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Don’t Blame Me I’m A Martian…9
Chapter 9
We’re all full of adrenaline as we’re racing up Old beach road to a lonely stretch of sand dunes the locals usually end up partying at. We just call it The Dunes or some call it Desert Sands but that’s like the name from back in Dad’s era and stuff.
Van Halen’s “Mine all Mine.” Is blaring out of the front of the truck and there a lot of wild yells and screams and stuff. I’m getting increasingly sore and in pain as the ride is going so when someone passes me a beer I take it. And when someone passes me the Jack Daniels I take that too.
The beer is beer but the whisky just burns it’s way down my throat and sets my whole mouth into searing pain as there’s all these cuts on the inside of my cheeks and lips and my gums from getting beat on by “Dick.” I might not have felt it then but I’m feeling it now.
I passed the bottle to someone else and ended up curling up in the back of the truck as instead of the whisky numbing the pain it just woke up all the other places that I’m hurt and it all just slowly starts to throb.
I think that one of the girls pulled my head onto her lap but I’m not sure, I’m crying and trying to breathe through the rising pain and stuff. I sort of pass out and I remember Jax putting me in the back seat of his car and taking me home.
……………..I wake up and Mom’s there beside me. Wet cloth in her hands and she’s looking at me. “Interesting night you had last night.”
I groan and try to roll over but it hurts too much. “I…I…didn’t mean for it to turn to crap mom!” The tears start to just come out hard and fast. “I didn’t even start it just someone…”
“I know, Deidre fessed up to taking the first swing.”
“But it wouldn’t have even happened if I wasn’t there! The whole thing started because of me! Because I’m a freak!”
“Shussssh Honey, that’s not you’re fault. You never forced them to act like that, they weren’t at gunpoint.”
“It’s going to be the same thing home!” I can’t stop the tears and the hurt. The effing hormones are in full swing just boiling up into this perfect storm in me and I keep seeing the fight and Patterson’s bigger than here and I’m not saying less friendly but it’s not like Ocean City. I keep getting all these images of my entire life home just turning to complete shit and all the hassles and all the hate and all of a sudden I can’t breath and my Mom’s trying to tell me to calm down and then everything just greys out and then goes black.
I’m not sure how long I’m out but I can hear music on my skin. I can hear whale song on my skin. I’m chilly and warm at the same time and I open my eyes to see water rise and gently hit me. I’m in the ocean with dad. We’re just sitting in the water on the sand and I feel like I can breathe…the sea water seems to “feel” like it sparkles against my skin and when the next wave hits my chest there’s this faint bit of whale song in there with it?
It “feels” like? ~Be well~?
It “feels” like the sounds, the songs were for me, to me?
I must be losing it. Gee, I wonder why?
“Dad?”
“Yeah…”
“Why are we in the water?”
“You were freaking out, hyperventilating so I carried you out here.”
“Okay…”
“I did this with your Mother the summer she was shot and was having her own PTSD stuff going on. It helped her… so I brought you out here.”
“Dad…”
“Yeah?”
“Thanks…It helped…It worked…”
“You’re welcome Dylan.”
I lean on him and he’s still got his arms around me but there’s this feeling but not like the other feels I was getting like the waves and the ocean were kind of rocking me as much as Dad was and that there all the BS and freaking out that I was going through was being washed out to sea with each wave.
I’m in there until the sparkle feelings begin to turn to the pins and needles sort of feeling when you’re getting cold and I start shivering. Dad picks me up and carries me to shore. There’s just Mom there it’s late, likely in the really early morning. Dad carries me right up to the deck of the main house and there’s the BBQ going casting off a nice bit of heat and I can smell a pot of coffee going on it and something that smells greasy but good.
Dad passes me to mom who sits with me on the sort of sofa thing we have out on the big deck. He slips into the house and comes right back out with a flannel blanket fresh out of the dryer and smelling like fleecy and wraps it around both of us and then pours us some coffees. Dad makes the best coffee I’ve ever had and no one knows the secret to his blend.
It’s like sinking into just…it’s something that’s Dad. I swear I can feel that thing between him and Mom. How much they click and how much they love each other. I might be turning and changing into who knows what but I want to be like my Dad.
There’s more guys like him around then most people think. Dad’s and artist, a handyman and he’s the stay at home parent. Mom makes all the cash as it were but that’s cool. Dad does stuff, tons of stuff to hold us all together like tonight at the beach. There are guys who do stuff for their kids like that.
He’s making me a plate of food and Mom’s snuggled up to me. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah Mom, I think so. I kind of lost it a bit didn’t I?”
“Yeah you did.”
“So how much trouble am I in?”
“Well you didn’t start the fight and then again you didn’t get clear of it either and you were drinking and everything. I could give you a lecture and stuff Dylan but tonight’s kind of a wash. Deidre started it at least physically and she owned up to it and from what the other kids said you weren’t looking for trouble and one of the other kids in town and his friends started it up verbally. I think you’re good on this one.”
“I still owe you guys on the other fine.”
“No, we’re cutting that one down. You’ve earned some slack there so we’re only charging you two hundred and fifty.”
“Thanks…” There’s a bit or gratitude and a bit of sarcasm in that. My family is the only one I know where there’s fines over stuff that you did and amounts per hour or by the job for household chores.
“It’d be nothing if you got rid of the tattoo.”
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah, it’s going to look stupid with me still changing and stuff.”
“Good, Jax having his tattoos is bad enough.”
“Uh-huh, but if I get too girly looking I might get a tramp stamp.” I manage a smile and tickle her a bit.
“Oh…No goddamned way.” She tickles me back and makes a face at me. It helps, it really does I feel a lot better.
“Thanks Mom. I know I don’t say that enough to you or to Dad.”
“You’re welcome honey it’s all a part of the job of being a parent.”
Dad comes over with home fries over a big slice of toast on a platter with roast beef mixed into gravy like a hot sandwich and two forks and Mom and I sit and we pig out sharing the hot Sandwich together and we talk. I tell her what the night was like and not just the stuff at the DQ parking lot with the fight but before at the movies and the way I was getting looked at and the things that I noticed that were going on between the girls.
She’s nodding and saying between mouthfuls. “It’s so much more complicated on the girl’s side of things. You’re constantly getting judged and weighed and measured by the girls around you.”
“But why? I mean it just seems a bit petty sometimes.”
“It’s just the way that a lot of girls seem to be. There’s a shortage in our heads sometimes that there only so many good guys to go around and we get really all bent out of shape about it when we get beat out of a guy that we wanted. A whole lot of a girl’s psyche is developed around how she’s thought of in relation to all of that and we use it as our social gauge and as a weapon.”
“But, that’s stupid!”
“You’re right it is and we admit even to ourselves that it’s stupid but it’s meshed in partly with nature and instinct, but mostly women are shoved this idea of the perfect girls life down out throats since we were little and we want prince charming and the fairy tale and that’s what we go for a lot of the time.”
“So the guys that seem to have it all and all the girls is because they all want that fairy tale for themselves?”
“More or less, I mean things are just different everywhere and stuff but yeah. We are driven to compete with each other over a happy ending that might not exist. The men that we want in our heads are mostly fiction.”
“But most guys just want a girl that’ll go out with them. Playing up in competition over a few guys is what created these assholes that think they’re the greatest thing since sliced bread to girls.”
“Its complex Dylan, but you’re going to likely see a lot more of this stuff coming you’re way. Whether you like it or not you’re pretty.”
“I’m pretty?”
“Yes, you have this very cute kind of butchy-pretty thing that you’ve got going on.”
“I do? Like girl pretty?”
“Yes and it’s like that tomboy pretty girl next door thing and it won’t get you any favors with some girls. Pretty and non-threatening and approachable is pretty threatening.”
“It is?”
“Yes why do the stuff you said the other day in the car freaked your sister out. Most girls do not know how to be that girlfriend that’s actually a friend and you’re built to be just that. The fact that it’s more of an inside connection that you’ll have with someone is even more threatening than being all hot and stuff. Being hot doesn’t last and usually never results in a long term relationship.”
“So….”
“Even if you never get into guys the fact you resemble a girl enough to sort of fit into their social spot will make you a target just because you’re pretty and more because you’ll beat them hands down about how the guys think.”
“So I’m going to get this stuff regardless but more because I’m “pretty” but more because I get along with guys so much?”
“Pretty much honey.”
“You girls are nuts.”
“Yup but you guys have that whole macho whatever thing going on that we don’t get either so…and that doesn’t help us either because we’re trying to decode you guys and it’s like getting a fax signal over the phone sometimes. And then there’s the whole hormone thing too.”
I hunch. “Don’t remind me.”
Mom hugs me again and helps me up. “It’s not going to be all bad Dylan, our hormones might make a little more all over the place with our feelings but that’s a good thing too be cause we’re more in touch with things and sometimes we can dump stress.”
“By freaking out?” I frown pulling the blanket around me.
“Yes, what you had happen was coming, you’re under a lot of stress honey and adding that to getting it a fight and getting a beating from it…yeah you blew and cried yourself to a bad spot but it would have been a hell of a lot worse I think if you had just bottled it up.”
“So I’m going to cry a lot more?” I start heading to my trailer and she’s walking with me.
“Yes more than you usually do but you’re still a boy so likely les than a girl normally would. But it can be a good thing Dylan.”
“Really? How?”
“My feelings make up how I experience things, what we feel is what gives women that sense of intuition sometimes. I’ve learned from my own feelings and being sensitive to people how to read them better and that’s made me a better cop. If I can do it then you can do it.”
She smiles at me and I can’t help but to smile back because…because we’ve never really talked like this before and stuff. But since this and this summer we’ve been getting tighter and tighter knit and I’m seeing her more than just a mom and just a cop but as this whole person I never really stopped to talk to before.
It’s so weird in a way my Dad is awesome and really he’s someone I’ve always loved and admired. I mean is there anything really unmanly about a guy who takes care of the house and cooks supper while he’s tinkering away at someone’s water heater, TV, Car or lawnmower?
But I’m starting to think regardless of me being adopted that Mom and me have more in common that her and my brother or sister. And for a guy that’s strange but Mom’s the kind of cop that doesn’t freeze on a gunfight, runs in with the firefighters into a burning building, or belly slide out over a frozen pond to save someone’s dog that fell through the ice. (She’s done all three.)
I’m actually pondering that over by the time I get to my trailer and look at her then give her a big hug. “G’nite Mom.” I hug her and open the door and just sit there leaning sort of on the doorframe. She gives me a really big hug. “G’nite kiddo, your Grand-dad will run you to work tomorrow he said.” I nod and squeeze her a bit closer. “Good.”
She’s heading away and I say. “Mom?”
She turns. “Yes honey?”
“Do you know one of the strongest things keeping me sane about my changing and becoming more and more like a girl?”
“No honey?”
“I’ve got one heck of a woman for a role model.” I can’t help but smile at her but the smile she gave me back….I’ve never seen or “felt” someone just “shine inside.” Like that ever.
“G’nite Dylan.”
“G’nite Mom.”
I swear that look doesn’t fade or that feeling just coming off of her either until my imagination seems to have turned into what might very well be happening between her and dad now that everyone’s gone.
It doesn’t bug me as much as it did or would have. I guess realizing that you actually like your parents as people changes how things go on then?
I get ready for bed and stop to look at myself in the mirror and have a very Huh? I don’t get it moment. All the cuts and scraped and bruises that should be there are gone? I even try and twist and turn and stuff and nothing hurts past the normal points that I’m able to turn and bend and twist.
I’m not sure if it’s still being damp and sort of chilled that it’s got my hair as dark as it looks or the fact I’m kind of pale right now but there’s this almost aqua color to my eyes for a few minutes. I undo my bra and set in with my clothes in the wash pile and slip into a soft nightshirt and drift off into a really tired sleep.
~ I dream of whale songs and blue water. ~
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Comments
Yay!
I loved that conversation between mom and Dylan. I also liked the way you turned what could have been a paragraph of story into a chapter, focusing on Dylan's relationship with his mom and helping him on his journey of discovery in finding out that being a woman is more than just anatomy and hormones.
If Dylan does end up more girl than boy (like in the dream several chapters ago) then as he said he has a tremendous role model in his mom for his girl side. We already know that his dad provides such a great role model for his boy side (and there is just something about Dylan's dad that makes me just feel 'safe' - which I thought you conveyed really well in the beach scene). In Dylan's case, nature might not have made him their son but nurture definitely has. Out of all the kids, it's Dylan that feels most like a balanced blend of both parents. And yeah, that cute, pretty girl-next-door look is going to be attracting a lot of attention as Dylan develops more but I think its going to be that good person vibe that really make Dylan beautiful. I hope he can find his happy ending like his mom has.
Interestingly Dylan now seems to have (in addition to empathy) an affinity for at least one type of higher mammal and regeneration powers. That should make healing up after the tattoo removal to be a fairly simple task. And that was soooooooooooo parent - you have the choice to do what you want but if you take the 'right' option then we'll cut you some slack. As for the special powers, I still don't expect Dylan to put on a cape and fight crime in New Jersey anytime soon. If anything (given the story title) the whole special powers vibe is more 'Escape To Witch Mountain' rather than 'superhero'.
I think you have a wonderful gift Bailey for conveying decent ordinary, everyday people and families in a way that rings so true. All stories have an ending one day but for now I'm relishing being spoilt by this story, Jem and Bridges. :-)
"Just once I want my life to be like an 80's movie, preferably one with a really awesome musical number for no apparent reason. But no, no, John Hughes did not direct my life."
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."
I'm so in like wow...over the great comment Jemima:)
I was hoping that the scenes with Dylan and their father and the beach and then the heart to heart with their mom came across right. I'm thinking this is going to be yet again this different kind of story and the main ideas are slowly starting to flow now. I do like the slow simple slide of Dylan's powers starting to develop as puberty kicks in.
I'm really glad that you are liking this story so much Jemima.
*Huge Hugs*
Bailey.
Bailey Summers
Me too!
I really enjoyed this! Like others have said, you really do have a way of touching the everyday life and feelings of people and making them seem so real. That conversation with Dylan's Mom was wonderful! The whole thing about trusting her feelings and intuition are a great start towards understanding these new abilities of hers that she's not really even aware of yet.
Speaking of those, that scene where her Dad carried into the water, was another OMG well-written eye-opener. When you add in Dylan was found in the ocean as well as hearing these whale-songs, you've created an intriguing mystery for us. Plus she's healing faster and her eyes are changing colors too!
This is Great, Bailey!
hugs
Grover
Thanks for getting that Grover:)
The connection to the water and Dylan being found there and them hearing the whale-songs and the other little tidbits that are going on. But as much or even more important is the interaction. I love the other characters in this so far Dylan's Mom's pretty cool and so's the Dad really. I love to be able to show the Mom being a good sound strong role model as a woman and the having a stay at home father that's still quite the guy but he's in the at home place instead of the woman and they're both perfectly good in their roles without falling into stereotypes.
Thank You So Much Grover!
*Great Big Hugs*
Bailey.
Bailey Summers
Wow, this was an impressive
Wow, this was an impressive chapter. I still don't get why the parents give them fines as punishments, but whatever.
I liked how the mother explained the boy/girl stuff. It's interesting that Dylan doesn't get the female jealousy dream mate thing. Apparently his male hormones protect him :D
On the other hand that is mating behavior and thus pretty easy to understand. It is primitve, For females the goal is too find the optimal partner, while for males it is to procreate as often as possible.
I'd say macho is male courtship behavior: "I'm the best mate you can find, see, I can walk over burning coals!"
Considering this fairy tale prince dreaming, I always thought women complaining about men beeing primitive rather hillarious.
It's mating behavior, it can't get more primitive. If it was too complex it wouldn't work and the species would become extinct.
Shit, I started ranting... sry.
However, thank you for writing this interesting story,
*hugs*
Beyogi
Rant away Beyogi:) It's a rant worthy subject.
Girls get the attitude between each other often because of as you said a natural breeding drive, but the behaviors that we see in them being so catty and mean and judgemental is all cultural. It's a tidal wave of media brainwashing telling them that they "Have to" have the best, they "Have to" have prince charming, the best guy band the best life and there's only so much of that to go around so the behaviors are social group positioning and media promotes the worst behaviors.
That being said bu no means is that what all women want or even believe in.
Now, the macho thug stupid guy responses are partly generated by the behavior of the women. The more that women seem to want the Alpha male types and they emulate some of the worst behavior possible.
The big strong handsome guys have gotten "Breeding" attention and this has happened for so long that these guys get so much action that it equates to success and that gets emulated by other guys.
Not a recommended idea.
That whole saying of absolute power corrupts absolutely holds true. Pretty/handsome people get better treatment more often because of the way they look and seem to get things handed to them. The problem with that it makes, men and women entitled and that makes assholes.
So we get all these guys being assholes in order to find a girl and all these girls in competition with each other being bitches to each other chasing an ideal man/mate that's a fictional character.
God I could go on but there's books committed to all of this these days.
But that's my take on a lot of this.
...................... Now Dylan's family fines their kids because taking money from them is a worse punishment than just trying to ground them or seal them in their room. It's sort of in the real world you break a law you pat fines unless you do something really bad.
The fact that your family, sibs, cousins who don't mess up get the money from the chores posted like odd jobs is another form of punishment. They get to see them having stuff that they want but can't afford.
It's like the way they post the jobs needed doing up and even encourage bids on the jobs they're just trying to prep their kids for the real world.
I'm glad you liked this Beyogi.
*Great Big Hugs.*
Bailey.
Bailey Summers
Surealistic conversation.
This episode had a dream like quality. Quite nice.
Gwendolyn
Thanks so much Gwendolyn:)
It's really nice to hear from you. Even in a short comment you showed me this different way of looking at it. the way it's all more or less set at night and everything. Seeing it that way gives it a different mood to it now in my head.
Thank You So Much.
*Great Big Hugs*
Bailey.
Bailey Summers
going swiming to deal with PTSD
interesting. I should try it.
Dorothycolleen
WEM has a wave pool Dorothy...
that might help. It was more the water, the salt air and the waves motion. I love that about the ocean you can just let it hold you and rock you and have it wash away the bullshit. I've used it for years.
I've done the holding them in the waves thing too with a friend and while it's out there it seems to help.
If you're not able to do that though I've always found going for a bike ride in the rain works too. There's something about getting soaked while on the bike that has that feeling of letting all that water soaking you to wash the crap out of your system and leave it behind you on the road.
The hot shower or bath afterwards with a hot drink and a warm blanket will help too.
I'm Glad that you liked this and commented.
*Big Hugs*
Bailey.
Bailey Summers
Martian, or Mermaid?
lol Couldn't resist that thought. The water connection just had to have an outlet =]
Don't know why, but after reading this chapter there are two ideas which I'm reminded of; The alien creatures living deep down in the movie "The Abyss", and Percy Jackson's connection with/to Poseidon. There even seems to be a "Cocoon" vibe, oddly enough. Heh, I know, my thoughts run in odd circles sometimes lol
Dylan's new sense of empathy you've explored in this chapter is a huge step. There's already an impression that he's underwent a major evolution in relative maturity since the changes he's been going through have become more pronounced. The deeper interaction with his mother, father, and other relatives is an excellent example that the changes he is going through do not necessarily need to be seen as bad.
It's really awesome that the family dynamics are so inclusive. In some ways their relations reminds me of the extended-family ethos of some gypsy traditions. I can't think of a better group for someone as different as Dylan to be brought up in... And makes me wonder if there might have been an intelligent force directing who his adoptive family would be. Hmm >.>
On another note, enjoying the mystical twist thrown into this chapter. Adding just a small touch of the 'other' into a story so grounded in reality broadens the scope into vast horizons of possibility.
Thanks for another awesome chapter to this superb story, hon. As always, you totally rock, Bailey ^^
~Hugs n Stuff~
Da Lynx
Really great comment Lynx:)
As always it seems there's that little bit of stuff going on in my head with a story that you're cluing into. Like I've mentioned I'm getting more into the theme and ideas that might be a large part of the story yet not the driving forces, the characters and people will always be that.
Thanks for the comment Jen, you didn't just clue into things but gave me ideas as well.
*Great Big Hugs and stuff*
Bailey.
Bailey Summers
^^
Ideas are good things =]
The character driven nature of your stories is one of the big reasons that you're my favorite author here <3
~More Hugs n Stuff~
Jen
Awww:) Now I'm blushing Lynx.
Being called someone's favorite Author is huge praise. Thank you so much <3
You're aces y'know that Jen.
*Lots Of Hugs and Stuff again.*
You can have too much stuff but never enough hugs.
Bailey.
Bailey Summers
Tender
This was a very nice and tender chapter. The way you flesh out your characters is very nice!! You cannot help but to feel Dylan's pain. Anyways Bailey, thanks for your writing, you make me smile a lot. And well, who does not like to smile!! I truly think of all your stories this one would make the best show on TV!! *not so subtle hint* :)
*Hugs*
Edit; OMG you cannot get rid of the tattoo!! :)
Thanks Melinda that's a very sweet comment.
I'm coming to really like writing for Dylan and the characters around them and I'm looking forward to writing more of this soon. I'm glad I made you smile though. We need a TG channel before some of the good stories could be made into a TV show.
Dylan might keep the tattoo, might not. I haven't decided yet.
*Big Hugs*
Bailey.
Bailey Summers
prescience?
i know you have some physic abilities coming on, did Dylan freak out or see a might happen when they go home?
the stuff with mom and dad was great.
thanks
No that part wasn't Psi related.
It was just a culmination of stress and shock from the fight and good old teenaged years.
I loved writing that especially with Dylan and their Mom got really into some of the womanly why's.
Thanks so much for reading and commenting LoneWolf:)
*Hugs and Howls*
Bailey.
Bailey Summers