The Dead Kid Returns chapter 8: The House of Grief

Someone once said,”Crying is all right in its own way while it lasts. But you have to stop sooner or later, and then you still have to decide what to do.” Once Bethany had cried for a while, she realized the truth of that statement.

She resolved that no matter what it took, she’d help her friend recover from whatever had happened to her to make her what she was.

If only she could figure out how.

After school on Monday, she went to their usual quiet reading spot, and found the new kid having an argument with his female self, Connie.

“I ... I had forgotten. I had to forget. Dont make me remember, Connie!”

“I cant help it. You didnt just forget IT, you forgot me too. I was DYING inside you. I dont want to go back to that.”

“I know, I know. I dont want to hurt you. You made me. I’m supposed to be your Protector.”

“And you did as good as could be done. But we’re safe now. We even have a friend who knows about me, and likes us anyway.”

“Hi.” Beth said, coming forward.

“Beth?” Did you hear that?”

“A bit of it. Sounds like things are getting dicey inside your head.”

“I guess so. I dont know what to do, Beth.”

“Me either. I care about you, but I’m just a kid. This .... its beyond me.”

“Me too.”

“What about an adult? There has to be someone .. Hey! What about my mom? She’s a therapist.”

Connie visibly flinched at that word.

“I ... I dont know.” she said.

“It has to be better than what’s been going on.” The male self said.

“Okay. We’ll talk to your mom, Beth.”

A couple of days later, Beth and the new kid were sitting down with Beth’s mom, who seemed to radiate safety.

Beth explained the situation, and then left the new kid to talk to her mother.

“Help her. Please.” she prayed while she waited for them to talk.

*****

An hour later, Connie and Beth’s mom came into the Beth’s room.

“You okay, Connie?”

‘No. Beth. Because now I remember. I was the dead kid.”

“I... I thought so. What happened?”

“Something bad, Beth. It turned me into ... well a little like that house in the Ray Bradbury story. Going through a routine, but without anything inside that would actually make that routine mean anything.”

“But you’re alive now.”

“Thanks to you. I was like ... sleeping beauty. And I was woken by your kisses. First to life as the new kid, and then finally to being me.”

“I’m glad I could help. But what happens now?”

“I... I think I have to go find the person who made the dead kid in the first place. Or I’ll always have the risk of turning back into it.”

Beth took Connie’s hand. “Not alone. I’m coming with you.”

“I .... I was hoping you would.”

“Where do we go?”

“The first place we have to go is my home. I ...I still dont remember everything, but I know my mother knows something.”
“Then we’ll go to your house. The House of Grief.”

“Good name for it. Let’s go.”

******************

Connie, Beth, and Beth’s mother stood outside Connie’s house, when Connie started breathing heavily.

Beth squeezed Connie’s hand. “You okay?”

“Not really. But I got to do this.”

Connie went in, and called out, “Mom?”

“Hi hon I was getting worried ... what the heck?”

“HI mom. Sorry to have to spring this on you like this., but I’ve been through a few changes today. And I have some questions too.”

“Its .... really you? After all this time.... I thought we’d lost you forever.”

“I take it me being a girl isnt a total shock then?”

“No. But, how? And who are these people?”

“My friend Beth here woke me up, and I remembered being Connie. But that’s not all I remembered. Thanks to Beth’s mom, I remembered being the dead kid.”

Connie’s mother all but collapsed. “Oh... I’m so sorry child.”

“Call me Connie, mom. So what happened to me? I remember some of it, but not all.”

Connie’s mother wept, and then said, “Come into the kitchen, and I’ll tell you the whole story.”

They went into the kitchen, and Connie’s mother made tea. Once they had started drinking, she said, “It all started when you were very little. I had left you alone for maybe the first time, and you went into my bedroom and started helping yourself to my dresses and makeup. By the time I got back, you were looking like a clown in my shoes and dress and with your face all done up. I couldnt help but find it cute, but your father exploded. I’d never seen him so angry, calling you a sissy, and he spanked you.”

She took a sobbing breath and continued, “All the time you kept asking him what was wrong with wanting to be pretty like Mommy.”

“But what happened next?” Connie asked.

“I thought it was over, but your father decided you needed ‘help’ and took you to see a therapist. I... dont know exactly what happened, but you came back ... empty.”

“I was dead. That’s how I became the dead kid.”

“Yes. I could hardly stand it. I divorced your father, and just tried to look after what was left of you, but it felt hopeless. Nothing I did helped. Then one day, you came home more alive than I had recalled seeing you in forever, and for the first time I had hope. You acted more like a boy - maybe a very quiet and bookish one, but it was something better than what you had been.”

“That was after Beth had kissed me. It brought me back, a little.”

Beth blushed a little.

“Well, you were alive, but something was still missing. Until now.”

“Beth helped me find Connie again. And her mom helped me remember what happened.”

“Thank God. You must think I’m awful.”

“I dont blame you mom. But what are we going to do now? I ... dont want to have to pretend I’m a boy any more.”

“I .. I understand, Connie. But what other choice is there?”

Beth’s mother said, “I can help there. It wont happen overnight though, Connie. You might have to be patient and pretend for a while longer.”

“As long as the pretence will end sooner rather than later, I’ll hang on.”

“Good. Beth, we should let Connie’s mom get to know her daughter again.”

“Okay. I’ll see you at school?”

“Yes. I’ll be a tomboy for now, but I’ll be there.”

“Great.”

That night, as Beth slept, she dreamed of the future. Of Connie bit by bit being able to strip the boy disguise and be her true self. Of Both girls growing closer together though happiness and heartbreak. And of one day, a long time from then, when the two, now women, joined together as partners in love.

For life.