good-humor. "So we will have no talk of you killing yourself or any remote form of self- destruction - ok?" Andy caught a small grin on Ephram's face.
It was hard but they made it work. Andy vowed himself to spend more time with his son. Saturdays were dad days and Sundays were mom days. On Saturdays, father and son time was spent at the Broadway City Arcade in Times Square, rollerblading in Central Park, playing an intense game of laser tag at the Lazer Park Arena, and going bowling at the Bowl-A-Rama. On Sundays, mother and son went shopping, saw movies, ate at pricey restaurants for lunch, and browsed thru different museums - Ephram's favorite was Madame Tussand's Wax Museum. Ephram got to pick the activity. And this Saturday, it was shore fishing at Jamaica Bay off Canarsie Pier in Brooklyn with his father. Obviously enough, fishing was not one of Andy's better skills.
"Now, let's fish." Andy said casting his line into the water. Ephram did the same and they sat down on their lawn chairs.
Ephram looked around and noticed a few other avid fishermen also awaiting their first bites. He set his eyes on an old silver haired plump man attaching a sharp, three hook lure to his line while puffing merrily away on his cigar. The man was dressed in a pale pink Hawaiian shirt and black jogging shorts with boat shoes. Tattooed on his hairy arm was a blue-inked serpent. In New York, if one was to wear a bag over his head and called it fashion, he could get away with it. Everything was a fashion statement. But this guy was something else. Nobody dressed like this. He was asking to be stoned. Ephram found him most curious.
Ephram watched the small fishing boats drifting out in the distance as the sunlight danced on the water making it appear like the bay was scattered with thousands of diamonds. He absorbed the occasional crashing of the waves against the pier mingled with the cawing of seagulls hanging in mid air searching ravenously for their meals. A breeze brought over the faint odor of the cigar Mr. Serpent Tattoo was smoking. And the light murmur of folks comparing and sharing their fishing stories buzzed thru Ephram's ears as he tried to block out the human noise and concentrate on nature's sounds. He closed his eyes and breathed in the salty, damp air. His nerves were unwinding knot by knot.
"Hmmm.Dad, I wish it can be like this forever." Ephram stretched and zipped up his windbreaker.
"Me too. I love you, son." Andy replied savoring the moment.
"I love you too." Ephram whispered and grinned from ear to ear.
Father and son laughed and joked about how they kept losing bait to intelligent fish because each time they reeled back their lines, the bait on the hook were gone. They were oblivious to fish eating the bait off their hooks. Neither of them cared if they caught anything though. They were only aiming for a good time - just hanging out exchanging laughs and stories.
Lunch consisted of homemade turkey sandwiches with all the fixings and cold V8's. It was a hearty and healthy lunch Julia had packed for them early that morning. Andy and Ephram devoured their food hungrily as a few seagulls stood by watching impatiently for any falling crumbs. Ephram threw a piece of crust in the direction of the seagulls causing them to animate with excitement. A big gray gull dove down scooping up the piece of bread in its beak and took flight making its getaway. The flutter of wings and loud squawks of nearby gulls followed by more such sounds from a flock of gulls approaching the area waiting for Ephram to toss another wedge of crust. Ephram couldn't help but laugh at the funny gulls jealously clawing and peeking at each other just to get the next piece of bread. 'Survival of the fittest, Charles Darwin was right' Ephram thought.
Ephram baited his hook again - this time he used a quarter of a white crab. He cast his line into the water and set the rod against the railing. He stared at Mr. Serpent Tattoo again and watched him crunching on potato chips and chugging down a can of beer shortly after. The man had put on dark sunglasses and a baseball cap to shield him from the sun's rays.
"Hey Ephram, I think you have a bite!!" Andy yelled. Ephram saw this line pulling and immediately grabbed hold of the pole. "Reel him in." Andy rooted.
"I'm trying." Ephram said as he turned the crank on the reel with difficulty. The tip of his metallic blue fishing rod curved into a U. "Wow, it feels like it weighs a ton!! Dad, help." Ephram exclaimed wide-eyed.
"No. You're going to do this yourself. It wouldn't be any fun if you didn't reel in your first catch." Andy refused. "You can do it! I know you can."
"This gives a whole new meaning to The Old Man and the Sea." Ephram shouted in excitement.
Ephram stuck the end of the pole under his armpit and kept reeling slowly occasionally letting a few yards of line go to discourage the fish. Then Ephram gave a sudden jerk on his pole and continued to turn the crank on the reel. Eventually, the fish reached the water's surface and everyone's attention fell on Ephram. At the end of the line was a gleaming sea bass flipping around. It was by far the biggest fish Ephram had ever caught - eleven inches including the fin and head. Mr. Serpent Tattoo came over and helped Ephram scoop the fish up with a long fishing net.
"Kid, you've got a live one there. The biggest bastard anyone's caught in days." He grunted admiring Ephram's catch.
"Uh, thanks." Ephram said scratching his head. He crouched on the pavement studying the tossing fish until it got tired of flapping around. "Wow! Wait until mom sees this!!" Ephram cried and looked at his father.
"She'll be proud." Andy smiled.
After storing the sea bass in their cooler, Ephram strolled down the pier to check other people's fishing buckets and coolers to see what they caught. Reaching the empty end of the pier, he stepped onto the curb and grasped both hands and leaned against the rusted iron railing. He gazed out into the clear blue skies and was able to see some far away islands and trees. Everwood was becoming a vague memory. This was the first moment in days since he's thought about Everwood. He congratulated himself mentally and blinked in the sun's warm afternoon rays.
Ephram opened his eyes and for a split second, the world seemed to swim around him. He shook his head and squinted into the greenish water. He watched the little waves colliding with each other creating white bubbly foam above the surface. His vision blurred slightly as he grabbed the railing to steady his balance. 'Whoa. That was too close,' Ephram thought as his vision cleared up. He started walking back to their fishing spot feeling nauseated and lightheaded.
'Please don't let this be the onset of a seizure. Please, oh please,' Ephram prayed as he quickened his pace.
He finally plopped down on his lawn chair happy that he made it back to their spot without passing out or having a seizure. Andy had been quite busy untangling his line when he noticed Ephram reappear in his seat.
"Are the fish also biting for everyone else?" Andy asked with his eyes still on his now unraveled fishing line. Not hearing a prompt reply, Andy looked up at his son. "Ephram, you ok?" He asked noticing Ephram's sudden quietness.
"Yea. I think so." Ephram swallowed. "Just kinda dizzy for a minute there. But I'm fine now."
"We should leave." Andy urged as he worriedly looking at Ephram's profile.
"No. I said I'm fine." Ephram faced his father. Ephram's pale face and glossy eyes told Andy his son was not well.
"Ephram, you're not fine. We're going home." Andy started gathering their things in a hurry.
"But we're not done fishing." He mumbled.
"It's only the end of July. We've still got all of August. Oh, I think we'll be back. So, help me with the cooler will you?" Andy said. Ephram wasn't up for an argument so he obeyed and loaded up the car.
It was bumper to bumper on the Belt Parkway. The traffic was once again unbelievable. Cars and trucks were inching their way at snail's pace. Andy had turned on the car air conditioner and watched Ephram closely making sure he was alright. Ephram was preoccupied busily with rummaging thru the totes by his knees. And when he couldn't find what he was looking for, he turned around and stuck his torso between the driver and passenger seats and searched thru the bags in the back seats.
"Ephram, what are you looking for?" Andy finally said. "You have ants in your pants or something?"
"Nope. I found what I wanted." Ephram replied as he sat back down and re- buckled his seat belt.
"What's that?" Andy nodded to the scrunched plastic bag in his son's hand.
"You don't want me to puke all over your car, now do you?" Ephram sneered. "Dad, I'm ok. I feel a bit nauseous. It'll pass." He reassured.
"I don't like this. First dizzy spells and now nausea. I'm worried about you." He reached over and felt his son's forehead. "You're a bit warm."
"Basking too much in the sun will do that to a person." Ephram stated. "Really, I'm fine."
The traffic started loosening up and the cars moved along slowly. The car rocked over a few potholes and Ephram really thought he was going to hurl, but it didn't happen. He clutched the plastic bag in his convulsing hands. Andy hadn't realized how sick Ephram was until that moment.
"Son?" Andy called after a pause.
"I'm going to take a nap." Ephram rested his head against his seat.
"Sure. Go ahead. I'll wake you when we get home." Andy said with growing concern.
The rest of the ride home was smooth and Epham slept the whole way. When he woke, he felt much better and the nausea was gone. But that didn't stop Andy from still feeling uneasy. They managed to lug all their equipment back to the apartment from the garage in one trip.
"Mom! We're home." Ephram yelled as they entered the apartment. He dropped all his things and headed for the kitchen.
"You guys are back early." Julia commented from the kitchen. "I didn't expect you to be back until 5 o'clock."
"Yea. Ephram's sick." Andy called from the foyer.
"What? Ephram, sweetheart, are you alright?" Julia cooed as she saw her son come into the kitchen.
"He's exaggerating. I wasn't sick." Ephram lied. "I feel fine."
"That's what he thinks. He was running a slight fever." Andy approached.
"Come here darling." Julia beckoned putting her hand on Ephram's cheek and forehead. "Hmmm - you still feel warm. My poor baby." She pulled him into a hug.
"Oh mom. I'm lightly toasted from being out in the sun too long - that's why I feel warm." He laughed and accepted his mother's hug. "Mom, Mom! You would never guess what I caught today!!" He said digging thru his windbreaker jacket pockets. "Look! We took pictures!" He produced two Polaroid photos from his pockets. "There was a guy at the pier who had a Polaroid camera with him and when I caught the fish, he offered to take my photo. Even dad took a picture with the fish he caught."
"Well, let's see them baby." Julia said.
"See, this one's me with the big one. It was the biggest sea bass I'd ever caught." Ephram gave her the picture. "Eleven inches." He said proudly.
The picture showed him standing by the railing holding onto a fishing rod in one hand and in the other hand was the fishing line still attached to the hooked sea bass. Ephram was grinning like the Cheshire cat in the photo.
"Wow. That's amazing!! Is that what's in the cooler?" Julia gestured at the red Igloo cooler. Ephram nodded. "Cool - we're having fresh fish tonight for dinner." She kissed Ephram once on the cheek and once on the top of his head.
"And here's the picture of dad." Ephram handed her the second photo. She clapped her hands over her mouth to stop from bursting into a fit of laughter upon seeing the photo.
"Andy, are you sure the fish you're posing with in this picture isn't really the bait?! It's so tiny!" Julia cackled. Ephram laughed at his mother's joke.
"Hey, I resent that. If only you knew how difficult it was to catch that sucker." Andy pouted and slipped his arms around Julia's waist from behind.
"If it wasn't for Ephram's finesse at fishing, we would've been stuck eating 20 of these mini-sardines for dinner." Julia declared.
"What can I say, Ephram's a natural." Andy kissed his wife on the cheek. "But it doesn't change the fact that he's sick. He almost threw up in the car today."
"Is that so?" Julia questioned Ephram in distress.
"Da-ad. Stop making up rumors about me." Ephram said rolling his eyes.
"His face was a pale shade of seaweed." Andy added. Julia cringed in horror and gazed at her son.
"Ephram, why don't you take a nice hot refreshing bath while I make some peppermint tea. Then we can talk over tea - if you feel up to it. Ok, hun?" Julia suggested. Ephram nodded and disappeared into the bedroom.
"I'm worried now Andy. He's so fragile. What if he IS sick? And I'm not talking about just a head cold." She hinted.
"He seems to have too much spunk in him right now to appear too sick. We'll see how he is tomorrow and if he's worse, I'll just swing him by the hospital and have him checked out." Andy replied.
* Night with Mom *
"Are you feeling better?" Julia asked as they curled comfortably on the living room sofa in front of the television surrounded by pillows while sharing a large light blanket.
"Yea. A lot better." Ephram replied. "I thought I was going to have a seizure back there. But I didn't. It was scary."
"That's it. We're going for a check up tomorrow. I don't care what you or your father says." She decided. Ephram put his head against her shoulder and she swung her arm around his shoulders.
"How's your hand?" Ephram asked tracing the long pink scar on her wrist with his index finger.
"It's ok. Doesn't hurt as much. But it's stiff sometimes." She answered while twirling his hair with her other hand. Ephram kissed her scar gently. "With your healing kiss, it's now officially cured of pain."
"Dinner was delicious." Ephram said.
"Well, thanks for catching it. We owe it all to you. I've never tasted such a fine fish!" She smacked her lips. "It wasn't anything compared to the small ones your father caught."
"They were just the right size for Delia though." Ephram giggled.
"She was surprised your father was even able to catch one. Did you see how her eyes widened when we told her your father caught fish?" They chuckled.
"Mom, I don't know how you got a hold of 'X-Men 2' on DVD so fast." Ephram squealed in delight switching his attention to the soft flicker of the television screen in the darkened room. "This is so cool!! You're the best!"
"It's a bootleg. Totally illegal." She winked. "I was walking down Canal Street with Delia this morning and I came across it. I know how much you were raving about this movie even before it opened. And since you didn't get to see it in the theaters, I figured you'd enjoy it at home."
"Yea, great timing for a coma." He snuggled closer to his mother on the sofa. "Too bad Dad's not seeing this with us."
"Your poor father is exhausted from being a fisherman today. Let him sleep. We can watch it again with him and Delia tomorrow. Tonight, it's just you and me."
He couldn't ask for a happier way to end the day. Ephram felt so far from harm lying in his mother's gentle hold. He studied his mother's radiant face. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail revealing a beautiful flawless complexion and a smooth wrinkle-free forehead. Her green eyes sparkled from the reflection of the TV. Her well-defined cheekbones made her face appear slim and angular. It seemed she had not aged one bit. Ephram could see why his father had fallen in love with her. He was able to smell the fragrant lavender lotion she had rubbed on her arms.
"Why are you staring at me? The movie is over there." She said catching her son's fixed gaze. Embarrassed from being caught, Ephram quickly turned his attention back to Wolverine slashing the life out of intruders entering the school for the gifted. Before long, his mind drifted back to his mother's comforting hold.
"Promise me you'll never leave me. Ever." Ephram whispered as a hot tear ran down his face and dripped aimlessly onto Julia's hand.
"Sweetie, are you crying? Oh no, why are you crying? I will never leave you." She looked at him and he only hugged her tighter. He didn't look into her eyes. He couldn't. Tears fell. She kissed him on the head. "Don't cry. Momma loves you." She hushed stroking his back.
"I love you." He sobbed softly.
"Baby, I've never doubted your love. You've always been my pride and joy." Julia professed. "I will never let anyone hurt you."
Fatigued from the day's events both mentally and physically, Ephram fell asleep missing the X-men's unexpected visit with the President of the United States in the oval office expressing the need for mutant freedom and acceptance. Ephram was so dead tired that even a herd of stampeding rhinos couldn't get him to move. All he wanted was to hold his mother and sleep.
It seemed so real. He couldn't tell if he was in a dream or if it was really happening. His eyes opened and he found himself still curled up on the living room sofa with the blanket drawn close to his neck. He realized his cheek was no longer resting against his mother's lap like the original position he had fallen asleep in. His cheek was, in fact, resting against the sofa where his mother had been sitting. Ephram raised his head and found the television still on. Static buzzed as silver glittery 'snow' filled the screen. He squinted around the living room and came to a stop when he noticed his mother's slender figure by the window. Her hair was no longer in a ponytail. It flowed down her shoulders like gossamer of fine silk. He was mesmerized by her beauty and thought it was the moonlight casting illusions over his eyes. The pulsating orb made her resemble the moon goddess exerting her tremendous power of control.
* end of chapter 7 *
* Morning With Dad *
"So dad, are you sure you know what you're doing?" Ephram asked nervously while watching his father in a concentrated attempt to snag a piece of raw squid onto the shiny silver hook tied to the line of his fishing rod.
"Of course I know what I'm doing. I've seen people do it many times. How hard can it be?" Andy spoke confidently. Abruptly, the slimy piece of squid slipped out of his grasp and landed on the pavement therefore causing him to accidentally prick his index finger with the hook. "Ow! Damn!!" He exclaimed shaking his hand and sticking it in his mouth to suck out blood.
"You ought to let me do it." Ephram offered and picked up the squid.
"No, no. I gotta do this myself." Andy said with determination. He took the squid from Ephram's hands and proceeded to bait his hook a second time.
"Maybe it wasn't such a hot idea to go fishing. We should've stuck with the arcade instead." Ephram hesitated watching painfully at his father practically mutilating the piece of squid into shreds.
"What? And let you beat me at Racer Derby for the 1 billionth time - I think not. The fresh air will do us both some good." Andy eyed Ephram wittingly. "Besides, I love fishing."
"And it shows." Ephram said sarcastically.
"Do I sense some irony there?" Andy humored.
"Look dad, I know what you're doing. I appreciate us having our father-son outing every Saturday for the past few weeks and I enjoyed it. Really, I have. But you don't have to do this anymore. I don't want to make you do stuff you don't want to do." Ephram remarked.
"OK, so I don't know the first thing about fishing. But it's always good to try new things. Who knows, maybe with beginner's luck, I'll catch the big one today." Andy showed Ephram his successfully hooked bait dangling at the end of his line.
"I'm just saying, it's not like I'm going to kill myself the second you turn your back, you know."
"Hey, do you think this is all about you? I WANT to spend time with you. You don't realize how the people at the hospital are slowly driving me insane. Everyone from colleagues to patients - they all seem to have their own 'expert' opinions on everything. I need to get away from all that chaos at least for a day. And it's an extra special treat that I get to spend it with you. These few weeks, you've shown me a whole new side to life and I may not be good at anything we do, but I sure as hell had a blast trying. I need this as much as you do." Andy lectured with a touch of good-humor. "So we will have no talk of you killing yourself or any remote form of self- destruction - ok?" Andy caught a small grin on Ephram's face.
It was hard but they made it work. Andy vowed himself to spend more time with his son. Saturdays were dad days and Sundays were mom days. On Saturdays, father and son time was spent at the Broadway City Arcade in Times Square, rollerblading in Central Park, playing an intense game of laser tag at the Lazer Park Arena, and going bowling at the Bowl-A-Rama. On Sundays, mother and son went shopping, saw movies, ate at pricey restaurants for lunch, and browsed thru different museums - Ephram's favorite was Madame Tussand's Wax Museum. Ephram got to pick the activity. And this Saturday, it was shore fishing at Jamaica Bay off Canarsie Pier in Brooklyn with his father. Obviously enough, fishing was not one of Andy's better skills.
"Now, let's fish." Andy said casting his line into the water. Ephram did the same and they sat down on their lawn chairs.
Ephram looked around and noticed a few other avid fishermen also awaiting their first bites. He set his eyes on an old silver haired plump man attaching a sharp, three hook lure to his line while puffing merrily away on his cigar. The man was dressed in a pale pink Hawaiian shirt and black jogging shorts with boat shoes. Tattooed on his hairy arm was a blue-inked serpent. In New York, if one was to wear a bag over his head and called it fashion, he could get away with it. Everything was a fashion statement. But this guy was something else. Nobody dressed like this. He was asking to be stoned. Ephram found him most curious.
Ephram watched the small fishing boats drifting out in the distance as the sunlight danced on the water making it appear like the bay was scattered with thousands of diamonds. He absorbed the occasional crashing of the waves against the pier mingled with the cawing of seagulls hanging in mid air searching ravenously for their meals. A breeze brought over the faint odor of the cigar Mr. Serpent Tattoo was smoking. And the light murmur of folks comparing and sharing their fishing stories buzzed thru Ephram's ears as he tried to block out the human noise and concentrate on nature's sounds. He closed his eyes and breathed in the salty, damp air. His nerves were unwinding knot by knot.
"Hmmm.Dad, I wish it can be like this forever." Ephram stretched and zipped up his windbreaker.
"Me too. I love you, son." Andy replied savoring the moment.
"I love you too." Ephram whispered and grinned from ear to ear.
Father and son laughed and joked about how they kept losing bait to intelligent fish because each time they reeled back their lines, the bait on the hook were gone. They were oblivious to fish eating the bait off their hooks. Neither of them cared if they caught anything though. They were only aiming for a good time - just hanging out exchanging laughs and stories.
Lunch consisted of homemade turkey sandwiches with all the fixings and cold V8's. It was a hearty and healthy lunch Julia had packed for them early that morning. Andy and Ephram devoured their food hungrily as a few seagulls stood by watching impatiently for any falling crumbs. Ephram threw a piece of crust in the direction of the seagulls causing them to animate with excitement. A big gray gull dove down scooping up the piece of bread in its beak and took flight making its getaway. The flutter of wings and loud squawks of nearby gulls followed by more such sounds from a flock of gulls approaching the area waiting for Ephram to toss another wedge of crust. Ephram couldn't help but laugh at the funny gulls jealously clawing and peeking at each other just to get the next piece of bread. 'Survival of the fittest, Charles Darwin was right' Ephram thought.
Ephram baited his hook again - this time he used a quarter of a white crab. He cast his line into the water and set the rod against the railing. He stared at Mr. Serpent Tattoo again and watched him crunching on potato chips and chugging down a can of beer shortly after. The man had put on dark sunglasses and a baseball cap to shield him from the sun's rays.
"Hey Ephram, I think you have a bite!!" Andy yelled. Ephram saw this line pulling and immediately grabbed hold of the pole. "Reel him in." Andy rooted.
"I'm trying." Ephram said as he turned the crank on the reel with difficulty. The tip of his metallic blue fishing rod curved into a U. "Wow, it feels like it weighs a ton!! Dad, help." Ephram exclaimed wide-eyed.
"No. You're going to do this yourself. It wouldn't be any fun if you didn't reel in your first catch." Andy refused. "You can do it! I know you can."
"This gives a whole new meaning to The Old Man and the Sea." Ephram shouted in excitement.
Ephram stuck the end of the pole under his armpit and kept reeling slowly occasionally letting a few yards of line go to discourage the fish. Then Ephram gave a sudden jerk on his pole and continued to turn the crank on the reel. Eventually, the fish reached the water's surface and everyone's attention fell on Ephram. At the end of the line was a gleaming sea bass flipping around. It was by far the biggest fish Ephram had ever caught - eleven inches including the fin and head. Mr. Serpent Tattoo came over and helped Ephram scoop the fish up with a long fishing net.
"Kid, you've got a live one there. The biggest bastard anyone's caught in days." He grunted admiring Ephram's catch.
"Uh, thanks." Ephram said scratching his head. He crouched on the pavement studying the tossing fish until it got tired of flapping around. "Wow! Wait until mom sees this!!" Ephram cried and looked at his father.
"She'll be proud." Andy smiled.
After storing the sea bass in their cooler, Ephram strolled down the pier to check other people's fishing buckets and coolers to see what they caught. Reaching the empty end of the pier, he stepped onto the curb and grasped both hands and leaned against the rusted iron railing. He gazed out into the clear blue skies and was able to see some far away islands and trees. Everwood was becoming a vague memory. This was the first moment in days since he's thought about Everwood. He congratulated himself mentally and blinked in the sun's warm afternoon rays.
Ephram opened his eyes and for a split second, the world seemed to swim around him. He shook his head and squinted into the greenish water. He watched the little waves colliding with each other creating white bubbly foam above the surface. His vision blurred slightly as he grabbed the railing to steady his balance. 'Whoa. That was too close,' Ephram thought as his vision cleared up. He started walking back to their fishing spot feeling nauseated and lightheaded.
'Please don't let this be the onset of a seizure. Please, oh please,' Ephram prayed as he quickened his pace.
He finally plopped down on his lawn chair happy that he made it back to their spot without passing out or having a seizure. Andy had been quite busy untangling his line when he noticed Ephram reappear in his seat.
"Are the fish also biting for everyone else?" Andy asked with his eyes still on his now unraveled fishing line. Not hearing a prompt reply, Andy looked up at his son. "Ephram, you ok?" He asked noticing Ephram's sudden quietness.
"Yea. I think so." Ephram swallowed. "Just kinda dizzy for a minute there. But I'm fine now."
"We should leave." Andy urged as he worriedly looking at Ephram's profile.
"No. I said I'm fine." Ephram faced his father. Ephram's pale face and glossy eyes told Andy his son was not well.
"Ephram, you're not fine. We're going home." Andy started gathering their things in a hurry.
"But we're not done fishing." He mumbled.
"It's only the end of July. We've still got all of August. Oh, I think we'll be back. So, help me with the cooler will you?" Andy said. Ephram wasn't up for an argument so he obeyed and loaded up the car.
It was bumper to bumper on the Belt Parkway. The traffic was once again unbelievable. Cars and trucks were inching their way at snail's pace. Andy had turned on the car air conditioner and watched Ephram closely making sure he was alright. Ephram was preoccupied busily with rummaging thru the totes by his knees. And when he couldn't find what he was looking for, he turned around and stuck his torso between the driver and passenger seats and searched thru the bags in the back seats.
"Ephram, what are you looking for?" Andy finally said. "You have ants in your pants or something?"
"Nope. I found what I wanted." Ephram replied as he sat back down and re- buckled his seat belt.
"What's that?" Andy nodded to the scrunched plastic bag in his son's hand.
"You don't want me to puke all over your car, now do you?" Ephram sneered. "Dad, I'm ok. I feel a bit nauseous. It'll pass." He reassured.
"I don't like this. First dizzy spells and now nausea. I'm worried about you." He reached over and felt his son's forehead. "You're a bit warm."
"Basking too much in the sun will do that to a person." Ephram stated. "Really, I'm fine."
The traffic started loosening up and the cars moved along slowly. The car rocked over a few potholes and Ephram really thought he was going to hurl, but it didn't happen. He clutched the plastic bag in his convulsing hands. Andy hadn't realized how sick Ephram was until that moment.
"Son?" Andy called after a pause.
"I'm going to take a nap." Ephram rested his head against his seat.
"Sure. Go ahead. I'll wake you when we get home." Andy said with growing concern.
The rest of the ride home was smooth and Epham slept the whole way. When he woke, he felt much better and the nausea was gone. But that didn't stop Andy from still feeling uneasy. They managed to lug all their equipment back to the apartment from the garage in one trip.
"Mom! We're home." Ephram yelled as they entered the apartment. He dropped all his things and headed for the kitchen.
"You guys are back early." Julia commented from the kitchen. "I didn't expect you to be back until 5 o'clock."
"Yea. Ephram's sick." Andy called from the foyer.
"What? Ephram, sweetheart, are you alright?" Julia cooed as she saw her son come into the kitchen.
"He's exaggerating. I wasn't sick." Ephram lied. "I feel fine."
"That's what he thinks. He was running a slight fever." Andy approached.
"Come here darling." Julia beckoned putting her hand on Ephram's cheek and forehead. "Hmmm - you still feel warm. My poor baby." She pulled him into a hug.
"Oh mom. I'm lightly toasted from being out in the sun too long - that's why I feel warm." He laughed and accepted his mother's hug. "Mom, Mom! You would never guess what I caught today!!" He said digging thru his windbreaker jacket pockets. "Look! We took pictures!" He produced two Polaroid photos from his pockets. "There was a guy at the pier who had a Polaroid camera with him and when I caught the fish, he offered to take my photo. Even dad took a picture with the fish he caught."
"Well, let's see them baby." Julia said.
"See, this one's me with the big one. It was the biggest sea bass I'd ever caught." Ephram gave her the picture. "Eleven inches." He said proudly.
The picture showed him standing by the railing holding onto a fishing rod in one hand and in the other hand was the fishing line still attached to the hooked sea bass. Ephram was grinning like the Cheshire cat in the photo.
"Wow. That's amazing!! Is that what's in the cooler?" Julia gestured at the red Igloo cooler. Ephram nodded. "Cool - we're having fresh fish tonight for dinner." She kissed Ephram once on the cheek and once on the top of his head.
"And here's the picture of dad." Ephram handed her the second photo. She clapped her hands over her mouth to stop from bursting into a fit of laughter upon seeing the photo.
"Andy, are you sure the fish you're posing with in this picture isn't really the bait?! It's so tiny!" Julia cackled. Ephram laughed at his mother's joke.
"Hey, I resent that. If only you knew how difficult it was to catch that sucker." Andy pouted and slipped his arms around Julia's waist from behind.
"If it wasn't for Ephram's finesse at fishing, we would've been stuck eating 20 of these mini-sardines for dinner." Julia declared.
"What can I say, Ephram's a natural." Andy kissed his wife on the cheek. "But it doesn't change the fact that he's sick. He almost threw up in the car today."
"Is that so?" Julia questioned Ephram in distress.
"Da-ad. Stop making up rumors about me." Ephram said rolling his eyes.
"His face was a pale shade of seaweed." Andy added. Julia cringed in horror and gazed at her son.
"Ephram, why don't you take a nice hot refreshing bath while I make some peppermint tea. Then we can talk over tea - if you feel up to it. Ok, hun?" Julia suggested. Ephram nodded and disappeared into the bedroom.
"I'm worried now Andy. He's so fragile. What if he IS sick? And I'm not talking about just a head cold." She hinted.
"He seems to have too much spunk in him right now to appear too sick. We'll see how he is tomorrow and if he's worse, I'll just swing him by the hospital and have him checked out." Andy replied.
* Night with Mom *
"Are you feeling better?" Julia asked as they curled comfortably on the living room sofa in front of the television surrounded by pillows while sharing a large light blanket.
"Yea. A lot better." Ephram replied. "I thought I was going to have a seizure back there. But I didn't. It was scary."
"That's it. We're going for a check up tomorrow. I don't care what you or your father says." She decided. Ephram put his head against her shoulder and she swung her arm around his shoulders.
"How's your hand?" Ephram asked tracing the long pink scar on her wrist with his index finger.
"It's ok. Doesn't hurt as much. But it's stiff sometimes." She answered while twirling his hair with her other hand. Ephram kissed her scar gently. "With your healing kiss, it's now officially cured of pain."
"Dinner was delicious." Ephram said.
"Well, thanks for catching it. We owe it all to you. I've never tasted such a fine fish!" She smacked her lips. "It wasn't anything compared to the small ones your father caught."
"They were just the right size for Delia though." Ephram giggled.
"She was surprised your father was even able to catch one. Did you see how her eyes widened when we told her your father caught fish?" They chuckled.
"Mom, I don't know how you got a hold of 'X-Men 2' on DVD so fast." Ephram squealed in delight switching his attention to the soft flicker of the television screen in the darkened room. "This is so cool!! You're the best!"
"It's a bootleg. Totally illegal." She winked. "I was walking down Canal Street with Delia this morning and I came across it. I know how much you were raving about this movie even before it opened. And since you didn't get to see it in the theaters, I figured you'd enjoy it at home."
"Yea, great timing for a coma." He snuggled closer to his mother on the sofa. "Too bad Dad's not seeing this with us."
"Your poor father is exhausted from being a fisherman today. Let him sleep. We can watch it again with him and Delia tomorrow. Tonight, it's just you and me."
He couldn't ask for a happier way to end the day. Ephram felt so far from harm lying in his mother's gentle hold. He studied his mother's radiant face. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail revealing a beautiful flawless complexion and a smooth wrinkle-free forehead. Her green eyes sparkled from the reflection of the TV. Her well-defined cheekbones made her face appear slim and angular. It seemed she had not aged one bit. Ephram could see why his father had fallen in love with her. He was able to smell the fragrant lavender lotion she had rubbed on her arms.
"Why are you staring at me? The movie is over there." She said catching her son's fixed gaze. Embarrassed from being caught, Ephram quickly turned his attention back to Wolverine slashing the life out of intruders entering the school for the gifted. Before long, his mind drifted back to his mother's comforting hold.
"Promise me you'll never leave me. Ever." Ephram whispered as a hot tear ran down his face and dripped aimlessly onto Julia's hand.
"Sweetie, are you crying? Oh no, why are you crying? I will never leave you." She looked at him and he only hugged her tighter. He didn't look into her eyes. He couldn't. Tears fell. She kissed him on the head. "Don't cry. Momma loves you." She hushed stroking his back.
"I love you." He sobbed softly.
"Baby, I've never doubted your love. You've always been my pride and joy." Julia professed. "I will never let anyone hurt you."
Fatigued from the day's events both mentally and physically, Ephram fell asleep missing the X-men's unexpected visit with the President of the United States in the oval office expressing the need for mutant freedom and acceptance. Ephram was so dead tired that even a herd of stampeding rhinos couldn't get him to move. All he wanted was to hold his mother and sleep.
It seemed so real. He couldn't tell if he was in a dream or if it was really happening. His eyes opened and he found himself still curled up on the living room sofa with the blanket drawn close to his neck. He realized his cheek was no longer resting against his mother's lap like the original position he had fallen asleep in. His cheek was, in fact, resting against the sofa where his mother had been sitting. Ephram raised his head and found the television still on. Static buzzed as silver glittery 'snow' filled the screen. He squinted around the living room and came to a stop when he noticed his mother's slender figure by the window. Her hair was no longer in a ponytail. It flowed down her shoulders like gossamer of fine silk. He was mesmerized by her beauty and thought it was the moonlight casting illusions over his eyes. The pulsating orb made her resemble the moon goddess exerting her tremendous power of control.
* end of chapter 7 *