3:Memory
Andrew's first memory of Simon was of the man scooping him into his arms and running. At seven years old, Andrew had been so preoccupied with processing the Admiral's death and wondering how Mama's friend Jim Hawkins could have killed him. He didn't realize right away that he was being taken out of the Academy and later, off the planet.
"Jim's a nice man," he remembered saying.
And he remembered Simon answering, with worry and a slight, rising panic in his voice, "Jim was a liar." And that was when he learned the truth...
Mama only pretended to like Jim. She was afraid, because Jim would kill her if he found out it was only pretend. He would kill him, Andrew, too... But Mama couldn't pretend anymore, so she asked the Admiral to protect Andrew, and keep him safe from Jim. And though it seemed impossible, though it contradicted all that Andrew's instincts told him, Jim got mad and shot the Admiral. Now he was looking for him and Mama, only Mama had called Simon to help...
"Stay here," Simon said, quickly putting Andrew in the carriage. "Don't get down for anyone. I'll go back for your mother."
But just as he turned to go back, just as Andrew turned to look, there was a huge KABOOM! - and Andrew found himself gaping at the blaze that had leaped up on one side of the Academy. Pandemonium ensued.
Simon dashed back to the carriage and, looking back only once, took the reins. "Move, go!" he yelped frantically to the steeds.
Andrew was troubled, and he looked back, as if hypnotized, at the raging fire. "Wha - What about Mama?"
Simon didn't look at him. He set the steeds at full gallop toward the spaceport, and Andrew continued to stare up at him for an answer... Finally, he said, softly, "She's dead, Andrew. Jim - Jim put a bomb in her office. She's dead."
Andrew's eyes widened. It couldn't be. It just couldn't be... He screamed. "No! No, we have to go back! We have to see! I have to see, we have to go back!" Simon halted the carriage and didn't answer. He got out and lifted Andrew, kicking, screaming, bawling Andrew, out as well. Andrew felt helpless as he finally realized that he was to be taken far way. But if he could just get back and tell for sure that his Mama was dead...
"Listen to me!" Simon said sharply, setting him down on his feet. Simon knelt down and held him by the shoulders. Andrew was silenced, but he was a bit afraid of Simon. Simon noticed, and his expression softened. He looked Andrew in teh eye sorrowfully. "I'm sorry I yelled at you Andrew," he said quietly. "But your mama is dead..." Andrew sobbed and shook his head, refusing to accept it, but Simon gave him a slight shake. "No, listen to me, look at me. Look at me, Andrew. She's dead. Jim killed her."
Sobbing, Andrew rushed forward and put his arms around Simon's neck. Simon folded his arms around him protectively, comfortingly, and whispered, "It's okay. I'll take care of you, Andrw. I'll take you where Jim can't get you, and I'll protect you." Andrew sniffled. My Mama is dead... "Wouldn't you like that? Wouldn't you like me to take care of you?" Andrew nodded, his head on Simon's shoulder. He was his only friend now...
Simon sighed approvingly and stood up, lifting Andrew as he did so. "Now," he said, "let's get on our ship and get out of here."
And at that moment, though it was pushed to the back of his consciousness as he grew older, Andrew felt a deep hatred and anger for Jim Hawkins...
=*=
Simon took him to a little planet called Takara, where he had a house in the capital city. It was a tiny, out-of-the-way planet that was considered a kind of pit stop for spacers. It was, therefore, the perfect place to hide.
Simon was one of the capital's richest men, though. Andrew could still remember getting lifted out of the carriage and looking fearfully up at the large building.
He remembered how Simon had prepared a room for him filled with all sorts of books and toys, the kind he used to long for but knew his Mama couldn't afford. At the time, he had been in mourning, and the toys were no comfort to him. But Simon was.
They played toegether and ate together, and at night Simon read him stories before bedtime. Simon took him everywhere and put him in a nice school, and Andrew was soon smiling again. He had more friends and a loving guardian, and he was safe. Soon, he even stopped calling for his Mama in the night, and started calling for Simon.
Then Simon met Toni, and there was less time for Andrew. There was even less when they married, and almost none when Jordan came along. Andrew found himself pushed aside to make way for a horrible, gold-digging woman that Simon strangely loved with all his heart and for a baby boy that came a little too soon after the wedding.
What hurt was that Andrew knew that Simon was his father, too. How could he not, waking up in the morning and seeing his face in the mirror? How could he not, seeing the same face at the breakfast table laughing at something Toni said or Jordan did? The older he got, the more they looked alike, and the more people noticed. Why his mother never told him, why Simon never told him was a mystery. Simon sensed that Andrew knew, but they never talked about it.
Deep down, though, all that Andrew wanted was for Simon to come to him and say, "Yes, Andrew. I'm your father. I loved your mother, and she loved me, but certain things forced us apart. - " things like Jim Hawkins " - I was so glad when she called up, I was so glad to have her and you, my son, back in my life..." The years passed, and it all remained a desire.
By the time Andrew was fourteen, the "family" had moved to Capernaeuma, where Simon was a much greater tycoon.
If they had been rich and powerful on Takara, they were even more so on Capernaeuma. Andrew went to the best schools, had the best clothes, his own transport - always the latest model - a large allowance, and his choice of any girl. And he went with his father to all sorts of dinners, socials, and parties, but Andrew knew it was just for show. His grades had dropped, and he caused trouble in and out of school - it was only his father's power that kept him in.
Out of respect of his mother, Andrew didn't drink, smoke, get high, or womanize, though he did meet a lot of girls. Instead, he spent his money learning to fight and betting himself in underground matches. When he was in the ring, staring down an opponent, Andrew felt in control. He became something of a lone wolf - no one could touch him because of his money, power, and fighting skills. When Andrew turned sixteen, he felt as much an orphan as he had when Simon had first taken him home.
There was, however, a brief period of solace. At one of his fights, he met a girl named Alison and found out that she was going out with one of the players. There was some mild flirting, and Andrew gamely bet on her boyfriend and lost all his day's winnings. But she was the last thing on his mind when he went to sleep and the first when he awoke.
Time passed, and they fell in love. Andrew stopped fighting for a while, and he got better in school. Alison found how nice he could truly be; one of Andrew's favorite memories of her was when she kissed him and said, "You're - different somehow. Kind of... softer, you know what I mean? I like this side of you better."
Looking into her eyes, Andrew blurted out, surprised at himself, "So do I..."
Andrew bravely took her to city hall sometime after that. "I'm standing by you," he remembered saying that day. "When I met other girls, I always had the feeling that I'd break up with them at the end of a week. But I fell for you because I always have the feeling that I can be with you forever... And here we are."
But Alison's parents found out, and they had the marriage annulled. Alison transferred to a new school and was forbidden to see Andrew or even take his calls or letters. She was also forced to return his ring, and her father even caused more pain by pulling her out of Andrew's last kiss.
Andrew now wore both wedding bands - solid gold and still not good enough for her father - on a chain around his neck. He fell back into his old ways eventually became more sullen. He got worse in school and more violent in the matches; he earned a suspension in both areas. When he started a riot on campus, the school decided that it was the last straw.
Through it all, Simon had been in the office, or with Toni, or taking Jordan on trips that he used to take Andrew on. He didn't even show up on the day of his son's disciplinary hearing. Andrew had gone home afterward to find him dying.
"Find Jim Hawkins, 'Drew... Kill him..."
=*=
Andrew scowled at his reflection as he shut the memories away. Simon had somehow kept his love for his mother all those years. Watching Simon die, and reading the next moring about Toni's arrest, Andrew realized that Simon had been just as pained as he had been. Maybe he stopped spending time with his son because it only reminded him of his first love. Maybe he had married Toni thinking that he could move on, but Ravenna Calls had remained in his mind. Maybe he had nightmares like Andrew's, of that beautiful woman, screaming in pain as her office became an inferno, while someone laughed maniacally in the background...
Andrew reached into his coat and took out the gun. He was an excellent shot, and the more he thought, the more he knew he wouldn't fail. Perhaps his mother was alive after all, and living a ten-year-old lie, and Andrew was here for a rescue long overdue. But first, someone had to pay for all this pain.
