| THE RETURN OF MR. HAWKINS by Christy Chapter 2 "Mrs. Hawkins, do you have any empty rooms? Mrs. Hawkins, do you hear me?" Sarah heard, but she was just as shocked as her son. She too was frozen. She too felt like everything had turned unreal, and her vision also blurred. "Y-yes....yes sir, we have plenty of rooms," she finally managed to stammer out. The guest sighed. "You recognize me, don't you Sarah?" "Only too well," Sarah whispered. "Her' Jimbo, firs' slice fer the birthday boy!" Silver said as he handed the stunned Jim a plateful of cake, but Jim made no movement. "Jimbo?" "All right, Mr. Silver, what have you done to him???" Amelia demanded. "Nothin'," said Silver. "He's jus'......surprised...I think...." Amelia snapped her fingers in Jim's ear. "Hello? James? Wake up, Mr. Hawkins!" The firm tone of her voice finally jolted Jim back to reality. "Huh? Oh.....right....." His eyes were still focused on the stranger. Amelia grasped his chin and turned his head towards her, so he was now looking into her sharp green eyes. "James, you seem a bit out of sorts." "A bit?" scoffed Jim. "That's kind of an understatment, don't you think? Uh....I gotta go." "What???" exclaimed Doppler. "But Jim, it's time for cake!" "I'm not hungry," Jim said quickly as he pryed Amelia's fingers off his chin. He quickly scampered out of her reach, avoiding making eye contact with her intimidating glare. So what if he was running out of his own party? His mind was racing too much to care. Surely if everyone knew who was at the door they'd understand. Right now he had only one thought: "Get out!!!" "Jim?" The sound of his mother's gentle-yet-shaken-up voice caused Jim to stop in his tracks. A subconscious force turned his head over his shoulder. "Jim...." Sarah said as calmly as she was able, "....someone wants to see you." "I don't wish to see anyone right now, Mom," Jim said with his throat tightening. "I didn't expect you would, Jim," said a deep, familiar masculine voice. Jim's stomach began churning. He wanted to run. His every nerve wanted to run. Run....run....run....that urge seemed ready to explode within him. Yet the subconscious force still had a hold on him, and was now turning his body to face the visitor. The man stood tall, with a robust build, short brown hair, and a nose that looked like it had been broken. He had tired looking brown eyes and a small mustache under his nose. "Jim," he said gently. Jim stared at him for a moment. "Leland Hawkins," he finally said, with about as much emotion as if he were reading a random name. The man nodded slowly. "Yes....but you once called me Father." His eyes moved ever-so-slowly, as though he were examining his son. "My...how you've grown," he said nervously. "How old are you now?" "Seventeen.....seventeen today, in fact," replied Jim. He felt like adding "And any decent father should remember his son's age and birthday!" Leland cleared his throat. "So sorry I forgot, Jim. It's just been...so long." "Yeah, well if you're waiting for me to tackle you in a hug, you're in for a long wait!" Jim sneered. Leland sighed. "I don't expect you to." The guests stood silently in the background, unsure what to do. Many knew about Jim's past with his father, and those few who didn't could still sense something was amiss. Finally Doppler got in into his head to get Jim out of this awkward moment. "Uh, hello Mr. Hawkins," he said as cheerfully as he could. "I trust you remember me?" Leland looked at Doppler. "The astropysicist Dr. Dumbell Doppler!" he chuckled. "Now, now, you knew I didn't like you calling me that even before you became more of a dumbell than I ever was," said Doppler. "Of course, Doc," grinned Leland. "So what have you been up to?" "Well, as a matter of fact I've settled down and I'm now raising my own fatally.....family!" "Still a bit tounge-tied, eh Doc?" "Well....maybe a bit." Jim couldn't beleive it. Doppler was talking with his father as if they were old college buddies at a reunion. "In fact," continued Doppler, "why don't I introduce my wife?" He extended his arm toward Amelia. "Captain Amelia, former member of the Interstellar Navy. She rose to the rank of Captain at age seventeen when she saved seven ships from a pirate ambush. Soon after this she recieved the Green Badge of Honor during the Kattindog Quazar War. Eventually she resigned from the navy in persuit of a more independent carreer and..." "That'll be quite enough, Doctor. I'm fully able to narrate my own backstory," Amelia interrupted. Leland looked at her in awe. "My gosh, you married her?? The Captain Amelia??? The greatest spacer who ever lived??" Jim wished Montressor would open up and swallow him. "Don't get all exhubrant anticipating a performance," said Amelia. "I'm currently taking a few years off from spacing to raise my children." "Children?" asked Leland. "Yes," Doppler said as he proudly extended his arm to the playpen. "Here they are. The dark-haired girl is Nina. The little one is Harriet. The one with two bows in her hair is Olivia. And the boy is....er....Delbert Jr. Uh, that last name was my wife's suggestion, not mine. And by the way, I'm new at this whole father thing, but I certainly have no intention to walk out on my family!" Leland sneered. "Well when Jim was that age, I had no intention of walking out either." He turned to Amelia. "Might I kiss the hand of a gallant captain?" "Spare me your hogwash flattery!" snapped Amelia. "I never accept the lips of a cowardly galoot..." "Okay, I get it, you're married!" interrupted Leland. "...with a limited vocabulary!" finished Amelia. "Limited vocabulary! Limited vocabulary!" echoed Morph, who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. "Eh....what's that?" said Leland. His eyes pointed at Jim, forcing Jim to speak. "Uh...he's mine....kind of a pet," Jim fumbled, desperately hoping his father would ask where he got him. "Hmm, cute," said Leland. And just when Jim thought things couldn't get any worse.... "YOU????" Leland shouted all of a sudden, his eyes pointed in Silver's direction. Silver glared back. "I might've figured Jimbo's pap was the like o' you!" "I....y-you two have met?" Jim stammered. "Jim, you mingle with the like of HIM??" barked Leland. "A'least I had time fer him!" Silver snapped. "Don't talk to me like that, cyborg!" Leland growled. The two stared at each other in rage, as if they were seconds from ripping each other apart. Suddenly, Jim felt a surge of anger bubbling within him. Along with that surge of anger came an overwhelming desire to leave. Run off....run off...run off....that thought seemed to be pounding through his body like heavy drumbeats. Finally he could stand it no longer. Whatever force that had been holding him in place diminished, and he fled upstairs to his room. Jim sat on his bed, his arms folded, his shoulders slumped, his head sunk downward. Seven years ago, he would have given anything to have his father back. Now he would give anything for his father to leave, and his life to return to normal. Normal. His notion of "normal" had changed over the years.Of course when he was young, "normal" was his whole family with him. But by now, he was ajusted to the circumstances. Now "normal" was living without his father. The wounds that his father had left him years ago, which had healed over time, were now burst open. How he wished the Interstellar Acadamy weren't on break. Back at school.....learning how to be a spacer....away from his father....that's where he'd like to be.... A knock on the door jolted him out of his thoughts. "Go away," Jim said sulkily. "Now, come on Jim, don't you know manners?" Doppler's voice coaxed from behind the door. Jim sighed. "All right, Doc, come on in." Doppler entered the room, carrying a plateful of cake. "Hey Jim, I brought you some cake from the party." "Thanks," Jim said flatly. "I'll eat it later." Doppler set the plate on a table. "Jim...." he said gently, "....it's all right now. Your mother stopped the brawl. So if you wanted to come back down...." "I'm not coming down," Jim interrupted, "and you can't make me." "All right, all right, just thought I'd mention it," said Doppler. "Just leave me alone," said Jim. "All right," said Doppler, "but can I ask you something first?" Jim sighed again. "What is it?" "Jim, Amelia and I would like you to have breakfast with us tomorrow, if that's all right with you," Doppler offered. "You know, it would be a chance to.....get away for a while." Jim actually broke into the tiniest of smiles. Doppler understood what a burden this was on him. "Thanks Doc," he said, "I'd be glad to." A little while later, Jim stared out his window at the darkened landscape. The Spaceport Crescentia glowed against the black sky, ever reminding Jim of his adventures. It cast a faint light over the ground, enabling Jim to make out the figures that were leaving the inn. Several groups were making their way down the street, indicating that the party was over. Soon he could see Doppler and Amelia, each carrying two little bundles. Jim sighed. How he wished he would see a certain other figure leave for good again. He didn't know what kind of person his father was now - and he didn't wish to know. How twisted these emotions were. Why was he being overcome by anger? Jim didn't need to ask himself that, because in complete honesty he knew the answer. The man had betrayed him. Perhaps the wounds hadn't burst open, but rather they had never really healed. Down below, Jim caught sight of another figure. This one was large, bulky, unevenly-shaped, and unmistakable. It hurred down the dock to a small boat, then it stopped and turned around in Jim's direction. A light shone out of the figure's eye to seek Jim out, then the figure waved up at Jim with its mechanical arm. Jim waved back. He couldn't see the figure's face, but he was certain it must be smiling and chuckling as it kept waving while it climbed into the boat. Jim watched Silver's boat as it rose up into the air and disappeared among the stars. To be continued.... Back to Non-HoND Fanfic Back to Index |