The Great Altruist (29 page)

       
    
Once certain the room was empty and the door closed, Genesis stormed out of his pocket as if it was filled with poison. "Are you crazy?" she shouted.

       
    
"Calm down. He didn't fall for it. It'll be okay."

           
"What do you mean, he didn't fall for it? Were you
trying
to ruin everything?"

       
    
"Of course not."

       
    
"You're getting too close to causing a paradox! I never should have gone along with this."

       
    
"I'm sorry. I got carried away."

       
    
“Carried away?” she yelled. She turned from James and shook her head back and forth out of frustration. “I knew you couldn’t be trusted with this,” she whispered to herself. She thought she had learned from losing Jadzia, but she clearly hadn’t. She thought she could stand against his begging. But
he
wasn’t the problem; her heart – the part that was falling in love with him – was the problem.

       
    
“That’s unfair!” he said, unaware she wasn’t referring to him.

       
    
She turned around and flew within inches of his face. He felt scared and took a step back as she approached. “No, let me tell you what’s unfair, James. You promised me we would discuss what to say together. Before you say it!"

       
    
She backed down and flew over to the window. She stared at the moon and noticed the storm clouds gather as she attempted to calm herself down. Finally, she turned around, wiped a tear from her eye, and placed her hands on her hips. "What I gave you before, James, was to help you fix your
own
mistake. I gave that to you out of a sacred duty. But what I give you now is not just a chance to save your family. I'm giving you my complete trust. Remember that the next time you feel like getting yourself killed. My powers are at your disposal, but I am selfish about one thing.”

       
    
“What?” he asked.

       
    
She hesitated. “You. These past few months, James, I…” she turned
away for a moment and wiped another tear from her eye.
“
I've come to see you as more than my friend. I know because of my size, we can never be together, but I want to be with you as long as I can.”

       
    
James extended his hand and let her swoop down and rest in his palm. He gently stroked her cheek. “And I you. I've felt that way for some time now.”

       
    
“Good,” she said. “Then you'll understand if I'm scared of losing you.”

       
    
“Of course. I'll do better.”

       
    
“I know watching all this is hard for you. But you can’t be so reckless.”

       
    
He nodded. "I really hope what my father said isn't true."

  
         
“I’m sure there’s more to what happened. There always is.” She drifted closer to him and rested on his shoulder. She watched his hands shake as the impact of his journey took its toll on his nerves. She knew he was sincere when he wanted to learn more of his parent's past, but he was learning too much at once - he wasn't ready to face all the secrets his family had spent years burying away.

           
“This is none of my business,” he said clutching his head.

           
“Maybe.” She knew there was no convincing him to stop now though. "I did think it was weird what he said about your mother and her stepfather. I wonder why she only speaks well of
him
?"

       
    
"I'd like to find out why that is."

       
    
"Right now?" she asked, preparing herself to leave.

       
    
"No. I want to know what my father meant about letting everyone down if he bailed out of the marriage. He
always told me
not
to care what people think!"
James didn't want to believe his father's best pieces of wisdom were culled from his own mistakes. Deep down, he hoped his father was the sort of man that learned without walking through every door on his own. All his life, James was convinced that the perception his father created of being strong and wise was true. As he saw more and more of his parents, he saw just how human they both were. He just wished it didn't take finding out the terrible skeletons from their past for him to get it. “I would like to know where he learned to care more about what other people think than his happiness."

       
    
"Where did you learn
not
to care?"

       
    
"From him."

       
    
"Then maybe we should start with his father."

       
    
"On one condition," he began. "Make sure I'm not my grandmother."

       
    
She laughed. "Naturally."

       
    
They disappeared a moment later.

Chapter 6

           
James came out of the stream and saw a strange-looking but still familiar room. It looked like his sister's room but with older decor. He soon realized on looking in the mirror that he was indeed in his sister's room – only thirty years earlier. He was living in the body of his father's sister, his Aunt Mary.

       
    
"You've gone too far this time," James said to Genesis in a teenage girl's voice. "Although I figured this would have to happen eventually. I only have so many male relatives."

       
    
"Isn’t this every guy’s dream: to live as a woman for a day?"

       
    
"Normally I wouldn't mind," he said as he looked at his breasts, "but isn’t this a little creepy to you?"

       
    
"Very," she said, laughing.

       
    
"I’m going to get you back for this,” he said. “Let's just do what we came to do and get out of here. I don't want to be here any longer than I have to."

       
    
Downstairs at the kitchen table sat James's grandfather, Curtis, who James had never met before. The man was stoic and cold, an icy grin stretched across his face as he read the newspaper. He appeared mean, his temperament caustic, and when his eyes darted around the room, he appeared sinister.

       
    
James's father eventually came home from work and joined the family for dinner. Curtis responded with only a shake of the head and resumed his newspaper reading. A moment later, he said: "How was your day, son?" He hardly lifted his gaze from the newspaper.

       
    
"Same as always."

       
    
Curtis looked up from the paper and glanced over his son's appearance as he ate. "Why is your tie loose?"

       
    
James's father straightened his tie and tightened the knot. "Sorry," he mumbled.

       
    
"You didn't wear your tie like that at work, did you?"

       
    
He let out a sigh. "It was hurting me."

       
    
Curtis stood up suddenly and smacked his son across the face, sending him to the floor. "Don't you ever answer me in that tone again!"

       
    
James sat frightened at the display of violence. His father cowered on the floor as Curtis stood over him with a raised fist. "I don't care what people think!" his father screamed.

       
    
"But you must!” Curtis said. “How many times have I told you? You have to dress with respect for yourself!"

       
    
James's grandmother, Betty, did nothing. She stopped eating naturally, but she did nothing to defend her son. James sat in his chair and was already prepared to jump in if his father was struck again. When his muscles twitched, Genesis – who was hiding in James's blouse pocket – gave him a gentle nudge to stay put. James relaxed and watched as his father began to cry.

       
    
"I didn't mean it! I'm sorry!" he yelled.

       
    
"You need to care what people think about you," Curtis, trying to calm down as he approached his son and stooped down on one knee.

       
    
"But why?" James's father said as he sat up on the floor.

       
    
"Because no one respects anything anymore. Why should anyone take you seriously if you don't care what people think? That's something you’re going to have to learn eventually, whether you like it or not."

       
    
His father dried his eyes and wiped his nose on his sleeve. "Okay," his father answered obediently.

       
    
Curtis stood up over his son with a menacing pose, like a bear hovering over a defeated prey. "Good."

       
    
His son nodded and hung his head.

       
    
"Now go upstairs and clean up."

       
    
James's father hurried to his room and closed the door behind him as softly as he could. He didn't want to give any impression he slammed it.

       
    
James sat silently and tried to finish his dinner. He wanted to tell his grandfather that he was wrong. He wanted to explain how that kind of thinking would affect his father's life. He knew Genesis would never forgive him if he intervened without her permission.

       
    
After dinner, James went upstairs to his aunt's room and let Genesis climb out of the pocket. She immediately climbed to the windowsill.

       
    
"Thank you for controlling your temper down there. I know that must have been hard to watch," she said.

       
    
"Hard to watch? I had no idea my father was beat like that! And did you see my grandmother? She just sat there and watched like this happens every day."

       
    
"Maybe it does," she said.

       
    
"Why can't I just have a normal family?" James wondered.

       
    
She sat down and shook her head from side to side, not knowing exactly what to say. "I don't think anyone does," she said finally.

       
    
"At least now I can see why my father went through with marrying my mother. I'd be scared to break it off too! My father probably thought he’d be killed.”