Chapter Two

Joey was playing with Jaxson, he was guiding the two-year-old as he walked around his bedroom, when he heard a knock on the door. It was Rodsworth.

His lip wasn’t as straight as it usually was, his mustache had one loose hair hanging to the left, and his hair(what he had left of it) wasn’t as finely combed as rodsworth liked it. Clearly, he was angry.

Joey opened his mouth to say something when he was cut off by Rodsworth, “Master Gerald would like to see you.” Rodsworth never called Joey’s dad by his first name. That made Joey nearly smile a little. Whatever his dad wanted Rodsworth wasn’t happy about it.

Rodsworth took Jaxson and Joey made his way over to his father. When he got to his father’s office(which was basically his bedroom), he hesitated to knock. But, his father opened the door as if expecting him to be there.

“Come in Joey. I have something to talk to you about.” Gerald said. Joey walked in and sat in one of the leather chairs and spun around in it. Gerald grabbed the chair and gave a stern look at his son. Joey stopped spinning in the chair. “I know you’re not in the happiest of moods with me, but I must ask something of you.”

“What?”

“I have started a new project, and I need someone to give them a test run.”

“Them?”

Gerald pressed a button on his work desk and the top of it opened like a pair of doors to reveal a completely black interior. Inside of the compartment were a pair of shiny prosthetic silver legs. Joey hadn’t seen anything like them. They were clearly chrome plated with some hollow tubes that could be seen through the metal, like veins protruding out of your calves and thighs. The feet weren’t constructed like normal human feet, they were triangular and had the shape of a door stopper. Looking at them, Joey felt excitement and power.

“Dad, who are these for?”

“No matter. Just put them on.” Joey took off his uneven old prosthetic legs and slipped on the new shiny pair. Now that he had them on, he noticed there was a button on the left thigh. He reached for the button, but his father grabbed his hand. “Don’t press that.”

“Why?” Joey noticed the button was a lot shinier than the rest of the legs. “Looks really important.”

“Don’t press that button, UNLESS you have to get away from something.” Gerald said.

“Wait, you said me? As in, these belong to me?!” Joey exclaimed. Gerald’s face flushed red and he cleared his throat. He also muttered a couple of swears at himself.

“Tanya always said I was bad at surprises,” The mention of his mother made the moment lose its excitement. “But, I wanted to give these to you. I’ve been thinking about that military camp idea for a while, and then I thought about your old legs. They were uneven, dirty, and getting quite rusty. So, I made you some new ones. Better than the last. And I even installed a safety measure.” He made an awkward pause, as if he expected Joey to know what he was talking about. “You can press the button now.”

Joey looked at his father worriedly before pressing the button and seeing a thick blue liquid travel up the tubes protruding from the calves and thighs. Then, he felt a rush of energy inside him. His heart was pumping fast, he felt like he could run a thousand miles, and he had enough sweat to fool you into thinking he’d already done it.

He started jogging in place really fast, and his father chuckled. A moment later, his energy had depleted and he gave a hefty sigh as he sat back down in his dad’s chair. His father was smiling ear to ear, before he composed himself and put back on that heartless, business-like demeanor.

“What was that?!” Joey exclaimed.

“That, my son, was Energin. Well, a diluted version of it. Having the actual, pure source would overwhelm your heart. It helps speed things up. I want you to use it when you think you might get into a confrontational situation at camp.” There it was again. Camp. Joey realized his father was so dead set on going there, that he gave new legs just so he wouldn’t get in trouble.

“Dad, I really don’t wanna go to camp. Can’t I just get another chance?”

“I’ve given you chance after chance for the past five years. I’m sorry, Joey, but this is what needs to happen.”

“You say that a lot. ‘This needs to happen’.”

“I do not.”

“Yes you do!” Joey exclaimed as he angrily stood from the leather chair and stood chest to chest with his father. “You said it at mom’s funeral, you said it when you and Barbra got engaged, and you’re saying it now!”

“Watch your tone, young man.” Gerald said in a stern tone.

“Ugh! You’re so frustrating!” Joey exclaimed. “All you want me to be is your perfect little boy, well I’m not that anymore! I’m my own person!”

“I never wanted you to be perfect, I just wanted you to be presentable!”

“Well, maybe I’m not meant to be presentable! Maybe I’m meant to be a dirty, nasty reminder that you failed as a father!” Then, Joey felt a sting on his right cheek. It was so fast and painful. Joey brought his hand to his cheek and felt the giant red spot with shaky hands. “Dad?”

“I’m sorry- I- I didn’t mean- Oh my god, I’m hitting you now.” Gerald sat down in his chair and Joey could hear the muffled cries as his father came to terms with what just happened. Soon, the muffled cries became audible as Gerald sobbed out words. “Tanya, I’m hitting our boy. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry.”

“Dad, I don’t even know if I wanna be a boy.” Joey covered their mouth as their father looked up with grief stricken red eyes.

“I need a minute alone, so- I mean Joey.” Gerald said, and Joey exited the room. They still had their hand over their mouth and closed the door behind themselves.