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“If this is about Jasper, you know why I-”
“It’s not just about him, it’s about everything. I just don’t see the point of it all! Just kick the girl out and solve the problem like a man, you shouldn’t need me around here telling you what to do all the time.”
“Fine. Then leave.”
I take that as an opportunity to knock on the door before I am blatantly called out for eavesdropping on their conversation. What could they possibly be talking about?
Mum comes swinging the door open, clearly prepared to come racing down the hallway before she notices me. “Oh, Jasper.” She exclaims, louder than necessary, with a not-so-subtle look at Dad to let him know I am here. “What are you doing here?”
I want to ask what they were talking about. I want to ask what Mum so evidently has against Emerson that she would let her be kicked to the side of the curb, not caring less about her. I want to hear the truth, just once, from someone who isn’t supposed to lie to me. Someone who I should be able to depend on. But I say none of those things. Instead, I hand her the paper and say, “Dad wanted me to give you this yesterday, but I became a little bit…preoccupied.”
She looks taken aback for some reason, as if surprised by my dedication to the task he gave me. “Why don’t you come in for a little bit, Jasper. It’s been a good while since we’ve all been in each other’s company.”
I want to make up some excuse of somewhere I need to be, but they both know that I have nowhere else to go. I am trapped in my prison. I walk through the doorway to see my father sitting on the royal blue couch, head in his hands as if he is extremely stressed out. Which wouldn’t be surprising considering his constant uptight demeanour.
On seeing me, he stands awkwardly, as if in greeting, and I sit down on the chair at the opposite side of the couch, so there is just a coffee table between us. The coffee table feels like an ocean. Mum closes the door to the office and sits down next to Dad. I wish I could say it felt normal, that like every other family we just chatted away and everything was perfectly fine. But we are not a normal family.
“Now, Jasper,” Mum starts, her deep emerald eyes blazing almost as brightly as her hair. The combination of the fierce red hair and the cooling green eyes is almost startling. “It’s actually quite perfect that you caught us at this time. We were about to come and find you. We wanted to talk to you.” she pauses, and I wait awkwardly for her to continue.
“And this chat would be about…” I say as an invitation for her to keep talking.
“We want to talk about the current situation, to make sure that you’re sourcing your information from the right places.” My dad intercedes.
“Okay…” I say, still confused about what they mean.
“What your dad means is that we want to discuss Emerson.” Mum’s eyes are still glistening with a green so bright, you could almost suggest that they make everything in the room dull in comparison. Her eyes are a warning to tell everyone to look at her, to make sure that all the attention is focused on her.
At the mention of Emerson’s name, something inside me shifts. Maybe it’s the way that Mum’s eyes shine that suggests some riff between them, or maybe it’s that her name is like poetry to my ears, and that the mere mention of it heightens every emotion I’ve ever felt. “What about her?” I glare at them. They will not hurt her. I will make sure of it.
“Well, you informed me yesterday that she had told you certain information, and we wanted to hear it from you.”
Oh great, I was meant to talk to Emerson about that this morning, but I’ve been too distracted to remember. Whatever happens, I can’t let them know that I have no idea what they are talking about. “Yeah, so what?”
“We just want to know what you know, so we can know if we need Emerson anymore.” Something about the way he spoke made me want to curl into a ball and hide in the corner. The ruthless edge of his voice made me sure of exactly what he meant by ‘needing her’.
“What?” I almost yell. If they NEED her! I don’t care if they need her, I need her.
“Well, if you have all the information we need, then we are no longer in need of her services.” I can feel it, all the unspoken words floating in the air. But I’m barely breathing because I want to know if I’m right. I need to know if my parents could really be that heartless.
“So, if I tell you, you will let her go home.”
Silence.
Bitter, complete silence. And that’s when I know.
Finally, mum sighs and grabs my hand, but I shake it away. “Oh, Jasper,” she sighs again. “You really shouldn’t be getting caught up in this mess. Why don’t you just run along now and let the adult’s sort this out. We shouldn’t have involved you in this mess anyway.” She gives Dad a pointed look.
“Don’t look at me like that, you’re the one that wanted-” My dad’s voice rambles on but I’m not listening. I can’t hear anything because I’m consumed with one thought.
RUN.
Fly like the wind out that door and pretend that you never heard any of this. Forget what they’re saying. Forget her. Go back to a little while ago when nothing even mattered, and life was normal. As normal as it can be anyway.
But will life ever be normal now that Emerson has entered into it? I sit still. A small part of me wonders why I am even defending her. She has a whole life back at Beast Eye. She has friends. A home of her own. People who love her and care about her. What do I have to offer? A nice room in a prison and a father who wants her dead? I’m sure she’d love that.
“Jasper, did you hear what I just said?”
“Uh-huh.”
