An Unexpected Roommate
Chapter 23: Guilt, Pain, and Communication
Jamie and Chase have a lengthy argument about what they feel is best for Robbie. Some angry words are said, some pain is felt, and a decision is reached. With Robbie's location now known, the boys decide to try and bring Robbie home.
It has been forever since I uploaded! I did not know that I would go 2 months without uploading this chapter...so, I hope it's worth it. Also, there is a lot of angst, and hurt/comfort in this one. So...read at your own risk. And despite the tears, I hope you enjoy.
Jamie was laying in his bed, mentally preparing himself for Chase’s footsteps to show up at his doorway. He knew he was going to do it. He knew Chase was going to be angry with him because of multiple reasons. But the one thing he knew he would be mad about…was the fact that he failed to tell Chase he had found Robbie. Cause that’s what led to the domino effect of ‘mistakes’ he made yesterday morning. Finding Robbie’s dog, buying Robbie food, and worst of all, his decision to not take the boy home.
Jamie couldn’t even sleep a wink that night because of all the stress. That, and the physical pain coming from his lower throat. The use of his larynx was affecting his throat tremendously. It hurt really bad, and he knew he needed to give it a break. But giving it a break didn’t stop the soreness from setting in. It still set in, and at full force. He wanted to groan in pain. He wanted to rub it till it got better. He was even willing to put ice on his throat to see if it would help. But groaning would’ve made it worse. Rubbing it wouldn’t help anything, and putting ice on it wouldn’t do anything besides make his throat cold.
Jamie closed his eyes in an attempt to try and sleep. But trying to sleep with one ear open is really difficult. And trying to sleep while also under immense stress is even harder. So…It was practically laughable that Jamie was attempting to sleep at this point. But…The man was tired and growing restless. Part of him wanted Chase to arrive as soon as possible so he could get the conversation over with so he can be stress-free. But…the other part of him wanted Chase to not arrive at all. It was a mix of complicated emotions caused by his guilt mixed with his fight or flight response.
Guilt was a complicated thing for anyone. Guilt is usually a feeling people experience when they do something wrong or lie to someone. That’s what kids were taught because it helped them stop lying. But…Guilt happens regardless of whether his choice was out of good intention. People assume others lie because they don’t want to get caught. But some people lie because they don’t want to hurt the other person’s feelings. As much as telling the truth is encouraged, telling the truth can create its own level of guilt. People feel guilt from telling the truth all the time because of how the person will react to the truth of the situation. Because let’s face it: Only your parents will thank you for telling the truth. Everyone else 一even your parents一 will get equally as angry at your mistake whether you told them the truth the first time or were found to have lied to them.
That’s just how real life works.
Jamie opened his eyes as he heard footsteps in the hall outside his room. He let out a breath as he readied himself for the confrontation to start. He got up off his bed and walked up to his bedroom door. And as the footsteps got closer, the man created a rule for himself:
No speaking. Only signs.
Jamie opened the door the moment he heard the first two knocks.
Jamie widened his eyes as a hand with a piece of paper slapped against his own face. A cloud of white with little bits of black filled his vision as he heard the words “Read this.” come from Chase’s mouth.
Jamie grunted and removed the letter from his face. Any other time, this act would’ve made him laugh! It was slapstick humor, after all. But…this was not a laughing matter. So he couldn’t laugh, even if he wanted to. Jamie looked at the letter and focused his eyes on the words. Thanks to spending his whole life reading, the man was able to finish a page in under 5 minutes. The man flipped over the letter, and read the last little paragraph:
[I know this letter won’t help much. I know it’s very hard to be separated right now. I miss you all so much. I’m sorry for everything I said and did before I left. But I am not completely alone. I have Bacon with me to hold and cry into when I feel the most lonely. And when I didn’t have Bacon, I had Jamie. Mustache man had found me and gave me my dog back when I was missing it most. He also bought me food and a blanket to keep me warm and full. He understood how I felt even when I couldn’t understand my own feelings. I’m sorry, but I’m not ready to go home yet. But, we can all be thankful to Jamie for the help.
Love,
Robbie]
Jamie lowered the letter and looked at Chase.
“You found him…” Chase said.
Jamie silently gulped.
“And you DIDN’T TELL ME?!” Chase yelled suddenly.
Jamie nodded his head and put the letter down. ‘I only intended to give him his dog.’
“And then you proceeded to BUY HIM FOOD, AND BUY HIM A-A GODDAMN BLANKET?!” Chase yelled.
Jamie frowned slightly. ‘He wasn’t ready to go home.’
Chase blinked, before rubbing his nose. “Oh my god-” Chase stood up. “If a kid said they are NOT READY…to go to SCHOOL, would you let them stay home?!” Chase asked.
Jamie frowned more. ‘You wouldn’t?’
“NO!” Chase dropped his own arms beside himself. “YOU NEED TO TEACH THE KID EARLY ABOUT PUSHING THROUGH! AND DOING IT, EVEN WHEN THEY DON’T WANT TO!” Chase yelled.
Jamie crossed his arms, but let the man listen.
“And- And another question:” Chase walked closer to him and hit Jamie’s chest with the back of his own hand. “Why does the person in this house…with NO PRIOR PARENTING EXPERIENCE…get to decide where Robbie should be sleeping tonight?!” Chase asked.
‘You fail to understand.’ Jamie signed.
“Fail to understand what?! Tell me, oh WiSe PaReNt…What could I PoSsIbLy not be understanding?!” Chase asked.
Jamie silently huffed. ‘What you want and what I want are different.’ He signed.
Chase widened his eyes. “What I want is for him to be safe at home.” Chase told him. “But you…YOU…” Chase pointed to Jamie with a fist below his index finger. “You seriously want Robbie to be sleeping outside tonight?!” Chase asked.
Jamie shook his head. ‘No no no! That’s what Robbie signed to me! Robbie signed the words ‘What you want and what I want are different’. You want him to go home but Robbie wants something different.’ Jamie signed to him.
Chase narrowed his eyes, slightly hurt to hear that Robbie was the person who said that. “What does he want?” Chase asked.
‘To just…I think he wants to have time to think about how to best approach you.’ Jamie told him.
Chase scoffed. “So you’re saying I’m unapproachable?” Chase asked.
‘I prefer the word ‘unpredictable’.’ Jamie told him.
Chase shook his head. “Anybody would be unpredictable if your child was living out on the goddamn street.” Chase said.
Jamie closed his eyes for a moment. ‘The boy knows about rationing.’ Jamie told him.
Chase softened his expression upon seeing those letters get spelled by Jamie’s fingers. “He…he does?” Chase asked.
Jamie nodded his head. ‘And the boy told me roughly what day he had died on.’ Jamie signed. ‘I did some math, and…He died on March 22nd, 2018.’
Chase looked down, visibly saddened by this new information. “...Oh…” Was all Chase could get out.
Jamie walked up and sighed. ‘He was born in 2010…’ Jamie signed.
Chase looked up at Jamie as tears fell down his own face. Chase walked up and wrapped his arms around Jamie, hugging him tightly.
With his mouth close to the man’s ear, Jamie decided to say one more thing. But this time…it was through a soft whisper of his own voice. “Robbie will be turning 13 on June 21st.”
Chase widened his eyes and stared off into the room behind Jamie. “He…He will?”
Jamie nodded his head as tears filled his eyes. “He will be a teenager in 2 months.” Jamie whispered into his ear.
Chase looked down and started to breathe slowly, but rather heavily. He slowly started to hug himself as his breaths grew deeper and a bit faster. Finally, the man collapsed onto his knees and let out long, heartbroken sighs. He breathed in and let out more cries of pain, mixed with excessive exhaustion from having to worry constantly. When Jamie had wrapped his arms around the pain-stricken man, Chase completely fell into his arms. He shoved his face into Jamie’s shoulder and just let himself bawl. He couldn’t believe that the boy was going to be a teenager in 2 months. There was NO WAY! And the kid had been living with them for 4 months by now! Which only meant one thing:
Robbie had been a homeless orphan for more than 4 years. If that doesn’t make a grown man sad, then I don’t know what will.
Jamie was crying as well, but much more quietly…and his throat was hurting quite a bit. But it wasn’t because he was using his voice this time…it was actually due to his strong need to cry. Sometimes when he feels like he has to cry and he’s unintentionally holding it in, he gets this achy pain in his throat and chest. And it never really subsides until he finally lets it out. And as much as he wanted to let it out…he didn’t feel like it was the time or place for it. So…He just let himself cry silently.
Chase eventually let go of Jamie and looked at him. He was grunting and wiping his eyes, struggling to pull himself together. But Jamie shook his head and cupped Chase’s cheeks.
“If you still need to cry…” Jamie whispered before moving Chase’s bangs out of the way. “Then cry.” Jamie finished.
Chase looked at Jamie, his eyes welling up with more tears. “This is the most you’ve ever talked to me.” Chase said.
Jamie bit his lip and let out a breath. “I know…” He said out loud in his croaky, hoarse voice.
Chase widened his eyes and covered his mouth. “You’re…going to a speech pathologist?” Chase asked.
Jamie winced as he felt his throat. ‘Not yet.’ He signed, coughing a bit.
Chase looked at Jamie with newfound worry on his face. “Maybe we should be getting you a referral to a speech pathologist…” Chase told him. “Or at the very least, get Henrik to work with you on your voice.” Chase said. “Because as much as I love that you’re talking…” Chase trailed off slowly as he bit his lip, too afraid to say it.
Jamie shrugged his shoulders. ‘I know. My voice sounds weird.’ Jamie admitted.
Chase gave him a nervous look. “Well…That, and…” Chase cleared his throat. “It looks like you’re in a lot of pain despite only saying a couple words.” Chase told him. “Do you know how much of your voice was removed?” Chase asked.
Jamie sighed and offered Chase a hand. When Chase took it, Jamie walked Chase further into his bedroom. He opened up a closet door in his room, and looked at Chase. He sighed and picked it up, staring at it for only a minute.
“...What is it?” Chase asked, not fully able to see the thing Jamie was holding in his hands.
Jamie turned around and walked up, showing him the jar of water with something in it. Jamie turned the jar a bit to reveal a sticky note with a specific date written on it in cursive.
Chase tilted his head as he read the cursive. “August 25, 1916.” He read. He tilted his head slightly. “What…” Chase looked at Jamie, who was poking his own throat, touching the scar on his throat. Things began to click in Chase’s head as he widened his eyes and pointed at Jamie. “It’s…the day you lost your voice?” Chase asked.
Jamie nodded and put the jar down on his nearby dresser. Chase turned the jar back around and looked at the tiny thing that was floating in it. It looked…really gross, to be honest. It made Chase want to hurl on the spot. But…He could slightly understand what the thing was.
Chase turned to Jamie and held out his hand. “Can…Can I touch it?” Chase asked, pointing to the scar.
Jamie softened his expression and nodded his head, lifting his chin up slightly so Chase had better access. Chase took some time to feel the scar and the larynx. Or, what was left of it. Chase drew a finger over the scar, and felt slightly up to the cage-like cover of the larynx. It was strange, to say the least.
Chase then brought his other hand to his own throat, and felt the same area. He wanted to feel any differences between his normal larynx, and Jamie’s semi-removed larynx. “I…don’t feel much of a difference.” Chase admitted. “Well…despite the hole that’s right about here.” Chase added, gently poking the dip of the thyroid cartilage.
Jamie nodded and pointed to the jar. ‘The missing piece of the cartilage is in there.’ Jamie signed.
Chase nodded and looked closer at the piece of larynx. “How long have you had this jar?” Chase asked.
Jamie froze for a moment. He thought for a moment, and let in a shaky breath. He let out his shaky breath and covered his mouth, before looking at Chase. He closed his eyes and whispered his words to Chase. “Too long.”
Chase widened his eyes and gently brought Jamie into another comfortable hug. He rubbed Jamie’s back while holding the man close, letting Jamie cry if he needed to. Jamie let the tears fall down his own cheeks, as he hid his face within Chase’s upper chest. It felt good to be held and consoled…just feeling loved no matter how much you fucked up.
“Have you ever considered getting Henrik to look at your larynx, and determine what parts you specifically lost?” Chase asked.
Jamie opened his eyes and looked at Chase. ‘No.’ He signed. ‘I’m too scared to even touch the jar half the time…why I still kept it despite how disgusting it is, I still have no idea.’ Jamie admitted with a dry laugh.
Chase smiled and looked at the jar. “Maybe get Henrik to do a biopsy on it…then when he’s done, we can burn it, or throw it away, or something.” Chase offered.
Jamie wheezed and doubled over, laughing. ‘Knowing Henrik, he may want to keep it for medical curiosity.’ Jamie admitted.
Chase widened his eyes upon seeing Jamie sign that. “Wait wait…” Chase grabbed out his phone and typed [local medical museums] into the search bar. Looking at the search results, he couldn’t find anything that would suit Jamie’s ‘medical artifact’.
Jamie shrugged his shoulders and tapped Chase’s hand. ‘We can ask Henrik after he looks at it.’ Jamie told him.
Chase nodded and closed his phone. “For now, we should focus on where Robbie is.” Chase told him.
Jamie nodded. ‘I know where he is.’ Jamie signed to him. ‘He’s in the park we went to back in March.’ Jamie told him.
Chase widened his eyes. “He chose to live in the park?!” Chase asked with pure shock on his face.
Jamie nodded his head. ‘He’s been sleeping there for the last few days.’ Jamie admitted. ‘And he’s been begging for money on the street during the day.’ Jamie added.
Seeing those words signed by Jamie, almost made the man cry all over again. He hated the idea that Robbie was willingly laying in the street, begging for money. But…it also didn’t make sense. If Robbie has been where Jamie said he’s been, then now was it that Robbie was begging on the same main street that Chase and Shawn had been driving up and down on?! How did he miss the boy that easily!? He couldn’t understand it.
“Okay. I’m grabbing Shawn…and all three of us are going to pick up Robbie.” Chase told him.
Jamie let out a small sigh, before smiling a bit. ‘Okay.’ Jamie replied.
“And if the boy refuses to go home…” Chase started. “Then…I’m gonna do all I can to convince him to change his mind.” Chase added.
Jamie let out an exhale through his nose with a smile. Chase always was determined like that…Especially when it came to his family and friends. Jamie walked up with Chase to get Shawn. When Chase told him the news, Shawn practically jumped out of bed, threw on some pants and a shirt, and left his bedroom. The fact that Shawn would actually leap out of bed and skip a painting day to pick up Robbie, said a lot about him: That though Shawn struggled with social anxiety, the man always had his priorities straight…Chase and Robbie (especially Robbie) came before anything else. And it was admirable.
Though both Shawn and Jamie knew it was gonna be difficult to convince Robbie to come home, Jamie sensed that Chase knew what he was doing. He knew Robbie the best out of all of the boys in that household. Though, this fact could both help and hinder Chase in this circumstance. But they’ll just have to see.
Shawn hopped into the driver's seat, while Chase hopped into the passenger side of the car. And while Jamie sat in the back, Shawn adjusted the front view mirror down slightly so he could see and react to Jamie’s signs. Signing the word ‘ready’ from the driver's seat, Jamie looked at the front view mirror with a soft smile as he signed the word ‘thanks’ to Shawn. Shawn put the car into reverse, and turned himself around to look behind the seat.
Jamie gave a small smile to Shawn. ‘Do you know how to get to the park?’ Jamie signed.
Shawn nodded his head. “Yup. It’s that park near the main street.” Shawn replied. “But I will need help remembering which street to turn onto.” Shawn added.
Jamie nodded back. ‘Okay.’ He replied as he watched Shawn put the car into Drive, and start to drive down the road. Jamie had always appreciated the other boys’ contributions to make sure that the man felt included in their conversations. And all the boys had shown Jamie how they could contribute to making Jamie, as well as their own, lives a little bit more manageable.
But no one showed their contributions more often than Chase. Way back in the day, Jamie and Chase had actually taken their time to determine how to talk to each other while living together. Little things like having dimmable lights in the kitchen, asking for Jamie’s opinion as often as possible, and maintaining eye contact with Jamie while he signed, were crucial to help Jamie feel included.
Specifically for the car, they found that fixing the front view mirror so they could read his signs, helped dramatically with the communication gap. In fact, it worked so well that Jamie even admitted he felt better sitting in the back instead of the passenger side. When asked why, Jamie would usually say something along the lines of ‘Turning your head to the left when you’re talking to me, is only going to limit your field of vision as a driver. And lord knows that I don’t want you risking crashing the car just so you can talk to me’.
Overtime, Chase would pass on this extra information to the others as more and more friends met Jamie and moved into the house. Eventually, Chase would also pass these helpful tips and knowledge down to Shawn –who had already met Jamie a couple years prior– and who was also planning to move into the house. And even to this day, Shawn made sure to practice these little tricks often. Just like Chase, Shawn didn’t want Jamie feeling left out because of his ‘disability’. Neither did any of the others in the house.
Jamie kept an eye on the road as they drove down the main street. Jamie signed the name of the street they were looking for, into the mirror for Shawn to see.
“Okay. That’s just a couple more streets down, isn’t it?” Shawn asked.
Chase looked at Shawn. “Parker street? Yeah, it’s 2 more streets down.” Chase replied.
Jamie nodded his head as he lifted up his hand to count down the streets. When Shawn passed the next street, Jamie put his fingers down from 2, to 1. And when he moved closer to the next street, Jamie put his index finger down and pointed at the street to turn right.
When the coast was clear, Shawn turned right onto the road, and prepared himself to parallel park on the street in front of the park. And there, behind a tree, was a figure covered in a big blue blanket while a familiar backpack hung on a branch above him…
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