Thomas and the Beast

Im sorry Mr. Thomas, but since you were so late, I

just had to call your wife to pick him up.
E!wife, he corrected. Thats fine, I had a work
thin", couldnt be a#oided$ its fine, its fine, Ill just pick
him up at his mothers. %oodbye.
&s she left and the door closed, he just stood there for
a while, rain fallin" down and drenchin" him e#en more.
There had to be a ri"ht, and relati#ely painless, way to
approach this potentially eplosi#e situation. &s he "ot in
the car, he considered callin" ahead first, but whiche#er
way he played it, she would still be furious at him. &nd
with "ood reason too. 'ho makes their kid wait for$
what( Three hours( & bad parent, thats who. )r someone
who had no choice in the matter$
&lri"ht then, he thou"ht. *ant be that bad. +ust do
it. ,o it and dont think about it. &ccept the conse-uences
like a man he said to himself tryin" not to flinch.
.till, as he arri#ed at the apartment comple where the
E li#ed, he couldnt help feelin" the familiar cold shi#er
down his spine as he repeated the mantra under his breath/
"et the kid and "et out, "et the kid and "et out$ he knew
what was to come and did not miss one bit of the drama
that used to be his e#eryday life.
&s soon as Tom reached the apartment door, there was
a noise. Oh God, was that a plate? 0is ner#es were "ettin" the
best of him. The memory of plates flyin" towards his head
was still #ery much present in his mind. 1ot "ood times,
those.
0e knocked at the door with all the coura"e he could
muster, which proceeded to scatter as soon as she opened
the door, with a smile on her face. That is by far, he thou"ht,
the scariest thing Ive ever seen. Tom wasnt the bra#est man
ali#e, but he wasnt a coward either. There was just
somethin" about %loria that made his "oose bumps "et
"oose bumps.
0ello dear, you look nice. *an you "et 2eter for me,
please( Im in a bit of a hurry and Im runnin" late
already.
Thats when the smile melted away. Thats when he
reali3ed he was in e#en deeper trouble than he had
anticipated.
Is that so darling( 4oure late( )h Im sorry, but you
see, after yet another fantastic failure to pick up 4)56 .)1
from school on time, I thou"ht you would like to sit with
me and discuss a few points of the custody a"reement. .o I
su""est you sit down and make yourself more comfortable,
because I think this will take a while.
+ust a minute there Tom knew eplainin" would do
nothin", but he still tried ,ont you think youre bein" a
little unfair( Its not like I do that all the time. It was
impossible to lea#e work earlier then I$
I know eactly what your definition of work is, so
dont e#en bother. 7y the way, hows little miss home!
wrecker these days(
I#e told you time and time a"ain/ there was no one
else8
.a#e it. .it down. %lorias eyes seemed to ha#e fire
in them. *old, blue fire.
0e did what she told him to. 0e had to. 1o way out
now if he wanted to ha#e some -uality!time with 2eter.
&s %loria left the room, probably to "et some kind of
torture de#ice, he waited like a kid outside the 2rincipals
office after stealin" a wi". 9rom the 2rincipals head. Tom
tried mi"htily to resist the ur"e to bite his fin"ernails to the
bone.
.o, lets start with the basics/ when are you scheduled
to pick up 2eter( she said as she put a plate full of cookies
ri"ht in front of him and sat across from him. Tom was so
busy wonderin" if the cookies were poisoned that he didnt
e#en hear her at first.
,id you bake those yourself( 0e asked eyin" the
cookies as if they mi"ht eplode.
4es Tom, I can cook she answered, irritated at the
switch in con#ersation.
Yep, he thou"ht, an explosion is very possible.
1ow pay attention. It states #ery clearly here that
your #isitation ri"hts ha#e a schedule. 4ou better follow it,
because if I feel 2eter is bein" ne"lected in any way$
'hat are you talkin" about( I ha#e ne#er$
,o not interrupt me8 ...in any way like, oh I dont
know, lea#in" the poor child to wait for you all day lon",
then you can for"et about pickin" him up e#er a"ain.
I had no choice8 %i#in" up the fi"ht, Tom ehales
slowly.
That one a"ain. 4ou had no choice when I had that
car accident. 4ou had no choice when I needed you at my
mothers funeral. )h yes, you had no choice when I was
terrified and alone in the hospital in labor for twenty
freakin" hours8 The accumulated bitterness of years of
unhappiness rained down on him like nails.
+ust "o "et 2eter, ok( Im sorry for lea#in" him there,
it is one hundred per cent my fault.
4ou always say that. Miranda seems to lose steam as
she considers his crumbled face. Ill "o "et him, then.
Tom feels about to eplode. 0es tired of all these lies,
but can ne#er tell the truth. 'ho would belie#e him
anyway(
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'hene#er they call with another job, he drops
e#erythin" until its done. 1o choice, no knowled"e of
when theyll let him lea#e. 1ot e#en the ability to call ahead
and warn his ;now e< wife that he may not come home
that ni"ht.
1o one knows this, but Tom hasnt e#en been in the
state the past few days. 0is boss, *lark, thinks he went to
yet another workshop on 'eb ,e#elopment for
pro"rammers, but it was them. They call, he lea#es, and
somehow *lark ne#er suspects. The epert pro"rammer
he always calls me, like its my title. 7ut %loria always
knew somethin" was "oin" on$ .he just assumed it was
an affair. ometimes I wish it were that simple, he considered,
at least it wo!ld be my choice"Im so tired of having no control
over my own life.
:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::
,addy( the little boy said, runnin" towards him.
0ey son, come here8 Tom hu""ed his son fiercely.
If he told %loria how much it scared him to think of
losin" his boy, shed take 2eter away just to hurt him. 0e
lo#ed 2eter more than his own life.
.o his #itamins are in the blue ba", remember its one
after breakfast and one after dinner. 4ou ha#e to make sure
he swallows, hes be"innin" to "et sneaky, hides the pills in
the cheek$
I know %loria.
&lso, you ha#e to dress him. 0es refusin" to put on
anythin" but that superman costume$
=ook, well be fine8 'ont we 2eter( Its not my first
time, you know.
&s they left the apartment, Tom tousled 2eters curly
hair as he continued to feel her "a3e on the boy until they
turned the corner. )ne thin" %loria was "ood at/
motherhood. .he would protect her cub till the end. )nly
Tom felt better about that when she wasnt defendin" 2eter
from him.
0e always looked forward to the weekends. %ettin" to
spend time with his son was "reat. .pendin" that time in a
hard!to!reach cabin, in the middle of the woods, with no
phone ser#ice, was a definite bonus$
Lisandra Aguiar