I sat down yesterday and was feeling the itch to write. Not just blog but actually write something tangible. Lately coming up with things that aren't short quips about family and life has been difficult. But then I started writing and this is what I came up with. Let me know what you think and if you think I should continue writing it or is it too boring?
Charles Brody never imagined this would happen. It seemed life was like this though, at least where he were concerned. He’d been here before. One moment he’d been a thriving student, working his way toward a degree in a sports medicine. God he wanted to be a doctor for athletes. He wanted to help them get better and rehabilitate to get back into the game. Guess the joke had been on him, because he’d been the one doing the rehabilitation. That was the card God had dealt him though and it was one he had to live with.
Over the years Charles had questioned it. Why him? Why had he been chosen? How come he survived? What plan did God have for him? Which direction was he supposed to go? Oh, he’d questioned it. How could he not?
The accident should have killed him. In fact, many times Charles or “Charlie” as everyone called him; had sometimes wished it had. But we don’t get to decide what happens. We don’t get to choose. All we get to do is follow and make the best choices possible and hope we don’t get fucked in the end because the rest…
The rest is up to him.
At least that is how Charles saw it and he’d been through enough shit in his life to believe what we do and the choices we make do not give up the power to change anything. A card laid is a card played and it’s the dealer who decides whether you get an Ace of Spades or bust. The key is to play your best hand and hope you come out of it with something of value.
That is what Charles tried to do. For the past thirty years he’d tried to live the best life he knew how. Not one without mistakes because that is retarded to think as human beings we are infallible from perfection.
No, he just tried to be a good man and it hadn’t been easy. There were times Charles thought he’d be better off if he just finished off the job God had started, but he knew doing that would be like spitting in God’s face. The face of the second chance he’d been given and Charles believed in second chances. Heck, who didn’t? It was what kept us going on a daily basis. We fuck up and we make amends. That was how it went. L
And Charles… he’d fucked up. He’d fucked up bad.
The road he traveled hadn’t been paved with gold or smooth. It was a road paved with pebbles that would constrict and bleed any mans feet; no matter what size shoes he was wearing. It was a path worth traveling though. A path that had given Charles his wife; his Joey and for that Charles would be eternally gratefully.
Joey was his rock. She was his best friend; more than a wife and mother. She’d been the one constant in Charles’s life. She helped to keep him sane and lord knows that was not an easy task for Charles. She was the reason he got up in the morning. She and the boys were his entire life.
Ricky was his pride and joy. Fifteen years old; he was as tall as an oak tree and Charles couldn’t be prouder. Their relationship hadn’t been without perilous angst. Nothing ever came easy for Charles. Why would he think this would; being a stepfather to one of the most amazing kids he’d ever had the privilege of knowing.
Ricky had his issues. He’d struggled for many years; fighting with Charles every step of the way. Ricky’s biological father couldn’t give him the time of day and that had been the reason for the many many arguments that had ensued between he and Charles. Ricky had had anger built up inside of him and his resentment bounced of Charles with each emotion using Charles as a backboard. Sometimes Charles would allow the basket to drop and give Ricky the two points, and other times… Charles bounced back. That was just how their relationship went.
It had been difficult especially for Joey. She was always caught in the middle between the two of them; something Charles felt bad about. That is just how things were though. It couldn’t be helped. It was what happened between a father and son. Joey wanted to control it though; despite Charles trying to explain that in time things would ease up and get better. She was a stubborn woman though and pushed for them to get along; to see eye to eye.
And then there was Rhys and Trace.
Rhys was twelve and he was the most like Charles when it came to looks and attitude. He was also Charles’s son from his first long term relationship. Trace was eight and more than a handful. He was blessing God had given to Joey and him. But it hadn’t been a blessing without its tangles. Trace had been born with Cerebral Palsy and he had Asperger’s, which is a form of autism.
Charles still remembered the day the neurologist had told Joey and him the news concerning Trace, which was a miracle when you thought about it since Charles didn’t remember much. It had also been a day that had devastated Joey; finding out their beautiful baby boy they’d fought hard to bring to this world would have disabilities and be recovering from a brain injury. The news caused Charles to laugh aloud.
It wasn’t that he didn’t care or didn’t get the seriousness of the situation and hand his son had been dealt. Charles just got it. He’d already seen the signs long before Joey had and he knew from the moment Trace had been born that something was different and not quite right; and yet so familiar.
And why wouldn’t it seem that way?
Charles knew all about brain injuries. He was a TBI survivor, suffering a traumatic brain injury after the accident. A present God had given him apparently. One that Charles often thought of as curse though. It caused him to forget things on a daily basis and not just little things. Charles forgot nearly everything. Each night he went to sleep his slate was usually wiped clean of the day’s events, conversations he had with people, places he’d gone to that day; that had been God’s will for him.
It wasn’t fate that caused their son to be born with similar afflictions. At least not as far as Charles were concerned. It was God. He knew that one day Charles would be the only person Trace would be able to connect with. It sure as heck wouldn’t be Joey. She struggled with that and it killed her. But Charles; he tried to help her see reason and not butt heads with the fact their son lived in a different world. A world that most would find themselves lost inside. Trace found solace in. Charles was amazed at how far Trace had actually come.
“Mr. Brody?” A woman called out and Charles glanced up. “Mr. Jacobs will see you now.”
Charles nodded. He stood up from the comfortable leather chair and strode across the hall and down the corridor to the last office on the left. He sucked in a long and deep reassuring breath, before opening the door.
Charles had known Mike Jacobs for the past thirty years. They’d played ball together up in Vanderhoof, graduating from the same high school. Mike was always making the papers as one of the best attorney’s in Vancouver. The guy was good at his job.
“Charlie boy!” Mike rose from his desk, smiling brightly. He outstretched his hand and Charlie shook it. “How the hell have you been buddy? Come in and sit down. Let’s get to business. I have a busy afternoon.”
Charles sat. He stared out the twenty second story window that overlooked beautiful downtown Vancouver. “I have all the documents here, ready to be signed.” Mike told him.
Charles took a deep breath. He was about to drop a bomb. He pushed the papers back toward Mike and Mike stared at him puzzled. “I’m not signing anything,” he told his friend with confidence.
“But Charlie…” Mike interjected his voice slight with confusion.
Charles shook his head. He wasn’t signing anything. In fact he had another idea and clasping his hands together he stared at Mike. “I’m not signing. I need your help.” Charles said flatly.
Charles knew Mike was going to disapprove. They’d been going over this for the past year and half and now it was the moment of truth. The moment where Charles took fate and twisted it out of God’s hands to make something of his own, and Charles wouldn’t take ‘no’ for an answer.
“I don’t understand.” Mike said looking at Charles. “What exactly is it you want me to do? Joey wants you to sign these by the end of the day. That was the agreement.”
Said who? Charles thought. He never agreed to anything, certainly not this. Nothing was going to stop him. He’d come too far and for too long. “I need you to buy me some time.” Charles told him.
Mike shook his head, uncertain. “Charlie… time for what?”
Now that was the question wasn’t it? That is what it all came down to. Charles paused. He could feel the swell of emotion begin to spiral inside of him, which he wasn’t used to. Having a brain injury made it nearly impossible most times to feel a connection to his feelings. That was something Charles hated.
Charles knew Mike wouldn’t understand. Heck, he didn’t give a shit either if Mike or anyone else did. This was his choice to make and nobody had to understand his reasons. He just needed to do this.
“I need you to buy me some time so I can get my wife back!”
Mike released a long sigh and sat back in his chair looking at Charlie with that pathetic “this isn’t going to work” look that everyone seemed to be giving Charles lately, but Charles didn’t care. It was what he wanted. He wanted Joey back. He wanted his life back and that was exactly what Charles was going to do. Get her back and his life, before it was too late…
God knows he had to try.
