"I told you, Tessa," Duncan said hanging up the phone and walking out of
the store office.
"Told me what?" she asked.
"He did it again."
"Who did. Richie?"
"Joel, if you want to get technical."
Tessa sighed and rolled her eyes. "What did he do this time?"
"Apparently he was at the center of a near riot in the cafeteria."
"What?"
"Food fights, fist fights, you name it; he started it."
"I doubt he started it all by himself someone else had to be involved."
"Why do you keep defending him, Tess? He's a trouble maker, we've know it from the start." Duncan threw his hands into the air and started pacing. "I don't know what to do, I can't get it through to him, this is ridiculous!"
"Richie is not a trouble maker," she defended him. "He just doesn't know how to behave."
"Then you need to teach him," Duncan said turning to face her. "This is getting way out of hand."
"I need to teach him? Don't you mean we?"
"I'll hit him," Duncan fumed. "The first smart-ass remark that comes out of his mouth I'm slappin' him. Tessa, I am going to seriously hurt him."
"Duncan, he just a boy! How can you say that?"
"I can't be around him right now," Duncan told her. "I'm too frustrated with him. I'm scared I will hurt him." He sank into a chair on display and held his head in his hands. "I want to help him, Tessa. I know its not all his fault; nobody raised him properly. But I'm getting too angry to deal with this."
"At least you can admit it," Tessa told him softly torn between being angry with him for having such thoughts, scared that he would think that, or happy he realized he had a problem. "Maybe you should get away for awhile. Take a trip. go to the cabin to clear your head and calm down."
Duncan looked up at her. "Do you think that's a good idea?"
"I think that if you feel you can't be around Richie, then you shouldn't," she told him. "I'll take care of him, take as long as you need. The last thing we need is for you to scare him away. Then he'd get into serious trouble."
"You think I should leave?" Duncan repeated.
"I think you should. You can't think like that, Duncan. I know it was common when you grew up, but you can't hit a child."
"I know. I don't want to, but scared I will."
"Then go. I'll explain everything to Richie when I pick him up from school."
"He's going to hate me, Tessa," Duncan said quietly.
"I'll explain it to him, I'll make sure he understands."
That afternoon Tessa picked up Richie after detention.
"Figured it'd be Mac," he said quietly as he got into the car.
"Duncan left."
"He what!?"
"Not permanently," Tessa assured him forgetting momentarily about Richie's father. "He just needed to get away."
"Because of me?" Richie asked fearfully.
Tessa swallowed. This was going to be harder than she thought. "He's frustrated. He doesn't understand why you keep getting into trouble. He wanted to think things through before he did anything too rash."
"So he left us."
"Richie, he didn't leave us," she insisted. "He went to the cabin. You can call him tonight if you want; he's coming back."
"How do you know?" Richie asked. "They always say they're coming back."
"Because I know Duncan and he loves us, that's why he had to leave for a while. He didn't want to overreact and do something he'd regret."
"I'm sorry, Tessa," Richie said with sincerity she had never heard him use before. "I'll do better, I swear."
"Good, all we want you to do is try."
"But I do," he insisted. "I swear I do. I just can't stop myself sometimes."
"You have to learn to control your anger."
"I try."
"Good," she told him with a smile trying to ease his guilt. "That's all you can do."
"Then why is Mac so mad?"
"Because." Tessa searched for a way to tell him. "Because he's been around so long. He can control his feelings, he knows how to do a lot of stuff and it comes so naturally to him now that. that he can't understand why others have trouble with it."
"Like you and algebra?" Richie offered. He had long since given up on asking her for help on his math homework; she understood it, he didn't and no matter what she said it didn't help.
"Just like me and algebra," she smiled again. "So you understand that it's not your fault, right?" Richie didn't immediately respond. "Richie, it's not your fault," she told him sternly but gently.
"If you say so," he shrugged.
"It doesn't matter how many times I tell you, you'll still blame yourself won't you?" she asked pulling the car to a stop behind the store.
"Tessa, he left because of me," Richie said opening his door. "How can you say it's not?"
"Because it isn't," she insisted. Richie ignored her and kept walking. "Richie, Richie stop. Richie!" Richie stopped and turned to face her. "It's. not. your. fault," she told him slowly. "Would it help if Duncan told you himself?" Richie couldn't decide where to look; anywhere but Tessa seemed to be the general idea. "Call him tonight. It should be around ten when he gets there."
"Fine," Richie barely whispered turning and heading back up the stairs. Tessa watched him retreat into his room then immediately went into the office and picked up the phone.
"Mac, it's me. We have a problem. Richie's upset," she told the answering machine. "He thinks it's his fault you left. I told him to call you tonight. You have to tell him it's not his fault, I scared he might run." She paused. "I love you." She hung up.
That night Duncan called as soon as he got the message. "Tessa, is he still there?" he asked urgently when she answered the phone.
"He's in the shower."
"I was afraid this might happen," he sighed. "I don't know what to do with him. He won't let anyone close enough to comfort him, but he needs it so badly."
"Duncan, I've been thinking. I have a girlfriend who is a psychiatrist; maybe I should call her. He needs help and we can't give it to him."
"Tessa, he doesn't need that."
"He won't let us touch him. at all. I know you're worried about that. I've heard you talk about it."
Duncan sighed. "Some people just don't like to be touched."
"He's too out going to hate contact the way he does. I still think there's something wrong with him."
"If it will make you feel better and you can get him to go along with it, fine. Take him."
"I'll call her in the morning."
"Night, Tessa!" Richie called down the hall.
"Wait!" she called back. "Duncan wants to talk to you!" She held out the phone to him in invitation.
Reluctantly he took the phone from her hands. "Hey," he greeted softly. He paused as Duncan spoke. "I know, Tessa told me." There were another couple minutes of silence. "I know." He nodded. "Okay, bye." He handed the phone back to Tessa. "Gonna have phone sex now?" he asked with a smirk.
"Richard Ryan!" Tessa exclaimed. "How dare you! Go to your room!" she ordered with a smile. "Did you hear that?" she asked Duncan swatting at Richie as he turned his back to her and pretended to make out with himself. "He says you're grounded," she informed the boy who was grinning broadly at her.
"What else is new?" he asked winking at her before he left.
"How can you think he has problems?" Duncan chuckled. "The only problem he has is he's a teenager."
"I'm still worried about him," Tessa insisted.
"It's probably just a phase."
"What did you tell him?" she asked suddenly noticing Richie's abrupt transformation.
"I just explained it to him. Told him I left because I didn't want to hurt him."
"And suddenly he's back to normal? Because you admitted you wanted to hit him?"
"I guess it was just he way he was raised."
"What do you mean?"
"You can't tell me the thought has never crossed your mind."
"You mean, that he was." she couldn't bring herself to say it.
"Now he knows that we're taking precautions that it won't happen again. That threat is gone."
"You've been doing some thinking," Tessa smiled.
"I have been known to over the centuries."
"I can't believe someone would do that to a child," she admitted softly looking at Richie's closed door. "That's horrible."
"It happens, though. But we're changing that; we're breaking the trend."
The next afternoon Richie came home on time and helped Tessa rearrange the store before going to do his homework.
"Do you need any help?" Tessa offered.
"Nah, I got it," he assured her disappearing up the stairs.
"If you need any help, just let me know!" she called after him.
"Okay!" he called back.
Twenty minutes later Tessa had a sinking feeling in her stomach. Something was wrong. She couldn't put her finger on it, but that something bothered her for the next half-hour until she couldn't concentrate any more. Giving up on her sculpture she went upstairs to see what Richie wanted for dinner. She knocked on the door but there was no answer.
"Richie?" she asked. "Richie!" she called again when there was no answer. Slowly she pushed the door open thinking he might have fallen asleep. He wasn't in his room. His bed was made and his schoolbooks were piled in the middle of it. Everything Duncan and Tessa had bought was neatly put away. The only things missing from the room were Richie and what he had brought with him.
AN: Short I know. And I know many of you might not agree with the approach I'm taking with this, but I promise it will all make sense soon.
"Told me what?" she asked.
"He did it again."
"Who did. Richie?"
"Joel, if you want to get technical."
Tessa sighed and rolled her eyes. "What did he do this time?"
"Apparently he was at the center of a near riot in the cafeteria."
"What?"
"Food fights, fist fights, you name it; he started it."
"I doubt he started it all by himself someone else had to be involved."
"Why do you keep defending him, Tess? He's a trouble maker, we've know it from the start." Duncan threw his hands into the air and started pacing. "I don't know what to do, I can't get it through to him, this is ridiculous!"
"Richie is not a trouble maker," she defended him. "He just doesn't know how to behave."
"Then you need to teach him," Duncan said turning to face her. "This is getting way out of hand."
"I need to teach him? Don't you mean we?"
"I'll hit him," Duncan fumed. "The first smart-ass remark that comes out of his mouth I'm slappin' him. Tessa, I am going to seriously hurt him."
"Duncan, he just a boy! How can you say that?"
"I can't be around him right now," Duncan told her. "I'm too frustrated with him. I'm scared I will hurt him." He sank into a chair on display and held his head in his hands. "I want to help him, Tessa. I know its not all his fault; nobody raised him properly. But I'm getting too angry to deal with this."
"At least you can admit it," Tessa told him softly torn between being angry with him for having such thoughts, scared that he would think that, or happy he realized he had a problem. "Maybe you should get away for awhile. Take a trip. go to the cabin to clear your head and calm down."
Duncan looked up at her. "Do you think that's a good idea?"
"I think that if you feel you can't be around Richie, then you shouldn't," she told him. "I'll take care of him, take as long as you need. The last thing we need is for you to scare him away. Then he'd get into serious trouble."
"You think I should leave?" Duncan repeated.
"I think you should. You can't think like that, Duncan. I know it was common when you grew up, but you can't hit a child."
"I know. I don't want to, but scared I will."
"Then go. I'll explain everything to Richie when I pick him up from school."
"He's going to hate me, Tessa," Duncan said quietly.
"I'll explain it to him, I'll make sure he understands."
That afternoon Tessa picked up Richie after detention.
"Figured it'd be Mac," he said quietly as he got into the car.
"Duncan left."
"He what!?"
"Not permanently," Tessa assured him forgetting momentarily about Richie's father. "He just needed to get away."
"Because of me?" Richie asked fearfully.
Tessa swallowed. This was going to be harder than she thought. "He's frustrated. He doesn't understand why you keep getting into trouble. He wanted to think things through before he did anything too rash."
"So he left us."
"Richie, he didn't leave us," she insisted. "He went to the cabin. You can call him tonight if you want; he's coming back."
"How do you know?" Richie asked. "They always say they're coming back."
"Because I know Duncan and he loves us, that's why he had to leave for a while. He didn't want to overreact and do something he'd regret."
"I'm sorry, Tessa," Richie said with sincerity she had never heard him use before. "I'll do better, I swear."
"Good, all we want you to do is try."
"But I do," he insisted. "I swear I do. I just can't stop myself sometimes."
"You have to learn to control your anger."
"I try."
"Good," she told him with a smile trying to ease his guilt. "That's all you can do."
"Then why is Mac so mad?"
"Because." Tessa searched for a way to tell him. "Because he's been around so long. He can control his feelings, he knows how to do a lot of stuff and it comes so naturally to him now that. that he can't understand why others have trouble with it."
"Like you and algebra?" Richie offered. He had long since given up on asking her for help on his math homework; she understood it, he didn't and no matter what she said it didn't help.
"Just like me and algebra," she smiled again. "So you understand that it's not your fault, right?" Richie didn't immediately respond. "Richie, it's not your fault," she told him sternly but gently.
"If you say so," he shrugged.
"It doesn't matter how many times I tell you, you'll still blame yourself won't you?" she asked pulling the car to a stop behind the store.
"Tessa, he left because of me," Richie said opening his door. "How can you say it's not?"
"Because it isn't," she insisted. Richie ignored her and kept walking. "Richie, Richie stop. Richie!" Richie stopped and turned to face her. "It's. not. your. fault," she told him slowly. "Would it help if Duncan told you himself?" Richie couldn't decide where to look; anywhere but Tessa seemed to be the general idea. "Call him tonight. It should be around ten when he gets there."
"Fine," Richie barely whispered turning and heading back up the stairs. Tessa watched him retreat into his room then immediately went into the office and picked up the phone.
"Mac, it's me. We have a problem. Richie's upset," she told the answering machine. "He thinks it's his fault you left. I told him to call you tonight. You have to tell him it's not his fault, I scared he might run." She paused. "I love you." She hung up.
That night Duncan called as soon as he got the message. "Tessa, is he still there?" he asked urgently when she answered the phone.
"He's in the shower."
"I was afraid this might happen," he sighed. "I don't know what to do with him. He won't let anyone close enough to comfort him, but he needs it so badly."
"Duncan, I've been thinking. I have a girlfriend who is a psychiatrist; maybe I should call her. He needs help and we can't give it to him."
"Tessa, he doesn't need that."
"He won't let us touch him. at all. I know you're worried about that. I've heard you talk about it."
Duncan sighed. "Some people just don't like to be touched."
"He's too out going to hate contact the way he does. I still think there's something wrong with him."
"If it will make you feel better and you can get him to go along with it, fine. Take him."
"I'll call her in the morning."
"Night, Tessa!" Richie called down the hall.
"Wait!" she called back. "Duncan wants to talk to you!" She held out the phone to him in invitation.
Reluctantly he took the phone from her hands. "Hey," he greeted softly. He paused as Duncan spoke. "I know, Tessa told me." There were another couple minutes of silence. "I know." He nodded. "Okay, bye." He handed the phone back to Tessa. "Gonna have phone sex now?" he asked with a smirk.
"Richard Ryan!" Tessa exclaimed. "How dare you! Go to your room!" she ordered with a smile. "Did you hear that?" she asked Duncan swatting at Richie as he turned his back to her and pretended to make out with himself. "He says you're grounded," she informed the boy who was grinning broadly at her.
"What else is new?" he asked winking at her before he left.
"How can you think he has problems?" Duncan chuckled. "The only problem he has is he's a teenager."
"I'm still worried about him," Tessa insisted.
"It's probably just a phase."
"What did you tell him?" she asked suddenly noticing Richie's abrupt transformation.
"I just explained it to him. Told him I left because I didn't want to hurt him."
"And suddenly he's back to normal? Because you admitted you wanted to hit him?"
"I guess it was just he way he was raised."
"What do you mean?"
"You can't tell me the thought has never crossed your mind."
"You mean, that he was." she couldn't bring herself to say it.
"Now he knows that we're taking precautions that it won't happen again. That threat is gone."
"You've been doing some thinking," Tessa smiled.
"I have been known to over the centuries."
"I can't believe someone would do that to a child," she admitted softly looking at Richie's closed door. "That's horrible."
"It happens, though. But we're changing that; we're breaking the trend."
The next afternoon Richie came home on time and helped Tessa rearrange the store before going to do his homework.
"Do you need any help?" Tessa offered.
"Nah, I got it," he assured her disappearing up the stairs.
"If you need any help, just let me know!" she called after him.
"Okay!" he called back.
Twenty minutes later Tessa had a sinking feeling in her stomach. Something was wrong. She couldn't put her finger on it, but that something bothered her for the next half-hour until she couldn't concentrate any more. Giving up on her sculpture she went upstairs to see what Richie wanted for dinner. She knocked on the door but there was no answer.
"Richie?" she asked. "Richie!" she called again when there was no answer. Slowly she pushed the door open thinking he might have fallen asleep. He wasn't in his room. His bed was made and his schoolbooks were piled in the middle of it. Everything Duncan and Tessa had bought was neatly put away. The only things missing from the room were Richie and what he had brought with him.
AN: Short I know. And I know many of you might not agree with the approach I'm taking with this, but I promise it will all make sense soon.
