Let Your Heart Rule Your Head

Chapter Sixteen - Father is back

“Mum? I'm home.”

“DENNIS?” Prudence shouted, turning around and only seeing Ruby. Her expression darkened. “Oh, sorry Ruby.”

Ruby walked up to her and sat on the couch. She wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pressing her head against hers. Prudence placed her left hand on her daughter's knee and gently rubbed it. Then, she removed it and carefully looked at her palms. Ruby felt she was shivering.

“I'm going to bury my own baby...”

Prudence faced Ruby, a look of despair shining in her eyes.

“I'm going to bury... my own baby.” she repeated before bursting into tears. Ruby held her tight against her, trying to calm her down. It wasn't easy, as she began to cry too. After a while, they finally succeeded in drying their eyes. Ruby ran a nervous hand through her hair.

“Let's go to bed, okay?” she whispered. Prudence nodded and switched off the turntable, removing the EP that was lying on it and put it away in its jacket. She placed it on the table and stood up, followed by Ruby. Her daughter led her to her parents' bedroom, and as Prudence felt too weak to undress and slither under her sheets, Ruby helped her. It was as if their roles had switched. Ruby was taking care of Prudence as though she was her mother. She helped Prudence to lie down on the bed, and she pulled the sheets. She tenderly kissed her mother's forehead. As she was about to leave, Prudence grasped her hand. She jumped and turned around.

“Ruby, I beg you... Don't be another Dennis.”

“What?”

“Don't die.”

“I will one day, but not as long as you're there.”

She could see her mother smile before falling asleep. Ruby sneaked out of the room and turned off the light. She wandered in the corridor, thinking a bit too much. “I won't be another Dennis. There won't be more Dennises. I'll find this cure.” she thought. As she arrived in front of her bedroom door, her hand on the doorknob, she slowly turned around and looked at Dennis's door. She pouted and slowly removed her hand from the doorknob, walking silently until she reached the other door. She opened it and turned on the lights. “It's almost like he was here yesterday.” The psychedelic posters pinned on the walls hadn't moved, and the sheets of his bed hadn't been made. His electric guitar was still lying on the floor. It was a beautiful red/orange Rickenbacker, the same as George Harrison and Pete Townshend. Ruby smiled as she remembered the way Dennis begged their parents to buy it. “I swear I won't give up on school! I want to be Pete Townshend, that's all!”

Ruby stepped forward and leaned on it. She picked it up and sat on the bed. She started to play a few notes, the few ones Dennis had taught her before he went on his psychedelic trip. She played Dennis's favourite song: A Quick One While He's Away by the Who. She didn't know it entirely and stopped in the middle of it. She placed the guitar next to her and her eyes wandered again through the room. She moved a foot and her a quick sound: the sound of a paper you've just creased. She looked down and picked it up. She read what was written on it – it was Dennis's handwrting – and started to cry. It was an unfinished song he had written. And the title explained it all.

“Ruby” she read it out loud. Tears rolled down her face and she quickly wiped them. She lied on her side, pressing the lyrics against her heart. Quickly, she fell asleep, tired of crying.

When she woke up, it was because she heard a door slamming. She jumped out of Dennis's bed and ran through the corridor, but there was nobody. She turned her head and saw her parents in the living room. Her father was back. His suitcases had been thrown on the floor, and he was hugging Prudence.

“Dad?”

His father jumped and turned around. His eyes widened and he ran to her, holding her in his arms.

“Oh, Ruby, Ruby, you're here.” he whispered. “I learnt what happened, the hospital called me. I came here as soon as I could.”

“Weren't you supposed to come home sooner?”

“Yes, but I had a problem there.”

“Where were you, by the way? You never told me.”

“In Paris.”

Ruby nodded. She smiled internally because in her circle of friends, she was the only person who wasn't attracted to Paris at all.

Ruby's father, John Franklin, was a very tall man, with short black hair. His eyes were green and his face was thin. He worked as an estate agent in a big company in the core of London. Sometimes, the branches of the company that were located abroad needed help and he was always a volunteer to leave London for a week, a month or more. Ruby wasn't really close to John, and Dennis wasn't either. What Ruby hated the most was the way her mother behaved when he was there. When he was abroad or simply at work, Prudence was a sweet and caring mother, but as soon as he entered the house, she was cold and distant. One day, Ruby had asked her why she was this way. “The ties of being a housewife” she simply replied. Both of her children had learnt to live with those constant changes.

“It's good to be home” John sighed. “Well... I would have loved to be here for another reason than this.”

“Too bad.” Ruby said.

John and Prudence raised their eyebrows.

“What does that mean, young lady?”

“Nothing.”

John shrugged and turned around to face his wife. He patted her shoulder before quickly removing his hand.

“Anyway. We'll have to organise the funerals.”

“Is it really the only thing you're thinking about?” Ruby said in a sharp voice.

“Ruby, what is wrong with you? If you have something to say, then say it. Stop being rude.”

“No. I've got nothing to say.”

“Then, don't speak.”

Ruby rolled her eyes and walked back to Dennis's room. She could hear her parents arguing a bit in the living room before returning to a normal conversation. She heard footsteps in the corridor going to the bathroom; the bathroom door opened and closed. Ruby knew it was her father, she could easily recognise the way he walked. Prudence opened Dennis's door and jumped when she saw Ruby.

“Oh dear Lord, Ruby, you scared me!”

“Sorry, I didn't mean to.”

“That's not important. Dear, what's wrong?”

“Nothing.”

“I can feel something's going on in your mind.” her mother said, in a sweet voice. “Why are you so cold with him?”

“He's coming as if nothing ever happened, and the first thing he thinks about is organising the funerals. Does he even think about his son?”

“You know, people act differently sometimes. I mean... Some people don't mourn immediately the deceased. It's complicated.”

“No, I mainly think he isn't sensitive at all. I mean, his son died, you know, and he acts like nothing happened! How do you want me to be nice to him whereas I'm almost dying inside?”

“I don't know” Prudence sighed. “Actually, he offends me too.”

Suddenly the bathroom door opened and Prudence jumped, turning pale. She patted Ruby's thigh and stood up.

“Well, I'm going to prepare our breakfast.” she said. As she walked to the door, she stopped and turned around. “And please, stay out of this bedroom.”

Prudence walked out, leaving Ruby on the bed. She clenched her fists and hit the pillow before picking up the song lyrics Dennis had written and leaving the room.