Aden continued to dinner, planning to think it over later.
It was an awkward family dinner, the parents caught their kid smoking pot and, after the punishment, Aden was almost afraid to look at his parents as they ate their chili
Howard cleared his throat, breaking the silence. "So... how was school?"
"It was good." Aden mumbled.
"Look, we're not really mad at you for having the weed, we're mainly mad at you for lying about it." Randy commented.
"I know, I know. I'm just mad at myself for getting caught, that's all."
"I just wish you had told us upfront."
"What should've I say? 'Hey, I'm home from smoking some mind blowing weed that made me speak gibberish and foreign languages for hours?'"
"That's one way of putting it, yeah." Howard muttered, only to get lightly slapped across the head by his husband.
Randy looked at Aden with a stern look on his face.
"Where did you get it?" Silence.
"Uhh... Uh..." Aden felt stuck.
"Caught off guard and now coming up with a lie? Save your thinking and just tell me who it is or else I ground you longer." Aden obeyed.
"Guildias." He blurted.
"Julian's son? I knew it the first time I saw him. He had those eyes and he just acted ridiculous. I'm surprised no one else caught on. Maybe they did."
Randy got up and stalked to the phone, intending to have words with his old friend.
As Randy left the room, Howard and Aden looked at each other.
"And that, my son, is called Karma. It rewards you when you do something good and it bites you when you do something bad. It shows no mercy in its justice and even the best of us get hurt. Guildias would've been caught, anyway. If not by you, then something else."
Randy picked up the phone and dialed Julian's number, hearing the phone ring four times before hearing the happy-go-lucky, doom-and-gloom voice of his old friend Julian.
"Hello?" He still sounded like a girl.
"Hello, Julian, it's me, Randy. I just called to tell you that my son received some pot from your son, Guildias."
"That's not possible. We're doom lovers not drug sellers... One minute." Randy waited half a minute before receiving a response. "Yup. My son's internet history has different types of marijuana strands, how to grow them, different kinds of smoking materials, even a list of states where it is legal. Apparently, this is one of them. Thank you, Cunningham. I shall have a word with Guildias when he's home from his friends."
"Not a problem, Julian." And with that, both ends hung up. Randy smiled. "Another problem has been de-stanked." Randy sat down, feeling like he accomplished something. Howard looked at him.
"So?" Randy took a spoon full of chili before he responded to Howard's question.
"He didn't believe me at first. He then went through his son's computer. Apparently he's been growing it." Randy looked at Aden. "Why did he give you that?"
"It was a few days ago. He told me that he has something that'd help me relax. No, I didn't succumb to peer pressure; it was all these things he said about it. He told me that the internet and these odd videos about marijuana say there's nothing bad about them. He showed me the videos; I believed him and wanted to try it out for myself. They said a whole bunch of things I couldn't believe. It was my choice and I'd like to say, 'I'm sorry,' but it'd mean nothing."
Randy nodded in understanding.
"Aden," Randy said, "drugs are as dangerous as sex, it's fun, but an overdose of them could bring nasty results. I saw a video on meth when I was your age. Scared the hell out of me. The video said that one hit of meth could get you high for 12 hours, it is the most powerful and dangerous drug in existence, literally eating you up. Taking it is like selling your soul to the devil and I'm afraid that if you go too far with the marijuana, you'd take something stronger. I've seen a marijuana video as well, and it told me that the reason people go to drugs is because of prohibition."
"It was an era of history where alcohol wasn't legal, correct?" Aden asked. Randy nodded.
"It didn't stop people from making liquor. People want the thrill of doing something wrong and not get caught because it makes them feel invincible, unaware that they're going to be caught no matter what." Aden nodded.
"Dad told me about Karma."
"Then you know what I'm talking about. And we really don't like to be lied to as well. If you'd told me the truth, I would've lightened the grounding. So please remember, 'you cannot hide anything. Period.' I've been to many psychology classes, enough to know when a person's lying." Aden sighed, too ashamed to look at Randy, but he knew that he was paying attention.
The teenager again thought about telling his parents about the mask.
But the note said that no one should know. He realized the he should've written it all in a book or something so he doesn't get the urge to tell people that he can kick butt and take names, which is bruce.
Aden put his dishes away and went to bed. Randy however, decided to swing around town a bit as his generation's ninja.
"I'll be back in a little while," Randy said to Howard, "Vigilante work."
"Have fun!" Howard smiled, kissing his loved one through the mask. Randy smiled and swooped off.
After a few hours, Randy came home; weary from his never ending responsibility as he flopped down on the bed. He saw Guildias and followed him for a while, seeing him smoke out of a large cigar. Every hit just made the boy cough and giggle.
Howard, who was reading a book, looked at Randy. "Everything okay?" He asked him.
"Just a little tired, that's all." Randy smiled at Howard. "I saw Guildias today," Randy frowned, "Aden was telling the truth. Guildias was getting stoned beyond belief. I heard him giggle and just... I don't even know what was going on." Howard then positioned himself on top of Randy, placing his hands by Randy's sides. He was looking at Randy seductively.
"You think too much," Howard said, "Let's have the pillow talk after the sex and not before." Randy giggled. Howard's comical amount of libido was enough to cheer Randy up.
"Let's keep it quiet though, we do not want Aden to walk in on us again." Howard giggled.
"He was only a kid when he saw that."
"It was still hard to come up with an explanation."
Meanwhile, Aden had noticed the Ninja slipping in and out of the house.
"What the juice? I knew there was something with that costume!" Aden said.
He pressed his ear to the wall, but the only word he could hear were "saw Guildias... telling the truth... stoned beyond belief."
Aden's eyes were wide open. 'He went to see Guildias?' He thought. He backed off when he started hearing sounds that no person should ever hear their parents make.
"...And now I'm gonna pretend I did not hear that."
Aden then went over to his bed, determined to fall asleep before hearing something tap loudly at his window. He walked over to it and opened to see Lucas outside.
"Lucas?" Aden whispered. "What are you doing here?"
"Guildias is stalking me, and it's getting really creepy!"
"Wait, what? Guildias?" Aden giggled. He then left his room to go outside so he wouldn't hear his parents make love in the other room. "Sounds like someone has a crush on you."
"Gosh, really? Just make him stop!"
"Can't you? You're rich; you can bribe him to stop."
"I think if I gave him money, he'd strip." Aden laughed.
Guildias walked up at that moment, his eyes donned the mark of the stoner and his facial expression completely docile.
"Hey, guys." Guildias said with a giggle and a bounce in his step. "What's happening?" Lucas looked at him.
"Guildias, please stop following me." Lucas said.
"Following? Oh, right. I wanted to ask you something, but I forgot now." Aden was amused at Guildias.
"How are you, Guildias?" Aden asked.
"The wind... It just feels so nostalgic. Like I'm in Shangri-La, the holy land of childhood dreams." Aden giggled.
"I bet. You go enjoy yourself." Aden said with a smile.
"Yeah," Lucas didn't sound happy as he reached into his pocket, "here's $50, go spend it on whatever." Guildias looked at him.
"I can't. That's too generous." Guildias said.
"Don't worry. You won't owe me anything." Guildias giggled before taking the money, walking away with giggles and singing songs no one has ever heard before. Aden smiled at Lucas.
"See? You have to pay him." Aden said. Lucas shrugged.
"He's just going to go to a store and buy a shit load of Doritos." Aden giggled.
"People really love Doritos."
Aden waved good-bye and went back inside to stare at Randy's own ninja mask. Pulling his own out of his pocket, he compared the two and realized something.
He had a unique feeling between the two masks. It was so similar, it was spooky. Like a resonating power flowed through them. Is Randy's mask the same as his?
"Was daddy... a Ninja at one point?"
He thought it'd be cool. His daddy, being the ninja. They'd be father and son, kicking the butt of evil.
He then heard footsteps coming downstairs.