//------------------------------// // The Son I Never Had // Story: The New Kid // by GodOfBBQ //------------------------------// The Son I Never Had It didn’t take long for Gilda to get to the hospital. She had ran into traffic on the way, but being on a motorcycle had it’s perks. Every so often, she would even run red lights just to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. On her way a thought wouldn’t leave her mind. Why exactly is she doing this? She didn’t like her father all that much, so why was it that she was breaking laws just to get to the hospital in record time? She had parked her motorcycle in one of the empty spots of the hospital, not caring how much she had to pay to park her vehicle. She dashed through the parking lot and into the hospital waiting room. She reached the front desk and asked where her father is. “What’s your relations with Mr. Griff Ma’am?” The woman asks as she reads her magazine. “I’m his daughter.” Gilda answers with an attitude. “Girl don’t give me an attitude! You father’s on the west side of the hospital. Room 164. Second floor.” “Right… Thanks.” Gilda says as she makes her way to the elevators. The hospital itself was huge in comparison to the other hospital’s she’s visited. It had a large lobby/waiting room, shiny marble floors, and it had a very clean and fresh atmosphere to it. Gilda called the elevator down and waited. Next to her was a young teen and his mother. The boy looked to be at least fourteen years old. He was wearing a bright red sweater and he was scrolling down something on his phone. Gilda looked back at the elevator that seemed to coincidentally open right as she looked at it. She and the two standing next to her stepped into the elevator. Gilda pressed the second floor button. The two who stood next to her in the small elevator didn’t seem to mind or press any buttons, so she assumed that they were going to the same floor as she was. After a short while of waiting, the elevator finally came to a stop and Gilda raced out of the elevator, almost resorting to her bully like tactics to push the boy out of the way, but easily side stepped him. She raced down the long corridor until she came to a set of double doors. Barging through the doors, she was met with a small group of nurses and doctors who quickly glanced at her in surprise of her arrival but soon went back to whatever they were doing. Gilda looked at the wall to her right that had most of the doors. She read each one of their labels until she found the final door on that side. It read 164. She raced her way to the door she was appointed to. Tears that wanted to break loose from Gilda’s eyes were held onto like hostages. Gilda wasn’t going to cry, she can promise that. She finally reached the shiny wooden door. She placed her hand on the knob and slowly turned it. She took a deep breath, and opened the door to reveal her uncle sitting next to her father who laid in a hospital bed. His face was bruised, he had a black eye and he seemed to have lost some teeth. “Dad… Are you okay?” Gilda asked as she began to get closer to her crippled father. “‘Bout time you showed up.” He said angrily. Gilda simply ignored her father’s anger and turned to her uncle. “What happened?” Her uncle gave her a sad look. “Your father got into a fight at the bar again. It got serious though. He tried to pull a knife on the other guy, but the other guy didn’t like that so he punched him out. But your father wouldn’t stay down. He… stabbed the guy.” Gilda was shocked. She knew her father was capable of inflicting pain on somebody else with ease, but he would never resort to trying to shank somebody. Right? “What!? He killed someone?” “No, I never said he killed the guy. He stabbed the fella in the shoulder. It wasn’t fatal but it was serious. The cops took him here to get healed of his broken arm real quick, then as soon as they get the cast on him, the cops’ll take him to prison.” Gilda looked at her dad who was too busy looking at the ceiling to notice her staring. “Dad, why would you try to stab him?” Her father was silent. “Dad?” Silence. “Dad!?” “Jesus Christ can you shut the fuck up for a damn second!? I’m trying to think here dammit and you’re over here flapping your gums!” “I just want to know why you shanked that guy today!” “Why? I did it because he was punkin’ me! He started it!” “No John you know you were drunk!” Gilda’s uncle shouted. “I was not! That guy was pushin’ me around! I was defending myself!” “That doesn’t mean you had to knife the guy dad!” Gilda shouted. “Oh what do you know? God you’re like your mother you know that? Bunch of softies around here! I’m the only man in this room!” “Yeah, the only man who’s going to prison John!” “Oh shut the hell up Peter!” Gilda put both her hands on her head, getting a huge migraine from all the yelling. “Both of you shut up!” Gilda shouted. “And you, you little shit! I don’t know why you came here. I thought you hated me.” Gilda’s father said as he pointed a fat finger at Gilda. “I don’t know, maybe because I love you and you’re my dad!” “I ain’t your dad you little brat! Hell I’m barely related!” Gilda was strucken aback. What does he mean by that? “W-What do you mean dad?” Gilda asked, the tears that she held onto were getting ready to flow. “Man you’re one stupid bitch you know that? Listen very closely, I AIN’T YOUR DADDY! I’m not related to you in any way. Your real dad died when you was only a few months old. I came into the picture soon after and I had to deal with your ass. Then your mother died and I had to go through hell alone. Makes me regret getting with your bitch of a mother.” Gilda’s eyes began to water. Tears finally flowing down her cheeks, yet she kept a strong, angry face. “Besides. I never wanted kids. Your mother just sprung up the fact that you were her child after she had brought me home from our first date. If I did have kids, or if I ever wanted any, I would have wanted a boy. A nice, strong boy. Not some, Happy Little Homemaker bitch of a daughter.” It was hard for Gilda to keep her cool. She was already crying, but she tried her damndest to keep her strong face on. That was until her father said these words, “I hope I go to jail. So I never have to see your sorry ass again!” Gilda couldn’t hold it anymore. Sadness and anger got the better of her when she walked up to her father and punched him right in his mouth. His prickly, old chin easily snapping to the side from the impact of her fist to his jaw. Peter; Gilda’s uncle, sat and watched with shock. After punching her father, Gilda began to storm out of the hospital room. Before she exited the door however, she turned her head and yelled, “I hope you rot in hell you prick!” Gilda slammed the door behind her and began to speed walk her way down the hallway. But as she did so, she noticed an open door. Room 165. She quickly glanced into the room to see the young teen holding an old, skinny, boney hand with tears in his eyes. Gilda, who was too emotionally hurt to wonder what was wrong with the boy, kept walking until she made it to the double doors. As she opened the doors, she ran into two cops. “Excuse me miss.” One of them said. Gilda walked a little slower as she passed them. She kept a sharp eye on the cops who went down the hallway, walking all the way to her father’s room. ‘Wait. If they go in there and my dad tells them I punched him, I’ll be screwed!’ Gilda thought as she began to book it towards the elevators that, lucky for her were already on the floor she was on. She pressed the button to open the elevator doors and quickly stepped inside. She slammed her hand on the first floor button and eagerly waited for the doors to shut. She felt the elevator begin to lower to the ground. After a short time of waiting, she felt the elevator stop at the first floor. The doors opened and Gilda ran out. She raced out of the lobby and through the entrance. Looking around the parking lot, she raced to the parking area where she parked her motorcycle. She ran down a lane of cars and cars until she finally found her motorcycle. She grabbed the helmet from the handles and slipped it onto her head. She mounted her bike and quickly started the engine. She backed out from her parking place and began to ride her way out of the hospital parking lot. Once out, she took the freeway back to where she came. With nowhere else to go, she resorted to returning back to the one place where she felt genuinely safe. Like the trip there, it wasn’t a long lasting bike ride. But unlike the ride there, it was a depressing and slower trip back. ~***~ You sit by yourself on the sofa. You check the digital clock on your cable box and it read 4:37. At least another hour until your mother returned home from work. As you sink even further into the sofa, you hear a knock on the door. Your head spins to look at the door. Slow, depressed knocking could be heard from the door. You reluctantly get up from your spot to answer the door. Thoughts going through your mind as you do so. ‘It either be the people who give out million dollar checks, or a pizza guy who’s giving out free pizzas or I swear it’ll be their heads on a-’ You open the door to see a sad, depressed Gilda tower over you. Her head lowered and tears in her eyes. She sniffles a couple times before you ask her what’s wrong. She looks up, yet says nothing. Silence. A long silence fell over you two before she quickly snatched you into a hug. She wraps her arms around you back and neck as she begins to whimper and cry. You’re caught off guard by this. You weren’t expecting this from Gilda. At least, something not as blatant. Without anything else to do, and with no words to speak with, you just hug back. “It’s alright Gilda. You’re safe here. You’re with friends here…”