Chapter Sixty-Three
Alex adjusted his tie as he rode to his office in the elevator.
Enjoy your prisoner Lois had told him. Without a doubt, the young woman wanted to hit a nerve. And so she had.
Just maybe not in the way she had intended.
Prisoners always came out of their prison experience changed. Alex intended for Clark to grow; to transform into an educated, privileged young man with the world at his fingertips. Not as a prisoner deprived of freedom and corrupted by their surroundings.
Corrupted like everything Lionel had ever touched.
Alex knew he was no saint. The lack of Lionel's touch left a fingerprint as well. Alex knew his soul was forever marked by the interactions he had with that monster; no matter how limited it had been. Would Alex pass that corruption, that evil, onto Clark?
But that couldn't happen, Alex assured himself. Clark would remain the same sweet innocent farm boy he had always been.
Alex entered his office to see Clark, dressed in a suit complete with tie, leaning back in his office chair talking to someone on his phone in Mandarin. He paused to pop a sushi roll in his mouth.
"Hi, Lex," Clark said casually, noticing his entrance. "Just thought I'd hang out here since we only have a few hours to kill before the opera. Oh, and I'm sorry, but I ate all your lunch. Marci," Clark barked into the intercom, "please order Lex more sushi. I ate it all."
"You got it, boss," Marci said on the other line.
"I think it's growing on me." Clark got up from the desk. "Want to head out early?"
"Huh? Un, no," Alex stuttered. "I have a few more things to do."
"Well, I'll leave you to it. See you soon."
Alex was left standing, open mouthed, in his empty office. "What have I done?" He thought aloud.
TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT
Clark didn't understand why Lex looked so upset. Admittedly, he had eaten Lex's lunch. But he didn't mean to do it. Clark had just gotten so involved with his language lesson he began to idly munch as he waited for Lex to return. Clark found it annoying to change clothes constantly throughout the day, so he wore the outfit he would wear to the opera. But there were a few hours left and Marci said it was safe for him to wait in Lex's office. Clark had downloaded a language app on his phone. He figured his time would best be spent getting a handle on Mandarin, the language he chose to learn during his schooling at Excelsior. The professors had expressed it was best for all of their students to begin learning ahead of time. He didn't want to disturb Lex while he worked, so Clark left to find something else to do while he waited.
For some unexplainable reason, Clark wanted to see the Kent farm again. The bank had foreclosed, and Martha and Johnathan had been forced to evacuate.
Clark had purchased the Kent farmland, under a corporation name Marci had helped him setup. This would mean Mr. Kent and anyone else wouldn't know without doing research that he was the owner of the land. Clark still felt connected to this land; to the house. Even when Clark had believed he was a Kent, he was never sure he would become a farmer like Johnathan. But he wanted to ensure that whoever would buy it would want to farm the land instead of tear it up and build a strip mall.
Already the house looked like a pale imitation of what remained in his memory. Through the windows he could see the kitchen table was missing, along with the chairs and clutter that had felt so familiar. Clark entered the house, expecting to see an empty living room, but was surprised to see an air mattress covered with an old blanket.
The sleeping inhabitant was none other than Johnathan Kent. Using his superspeed, Clark went back into town to grab a hot coffee and a hot sandwich.
"Mr. Kent?" Clark spoke softly, to rouse the man from his sleep slowly. Johnathan just grunted and opened his eyes at the boy.
"What do you want?"
"Just curious what you're doing here." Clark nudged the hot food in Johnathan's direction. The man snatched the peace offering and began to devour it. Mentally Clark began to do the math of when the eviction took place if Johnathan actually ate food a Luthor brought him.
"Where's Mrs. Kent?"
"She left me. Abandoned me in my time of need." Johnathan scoffed between mouthfuls.
"Then why are you still here?"
"This is my home. Where else am I supposed to go?"
Clark remembered the time when he first woke up. He had cried because he felt a strong desire to return home. A home that no longer existed.
Describe home, Lex had told him.
And it hadn't been the Kent farmhouse, or the Kent farm Clark described. But rather, the people inside it and what they did in it.
"Mr. Kent, this isn't your home. This is just a house." Clark said. "Martha. Martha is your home."
Johnathan didn't respond. He just stayed curled up on the air mattress holding the Styrofoam cup and staring into the distance.
Clark knew he had to get going. That Alex was waiting for him to go to the opera. Clark would spend his evening at the opera house, unaware of Mr. Kent getting into a taxicab to be taken to Martha's Father's apartment. The place the couple had first discussed as where they could go if worse came to worse.
Johnathan Kent would ring the doorbell, waiting for his wife to answer.
To allow him to return home.