The Midas Touch

Ch. 13

[ unedited ]

Saturday, April 2nd, 8:05 am

The ride to my house was making out to be one of the most silent and uncomfortable rides of my life, at least between me and Kai.

He kept his gaze pointed at the window, but his hands fiddled nervously in his lap. I knew that he wanted to cross them over his chest, but he seemed to hesitate. Just like his posture.

He was sat straight up, like he was going to church and wanted to impress the Pope or something like that. It honestly made me kind of sad to watch it, because it just wasn't him.

Meanwhile, up front, Dick was holding hands with Sarah, a bottle brunette with penciled in eyebrows, nude lipstick, a low cut top and short shorts, and a piece of gum. She looked familiar but I couldn't place it.

They were discussing brunch that was happening in about an hour, and Dick was acting like he hadn't just yelled at his son. Instead, he was smiling, chuckling, seeming to prefer making small talk with his, what I presumed wife, rather than apologize to Kai, his son.

It made me disgusted.

Finally, Dick spoke directly to us.

"So, Kazuya. Tell me about your friend" he said, not bothering to look back at Kai, who seemed to sit even straighter in his seat. He cleared his throat a couple times before speaking.

"His name is Midas. He goes to my school" he said, not even sparing me a single glance as he said it. 

Kai's dad made a humph sound. "Oh yeah? I think that name sounds familiar. Yeah, it sounds familiar. Babe, doesn't it sound familiar?" He asked Sarah, who nodded. "Mhm, yeah, sounds familiar".

"Yeah, isn't he that boy?"

"Sure is. That boy Kazuya's always talkin' about? Complaining? Yada yada 'this guy thinks he's the macho man' blah blah blah, that boy?"

"Exactly right babe. You're the annoying guy Kazuya is always bitchin' about" Dick turned to smile at me, and I shrunk deeper into my seat. He didn't seem angry, he seemed amused.

"Language, baby" Sarah piped up, swatting Kai's dad on the shoulder. He grinned, still looking at me. "Sorry babe."

I looked down at the floor and flushed red. I wanted out of this car. I felt bad for Kai, that he had to deal with this man more than I did.

I didn't know much about Kai except the annoying parts of him, but I heard bits and pieces.

Kai's parents, who we knew as Dick Maury and Akina Vitus, got divorced when Kai was 11. I remember hearing about it because Kai was pulled out in the middle of our shared class, and everybody heard a whole lot of yelling. The news spread all around the next day.

In the weeks following, Kai became almost dormant. He didn't talk to anybody during school except Griffin and Blake, and wasn't the arrogant social butterfly he was before.

Fast forward to the next year or so, he's getting into regular fist fights and being suspended. Nobody dared to ever mess with him, and his confidence slowly came back in, but this time, it was accompanied by a god complex from fighting all the time.