{"sf1_id":910909,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Chapter 4","author":"Devfina","words":3243,"posted_at":"2015-09-15T07:56:00.000Z","tags":["Canine","Children","FAMILY","Husky","Male","Runaway","mix"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/910909-chapter-4","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/910909","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=910909\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"I\nblinked at my email, the coffee mug half way to my lips. This can't be\nright. The email was from the Dean of the school that Rei was attending.\nI say was because apparently, my son is no longer attending that\nschool. Of course, this was something I just found out, thus my utter\nsurprise and disbelief. The email was from the Dean, stating that he was\napologetic in making the mistake of sending me an email earlier without\nan attachment and he has thus forth reattached and resent me the entire\nemail. He concluded with being truly apologetic about his lapse and he\ntruly regreted having to expel my son from the school for hacking the\nsystems and changing his grades. Well, lets see, firstly I did not\nreceive any email and second Rei told me he was coming home for the\nholiday s, and not getting kicked out of school. Also he seemed to have\ncoincidentally fail to let me know that he was failing his classes.\nEvery time I conference him, he said he was doing well. I put down the\ncoffee mug and went straight to my computer. I wasn't some computing\ngenius like that son of mine but being 230, I had a lot of time to  pick\nup an extensive amount of computing skills. \"Houx trace if anyone\ninterfered with my incoming mail.\" Of course I then use that knowledge\nto build Houx. \"Your incoming mail was intercepted 3 days ago. From a\nunknown IP address. Location of the address originated from a computer\nused in an internet cafe not far from the campus that Rei attend. Now\nLev...\" I cut him off before he could finish his sentence. \"That pain\nthe ass .....argh!\" I snatched up my phone and started dialing for\nBouski. \nI\nsat in the kitchen and glare at the stairs in case Rei came down, while\nwaiting for Bouski to arrive. Houx was going on and on about how I was\nletting my emotions get to my head and that I wasn't looking at the\nevidence. What evidence? He changed his records and got expelled. The\nworst part of the entire thing was that he lied to me and misled me into\nthinking that he did well and was only back because it was the school\nholidays. I heard the tires of a car came to a screeching stop followed\nby heavy foot falls that I knew only belong to one person. I heard my\nfront door open and that all too familiar voice rang through the hall.\n\"Lev, whats the emergency man? I was having breakfast with the missus\nand girls.\" He walked into the kitchen and poured himself a cup of\ncoffee. I hand him the communicator with the email while keeping quiet. I\ndid not trust myself to not shout out what happened.  He took a while\nto look at the whole email and only raised his eyebrow and sip his\ncoffee. \"Well, like mother like son eh.\" He chuckled. \"I did not get\nexpelled from anywhere!\" I declared, my voice a little louder than I\nwanted. It was taking every ounce of control I have to not raise my\nvoice and wake the whole neighborhood. \"Well, you did get into a lot of\ntrouble back then. He may have a good reason as to why he did what he\ndid.\" He sipped his coffee again. The fact that he was so calm in this\nsituation was definitely getting on my nerve. How can he act as if this\nwas a small issue? Rei got expelled for changing his grades! He lied and\nmisled! That was unacceptable by Aristellian standards! Bouski is a\nfull Aristellian, how is he so calm!? \"WHAT!? When did you become the\nvoice of reason? Aint it your duty to be all truth is most important!?\" I\nspat out. \"Well, yes the truth is important but you are the one who say\nthat we should always look at all the evidence. By Aristellian\nreasoning, this is unacceptable and should be punished! But you are only\nhalf of that and you are suppose to be the voice of reasoning. So why\ndon't you use that reasoning ability of yours to find out why he lied\nand changed his grades? Also, if you don't remember, I may be a full\nAristellian now, don't mean I was 2000 years ago. I still remember what\nreasoning is. You also seem to always love lecturing me about it!\" He\nraised his tone slightly. That stunned me a little. Bouski rarely raised\nhis voice with me. This guy had been my best friend since I was a baby.\nHe was my nanny, my bodyguard, my friend and now, after I joined HQ, my\nsecond in command. No matter what kind of trouble I got into, he was\nalways there for me. He always had a soft smile to offer when I get in\ntrouble and spoke to me ever so gently when I was down. He never once\nraised his voice no matter how big of a trouble I got into. He only\nraised it once and that was when I wanted to quit my job because of a\nlittle bump in the road. \nI\nblinked a few times and stare at the big mammoth of a guy. Standing at\n195cm, he always made me feel like a dwarf, more so now than ever. But I\nwasn't about to back down this time and cry like before, I'm not a\nlittle girl anymore and I have faced enough big dudes in the field to\nlet size intimidate me. Houx was trying to say something but I cut him\noff before he could berate me too. \"Well, what other evidence do you\nwant? He failed out of his classes and changed the grades. Because of\nthat, he got expelled. I think the reason for my anger is very well\njustified!\" I saw Bo wanted to say something but continued  on my rants,\n\"No wonder no one wanted to adopt him! The staff at the orphanage said\nthat he was a rebellious good for nothing child and I thought they were\nbeing too harsh! But now I realized they are right he is a rebellious\nchild and definitely good for nothing but trouble!\" My shoulder rising\nand falling from the anger coursing through my entire being. \"You\nshouldn't say that of him! You hardly know anything about him!!\" Bo's\nvoice raised another notch and he was clenching his fist so tight, his\nknuckles were turning white. \"You guys might want to tone down a\nlittle...\" Houx spoke in the same even tone that he always used. \"Well,\ndoes it matter if he heard?\" I snapped at no one in particular \"Its\nbetter he knows that he is in a lot of trouble!\" \n\"You\nare being too quick to deal out judgement!\" I can see all his muscles\ntightening as they would when he was preparing to hit someone. This was\none hell of an intimidating sight and if I wasn't this mad, I would be\ntrying to calm the big guy down. Apologies and try divert the anger of\nthe big man. But I wasn't one to back down and I was in a state where my\nanger was clouding most of my better judgement and a small part of me\nknows that Bo would never hit me. He never had and I like to believe he\nnever will. \"Well, I am his mother, he might not be my son by birth but\nhe is my son. If I do not punish him when he makes a mistake, who will?\"\nI stood up, my counter stool toppled from my sudden movement. \"Because\nhe is your son therefore you should be even more thorough when it comes\nto understanding the situation before dealing out punishment!\" A dark\nshadow crossed his already tanned features. \"Who are you to tell me how\nto bring up my son!?\" I had enough of this lecture from him. I needed\nhim here to tell me how to punish my son not tell me how to be a parent.\nInstead of a retort or a continuation of his lecture, he quietly stood\nup and walked out of the kitchen. I didn't follow him, following felt\nlike I gave in and admit that I was wrong. Instead, I stood at my spot\neven when I heard the car engine start up and Bo drove away. \n----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nI\nwas pacing back and forth in my study, thinking about my next mode of\naction. I thought asking Bo over would makes things easier. He would\nknow what to do, given the experience he got bringing me up and now his\ntwo daughters. Instead, we got into an argument, he stomped out and I\nstill don't have an action plan. At this moment, I rather be out in the\nfield, darting enemy bullets and diffusing bombs. I mean in that\nsituation, I would know what to do with my eyes closed! But this\nsituation, this situation I have no idea how to handle. I sigh as I took\na seat at my table. I still have the Dean's email opened and on my\nscreen. I had been almost two hours since I saw this email and slightly\nover an hour since Bo left. They say you are really angry for a short\ntime and any more after that was just you being stupid and holding on to\nthe anger. I guess I've been doing nothing but holding my anger in.\nMaybe Bo was right, maybe Rei has a good reason as to what happened. I\nshould go speak to him. I've no doubt he heard what I was going on about\ndownstairs and the door closing as Bo stomped off. He was a young child\nand having adults fight like that was definitely terrifying. Especially\nwhen it was about you. I took a couple of deep breath to try and expel\nall the anger before going to Rei's room to talk about this matter to\nhim. \nI\nknocked a couple of times but there was no answer. I tried the door\nknob and realize it was not locked. I pushed open the door and entered.\n\"Rei?\" I looked around and saw that even though the room was a mess,\nthere was no white husky in sight. The backpacked in the corner that I\nsaw was there last night was gone as well. I can feel the panic start\nbuilding up inside of me. Dread washed over me as I walked over to the\nopened window and saw the linen we used on his bed rolled up and tied to\nthe bed pole on my right, the other end hanging outside the window. I\nlooked out and there was no sign of my son. A gush of wind blew in as I\nlooked out and some papers ruffled on the table to my left. I grabbed\nthe top piece and saw, scribbled in a neat cursive hand was a letter\naddressed to me. \nDear Lev,\nI'm\nsorry I didn't tell you I got kicked out of school, and I'm sorry for\nlying to you about it. Truth is, I changed my grades because the Dean\nfailed me after he found out that I hacked the school's system. I know\nwhat I did was wrong, but it was not without reason. I had found out\nthat he was embezzling school money for his own purposes. I confronted\nhim about it and he said that if I ratted him out, he would fail me and\nmake you disappointed. I told him that I would have to report him\nnonetheless because it would be what you do. Bo always said that you\nwould do the right thing no matter what. So he failed me. I didn't want\nyou to take me out of school when you saw my report card before I was\nready with the evidence. I had to change my grades, eventually the Dean\nfound out and expelled me. I had some last bit of evidence to collect so\nI intercepted the Dean's e-mail. I had planned to tell you when I got\neverything but it seems you've already found out. I overheard your\nconversation with Bo and I don't want my actions to be the reason you\nand Bo stop talking to one another. Bo always said that you're like\nfamily to him. I've never known what that feels like, but I like to\nthink that it's a beautiful thing to have. Thank you for everything Lev,\nthank you for the food, shelter, the clothes on my back and a chance of\nliving a normal childhood. I'm sorry I wasn't more grateful. Please\ndon't lose you family over a good for nothing street mutt like me, it's\nnot worth it. I guess people were right.\nGoodbye Lev, I hope you never have to see me again.\nRei.\n\nI\njust stood there, everything seem to have stopped around me. I had no\nidea what exactly happened next. I must have ran all the way to Bo's\nplace because I was panting as I banged my fist on his front door. The\nbig guy opened the door and before I knew it, I was hugging and burying\nmy face in his chest, sobbing and mumbling I'm sorry over and over\nagain. I felt his thick arms wrapped around me and a hand rest on the\nback of my head, soothing gently. I pushed away from my guardian and\nshoved the letter to him. \"Rei...Rei...he ran away and its all my fault!\nAnd...and....I dont know where is he and ....\" I was stuttering between\nsobs. \"Wait, he ran away and Houx did not alert you?\" Bo scanned the\nletter and looked at me. \"I...I...I dont know why.....but we have to\nfind him Bo! I .... we cant..let him be out there on his own! What if\nsomething happens? What...What if he gets...kidnapped....What if...he\ngets killed?\" I was pacing back and forth in his hall. Lula and the two\nlittle girls came out from the kitchen to see what was going on. A huge\ngrin crossed Bo's face. \"You care about him a whole lot eh. Even if you\nhave a funny way of showing it.\" \"Of course I care! He's my son! He's my\nresponsibility! And...\" I paused in my pacing and look at the big man.\nOver the past five months, I called Rei every week to check on him. At\nthe beginning, Houx or Bo had to remind me to do it but over time, I had\nmade it into a habit. At the beginning he had been a burden, a\nliability in my career. A problem thrust onto me because my boss was\nbeing a bitch. But after sometime, especially after a long and tedious\nday, I would just call my son and talk to him. Even though the\nconversations were short and brief, it made me feel better. All my life,\nI had responsibilities thrust on me that I never asked for. Rei was one\nof them. I accepted them because I was stubborn and egotistic. I wanted\nto prove that even though they were unwanted responsibilities, I can\nstill bare them. Not so much for others to see, but to myself. I guess,\nRei started out like that as well, a responsibility I didn't asked for\nbut it was like a new challenge for myself. But over time, somehow,\nwithout my knowing, he became more than just a challenge to prove\nmyself. He was my source of comfort. In my line, we fight everyday to\nkeep people safe. Sometimes, most times, no one ever thank us because\nthey didn't even know we existed. We were silent soldiers doing the\nground work and keeping the planets in our galaxy safe. The day Rei\nfound out I adopted him, and every time we spoke after, he would thank\nme for taking him in. \"Thanks Lev, goodbye\" was how our conversations\nalways ended. He was grateful not because I saved him or because I got\nhim off that island. No, my son was thankful for something I did that I\ndid not have to do. I had opportunities to send him off. One place\nreplied about 1 month after he left for school and by then he already\ngot into a lot of trouble. Yet I didn't send him off. I could have but I\ndidn't because somehow this little guy had worm his way into my life\nand become a part of it. He was a brat, a pain in the ass, a huge burden\nat times, but he was my brat, my pain in the ass and my burden.  \n\"And...he....I\n...I love him.\" I looked at the big man and finally understood how he\ncould put up with me all this time. I was never an easy child but this\nman never left me or walked out on me no matter how much trouble and\nheadaches I brought him. Sometimes, love, unconditional love is the most\npowerful thing. It doesn't have to be for someone of your family or\nsomeone you love deeply or even your biological children. It could be\nfor someone you least expect to enter your life and worm their way into\nyour heart. \"He is my son and I want him back. He can make mistakes and I\nknow he will, but I want him to make mistakes where I know he is safe!\nWhen I signed those papers, I made a silent unknowing vow to love and\ncare and keep him safe no matter what. I have to protect him not because\nI need too out of duty, but because I want to!\" I was saying this more\nfor my own than for Bo to hear because I already suspect the man knows\nwhat I am talking about. \"Alright then, lets find your son and bring him\nhome!\" He gestured to the door. I felt a tug on my shirt and looked\ndown to my right. There, tugging my shirt was Bo's second daughter, my\nyoungest goddaughter. She handed me a tissue and I smiled at her and pat\nher on the head. \"Dad say we can meet godbrother Rei today. Would he be\nhome later? I want to show him my airship drawings!\" She smiled\ninnocently at me. Lula was about to tell her daughter something when I\ncut her off and said \"soon kiddo, I'm gonna go and bring him home. You\nhang in there ok?\" I waved goodbye and ran out to the car that Bo had\nwaiting outside. \nI was going to bring my son home even if I have to turn this whole planet inside out. \n\n----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------\nAuthor's note:\nThis\nwas such an emotional piece to write because I really love those two so\nmuch and having them fall out like that was heartbreaking. Lev is a\nblock head I admit and although she's 200 odd, shes considered a young\nadult barely out of her teens. She has much to learn about being a\nparent. And Rei has much to learn about what having a family means.\nLuckily they have Bo around to point them somewhat in the right\ndirection. Anyways Thanks for reading and if you like this chapter, do\nconsider giving it a vote. Letter handwritten by IllIVIllI \nTill the next chapter! :D \n\n","previous":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/903158-chapter-3.json"}