In The Dreaming: Chapter Forty "Helpless" (Fantasy Y/A Novel)

-I wrote the following novel nearly two decades ago. In the years between then and now I've honed my craft, and my perception of this world; my thoughts and ideas; have changed dramatically. However, I still enjoy the premise and have decided to do an overhaul of revisions and rewrites, though likely not until sometime next year. (Though I'm sure I'll do a little as I post chapters)

For now I hope you will enjoy a glimpse into my book writing beginnings...

They are the closest of friends though they have never met in waking life.

Prologue-PT1 Prologue-PT2 Chapter 1

Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4

Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7

Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10

Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13

Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16

Chapter 17
Chapter 18 Chapter 19

Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22

Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25

Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28

Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31

Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34

Chapter 35 Chapter 36 Chapter 37

Chapter 38 Chapter 39

Chapter Forty

“Here she is. What are you going to say?”

Collin shook his head. He had no idea, he would just have to play it by ear. Jack moved to the chair in the corner of the room trying to be inconspicuous.

The door opened and shut loudly and his mother came in with a guy in tow. She headed right to the kitchen and didn’t see Collin. The guy, Craig, did, as he headed into the T.V. room.

“You got a friend or something?” he asked Jack.

“Brother actually.”

“Oh, you the shithead’s been giving Janet all the trouble?”

Janet heard, “What Jimmy’s here?” Her voice was a bit shrill and she came charging into the room then stopped dead.

“No, not Jimmy mom.” Collin stated the obvious.

“Oh honey, I didn’t expect you,” she smiled trying to cover up. “Craig dear, this is Collin.”

“The genius?”

She nodded proudly.

“Your mom tells me you gonna cure cancer or the common cold or something, is that right? Where’s the drinks babe?”

Janet stood there her eyes darting between her son and her man nervously. “Uh, well I don’t think I have anything like that in the cupboard.”

“What, you just…

“Craig, did you know that Collin’s heading off to Cornell university, he’ll probably get a free ride with his grades.”

Craig was incidentally not the sharpest tool in the shed and he didn’t follow her flimsy attempt to pretend all was normal.

“Yeah, you told me, but you got like three bottles of Jim Beam right under the sink, what are ya talkin’ about nothing in the cupboard?”

Collin could have told her he already knew but decided to let her squirm. He didn’t want her comfortable with it. He wanted her extremely uncomfortable with it, in fact.

“Right,” she finally said and headed to the kitchen. Collin followed her.

“What are you doing mom?” he asked.

“Oh just pouring a night cap, there’s no crime against a drink after a long day’s work is there?”

“There is when you’re an alcoholic and it almost destroyed your life once.”

“Oh don’t overreact, it’s just a once in awhile thing.”

“Bullshit. Why do you think I’m here right now?” He felt a little worried about making that statement, afraid she’d be angry at Jack, but what could he say?

“So Jack called you up and told you I’ve been drinking huh?”

“No, he didn’t. He just called to ask when I was coming over next and I was concerned since he has never called before. Then of course he told me once I got here. And jeeze mom, what’s with that guy, he’s a frieking moron.”

Janet turned sharply. “Don’t you dare say that, you don’t even know him.”

“Oh, okay, just that he never learned to speak proper English, he sounds like one of those scumbags you see on cops hanging out of their trailer swearing at their kids who are playing in the cigarette butt pile on the front lawn!”

“Not everyone can be as smart as you Collin.”

“Oh, don’t give me that, you’re far more intelligent than him. And you’re attractive, you could do far better…

“Stop it Collin! I am the parent here, you have no right to tell me who I should be with or what I should do. This is my life, not yours.”

“What about Jack, mom? He’s only twelve years old, he’s not grown, it’s his life too.”

Janet finished making the drinks and swept by him into the sitting room.

Collin followed. “I wasn’t finished talking to you.”

“Well I was finished talking to you,” she said shortly. She took a long drink and sat next down next to Craig.

“Everything all right?” he asked. He didn’t even look at her just kept flipping through the channels.

“Oh fine, my son just thinks that he’s old enough to know what’s best for me that’s all.”

“Oh yeah, and what’s that?”

Collin felt his anger building up. “My mother,” he said in a low voice, “is an alcoholic who until recently hadn’t had a drink in seven years.”

“That so?” Craig chuckled.

“Tell him mom, tell him why you stopped drinking. Tell him about how you turned into a monster, fell asleep in your own puke, pissing in your pants night after night, tell him how you almost lost your kids because of it, or did you forget?”

Janet stood up. “You shut up this instant! That was different, I can handle it now!”

Collin laughed humorlessly. “Oh that’s rich, that’s textbook alcoholic bullshit.”

“If you keep this up than I am going to have to ask you to leave!” She shouted.

“So you’ll send me out in the rain to wander the streets because that stupid drink is so important to you?”

“I can’t take this. Craig, we’re leaving.”

Craig looked up. “You’re gonna let some punk kid chase you out of your house? You know we can’t go back to my house right now.”

Collin turned on him, “Why, are you married? Or is the trailer being sprayed for roaches?”

“Are you insultin’ me?” He stood up and puffed out his chest. Collin realized the guy had him buy a hundred pounds easy. He also had the look of a bar fighter, this might be a real fight. He glanced over at the wooden chair and thought he could probably grab it before the guy got around the couch.

Janet realized what was coming and moved in between them. “You are not going to fight!” She turned to Craig and softened her voice, “We’ll just go to the Holiday Inn, come on sweetie it will be fun, we can go to the bar downstairs.”

“You payin’ for it?”

“Of course.”

He shrugged. “Fine with me.” He grabbed his coat and walked around Janet and out the door.

“Mom,” Collin started.

“No,” she cut him off, “ I am not talking about this any further tonight.” She gathered up her things and Collin watched helplessly as she walked out the door.

Once they were gone Jack stood up. He had all but vanished in the shadows until then. “Well, I guess that could have been worse. If you had been Jimmy it would have been worse, that’s for sure.”

Collin went into his old room and grabbed a blanket and pillow then settled on the couch with the remote. Jack stood there uncertainly.

“Grab the other side, there’s room,” Collin indicated his feet. “What do you want to watch?”

“I don’t know, whatever.”

They watched T.V. in silence until Jack shuffled off to bed and Collin fell asleep.

The next morning Jack walked with him to the bus station which was on the way to school and they made small talk. For the life of him Collin couldn’t think of anything meaningful to say. As Jack was walking away Collin called “Hey!”

Jack turned and raised his eyebrows.

“Why don’t you grab the train up to my place the weekend after next? I’ll meet you at the station.”

Jack nodded. “Yeah, that would be cool.”

“Good, I’ll see you then.”

Jack waved and walked away. Collin stared after him with a pit forming in his stomach. Helpless. It was a terrible thing to not have the power to improve the situation of someone you loved. He would though. He sat down on the bench and thought about his direction at school. He thought about the fact that he could do about a million other things, things that could make him a great deal more money and wondered if he was making the right choice. It began to rain again and the wind picked up so the drops were whipped into his face stinging him. “Figures,” he said aloud.

Jack, he thought, what can I do for him? Maybe it would help if he spent the weekends with him in his dorm. If he gave the guys at least some outline of the situation they would be understanding, besides Jack was a quiet, non-intrusive type. He felt a little better.

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