But You Can Call Me Gotham (#JustWriteIt #FreshStart) [COMPLETED]

Chapter 8: Disagree and Money

It's amazing how getting something off your chest can make you feel so light.

After she had tired herself out from trying to catch all of the dust motes, she fell asleep on her parents' bed. She had sweet dreams for once, and woke up refreshed a few hours later.

This was when she noticed she hadn't seen Simon all day.

"Oh no," she whispered.

She ran out of the room, down the stairs, and ran into the door, forgetting she had locked it the night before. Rubbing her head, she unlocked it, and resumed running to the park.

She ran down the sidewalk and flew into the park.

There was Simon, getting ready to leave, looking miserable.

"Simon!" Gotham called. "Sorry I'm late!"

"Oh my goodness Gotham, I thought you hated me and weren't going to come back."

"I fell asleep again," Gotham replied vaguely, leaving out the part about going into her parents room. There was still a part of her that didn't trust Simon. The part that still thought that he could be one of them and just following their orders so they don't hurt him like they did her.

"Oh," Simon said. He looked at his feet with shame. "Listen. I'm really sorry for what I said yesterday. I was just in a bad mood. Please don't hate me for it."

"Okay."

"So does that mean--"

"You haven't told anyone about the--er...thing, did you?"

"What thing?" Simon looked very confused.

"The thing I can do," Gotham said through clenched teeth.

"Which is...?" Simon stressed.

"The door thing," Gotham whispered.

"Oh, that thing where you closed the door--"

Gotham slapped a hand over Simon's mouth. "Yes." She then gestured to the people sitting on the benches who were looking at them funny.

"Oh, right," he whispered. "No, I didn't."

"Not even your dad?" Gotham had to make sure he didn't know. He was definitely one of them and she didn't trust him at all.

"No," Simon said in a slightly annoyed tone as he ducked out of Gotham's grip. "'No one' includes my parents, you know."

"Well I had to make sure."

"How come you don't want anyone knowing anyway? I think it's a really cool talent. You could become famous."

"I'm already famous among these people, but it's not in a good way."

"And you made them think that way."

Gotham glared at him. "You don't understand and I doubt you ever will, but they treated me like this before they took my parents."

That was when Simon's dad came to take him home. He left willingly, and Gotham glared at his father's turned back.

He just doesn't get it. They're turning him into one of them, and it's not going to be pretty in the end.

Gotham spent the rest of the daylight sitting high up in her tree, and when the time came, she climbed down, and walked back to her house as the last of the sunlight faded behind the horizon.

****

It's amazing how easily moods can be changed.

Gotham had walked home slowly the night before. She took in the streetlights that worked and the streetlights that didn't, counted how many cars that went by and if both headlights were working or not. She watched people hurry by, as if rushing away from something. It wasn't that she didn't want to go home, just that she felt like walking slower.

When she got to her house, she had forgotten why she was angry. It was pushed so far to the back of her head that she had trouble trying to remember what it was.

After not getting a single hint, she gave up, and walked into her house.

She was hungry. She had left without food. So she decided to grab a can of soup and open it up.

It didn't taste very good cold. The microwave was undecided and only worked when it felt like it.

Luckily for her, she could find a paper plate to tape into a bowl, poured the mush into it, and put it into the microwave.

She was relieved when she heard the whirr of the microwave.

After finishing the bowl, she made three more. It was her lucky day. The microwave wasn't being a dummy.

As for the microwave, it sounded glad she had found tape instead of putting the whole can in.

Gotham knew she wasn't supposed to put metal into the microwave. But she didn't have money and she couldn't buy bowls.

Every now and then she found change around the house but so far it had only amounted to $1.34. The closest store asked $2.50 for a cheap plastic bowl.

She could also scavenge the sidewalk and the park but all she's found is 25 cents.

There used to be a vending machine that she could take forgotten change from, but it had broken and was taken to the dump, as Gotham presumed.

At least I have clean water, she thought.

With a full stomach, Gotham climbed the stairs and walked into her parents' room.

She hadn't really looked in the dresser, but today she decided to pick up the clothes on the floor and put them back.

She nearly screamed when she found a letter in the bottom drawer.

My girl,

Your mother wants a change. I tried to tell her that it's a bad idea but she won't listen. In the envelope there is $500 for you. I know you are young, but you'll find a use for it once you get older. I didn't want to go with her, sweetie. I still love you. Maybe one day we'll see each other again?

Love, Dad.

Gotham spent the rest of the night crying.

In the morning, she woke up on the floor of the room.

He left me money. And he didn't want to go.

Gotham put it safely into the blank envelope and left for the park.

There she met Simon, and he didn't seem very talkative.