Imperfect

T W O - J E F F R E Y M U L L I N S

  Opening the door, the blistering breath of the sky impacted me drastically. Even though I wore a thick, beige jacket, it still didn't help one bit. How could my son handle all of this cold weather? Is he alright in the head?

  Not only did I knock once on the door of the outhouse, but I knocked twice.

  Lawrence could tell the differences between Maggie's and my knocks.

  My wife would repeatedly knock non-stop, taking no break.

  With me, I'd only knock twice. If he didn't hear me the second time, I'd expect that he's not there or he's ignoring me.

  Knowing that it was me knocking at the door, Lawrence opened the door for me.

  As he opened the door, he shivered terribly.

  I was really worried about him. I was worried about his health; I was worried about his mind, like was he really okay, or was he on something? He was my own flesh and blood.

  "Are you okay son," I asked him worriedly, "you're so cold." I could see the chilly breath come from his mouth and into the air, separating like steam coming from up a chimney on a Christmas night.

  I rubbed his arms which felt so hard. It felt like the cold, frozen ground, like frozen snow that stays untouched because it is too hard to be picked up.

  As I touched his arm, worried about his health, Lawrence disrespectfully moved his arms from my reach.

  "Yeah, she's fine. Thanks for asking." My son responded to me with a stern look on his face.

  He quickly turned his face from me towards behind him.

  He looked at the disgrace on the wood floor. Such a disgrace of a woman who was still sleeping and shivering at the same time. How could our son do this to us?

  "Do you want something to eat this morning?" I quickly asked him before he was able to shut the door in my face.

  "Why me," my son went on an angered rampage, "why are you asking me if I'm okay and only asking me if I want anything for breakfast? Why are you not asking my fiancé, Abigale? What is wrong with her that makes you and ma hate her so much? She did nothing wrong to any of you!"

  I was speechless with the disrespect that my son was giving me.

  He was still shivering from the cold, but still kept trying to hold his composure so that I wouldn't notice it.

  He shook like an addict who needed drugs... well, he could've been an addict who needed drugs for all I know, I don't really know; he's been gone for so long that I know NOTHING about my own son...

  He was very lucky that I was different then his mother. His mother would beat him right away, while I'll talk sense to him before doing the same thing.

  If only Lawrence knew. He was too young in the past to know the truth behind his family.

  We grew up, being raised as we are, but we never showed Lawrence the TRUE nature in us. He only saw what we wanted him to see.

  We never showed any signs of how we really were, and how we still are. Lawrence just knew us as the adoring and loving parents who loved him for him.

  "Do you hear me," Lawrence went on, "I'm not going inside the house unless my fiancé is invited in as well."