“Quincy And That Unusual Friend Of His”

  By Brian Roberson  

Chapter 5 

Dr. Singh shook his head in amazement, went back to his notes, and went back to looking at Quincy's shoulder, and then back to his notes again.  

"I just don't see how that wound could have just disappeared like that. This was a third degree burn. There's not even any scar tissue." The doctor said with a flabbergasted tone.  

"A burn?" Quincy looked up and said.  

"Quincy, what's going on?" Carol said firmly.  

Just then there was a ruckus outside of the exam room. Quincy could hear his dad shouting that he was a US Congressman and to stand aside while a nurse was shouting at him. Quincy's dad then burst into the room. He had been at the Capitol all day, and he had on his suit and tie and his dark brown hair was slicked back. He had been whisked over in a Congressional limo when Carol called him about Quincy's bite wound. The nurse was right behind him.  

"Honey, I got here as soon as I could. Son, are you all right? Steve said as he knelt down in front of Quincy.  

"Doctor! I tried to stop him and he barged right in!." The nurse said.  

"It's fine, Nurse. Thank you." The doctor said.  

"I came as fast as I could." Steve said to Carol.  

"Well it's looking like we have all been the victim of a prank!" Carol said.  

"A prank?" Steve said.  

"Mr. Lenhardt..." Doctor Singh said.

"I got a call right in the middle of Committee that my son has radiation poisoning and now you're telling me that it's a prank?" Steve yelled.  

"Mr. Lenhardt, I checked the wound myself, there was definite tissue damage. For some reason it has managed to completely heal itself, and without any scar tissue, all within this visit. I have no explanation and I still urge you to have Quincy admitted to a hospital for testing." Singh said.  

Steve turned to Quincy, "Son? How do you feel?"  

"I feel fine, Dad."  

"Are you telling the truth about how you got the wound?"  

"Yes, a kid bit me."  

"Quincy, stop lying to everybody! It's all that you do anymore!" Carol shrieked.  

"Carol, Carol..." Steve said. He then looked at Quincy's shoulder.” Doctor, from what I'm seeing there is absolutely nothing wrong with my son."  

"On the outside, yes. On the inside though..." The doctor said.  

"Come on, Quincy. Come on, Carol. We're going!" Steve said as he stood up.

"Mr. Lenhardt, please! We need to have these tests done...!" Dr. Singh pleaded.

"For a bite? And for one that was so minor that there's not a trace of it? I think enough people's time has been wasted today, Doctor!" Steve said as his family exited. Steve then closed the door forcefully behind him. Singh looked at his paperwork again, shook his head , and threw the clipboard onto the counter in frustration.  

Quincy sat in the backseat of the car while his parents argued all the way home. Quincy was supposed to start day camp tomorrow, but Carol wanted him punished and confined to his room for lying and staging a fake bite wound. Steve was blaming Carol and the doctor for being hysterical and overreacting to what was obviously something very insignificant. They continued to argue all the way into the driveway, and into the house, and up the stairs into their bedroom.  

Quincy microwaved a frozen dinner and retreated to his room. He sat at his desk and turned his computer on to distract him from all the racket that was going on down the hall. He put You Tube on and starting perusing through the videos, looking for one to watch. The screen began to flicker and it got cooler in the room just as Erik materialized sitting on top of the dresser. Quincy's computer didn't work very well when Erik was around, so he shut it off.  

"Hey Erik." Quincy smiled, glad to see his friend.  

"Hi Quincy. How's your shoulder?" Erik asked with concern.  

"It's fine, it's healed up already. See?" Quincy walked over and lowered his collar, baring his shoulder. Erik rubbed his hand over where the wound had been.  

"Cool. I'm glad it's better." Erik said. The argument in the bedroom reached a crescendo, and Quincy heard the door slam and angry steps going down the stairs.  

"Wow, I've never heard them fight like that." Quincy said.  

"It's all my fault. I've done nothing but cause trouble for you. That's all I ever do for anybody." Erik said sadly.  

Quincy put his hand on Erik's back. "No you haven't. You've been my friend, the best friend I've ever had."  

Erik stared into Quincy's eyes and smiled. "You're the best friend I've ever had too."  

Quincy smiled at Erik, and he then did something that he never thought that he would do. On pure instinct, he leaned over and kissed Erik gently on the mouth. Erik seemed a little surprised at first. Quincy thought he might have offended him, but Erik then burst out into a flurry of quiet giggles.Quiny looked down and let out a brief chortle, and the boys were soon holding one another and giggling. It was then that Quincy's mother came bursting through the door after a single, sharp knock.  

"Quincy! Downstairs! We need to talk!" She said.  

"OK, be right there!" He said, trying not to sound frustrated.  

"Now, Quincy!" Carol said.  

Quincy sighed loudly at the intrusion and turned around to follow his mom out into the hallway. As he walked out he glanced over at Erik, who was still sitting on the dresser with an affectionate smile on his face. Quincy smiled back at his friend as walked out of the room. 

He followed Carol down to the den where his dad was sitting. Quincy sat on the opposite sofa and his mother sat on the couch next to his dad.  

"Son, it has been decided that you need to go to day camp. It is clear that you are bored and restless, and that leads to mischief. You need to be up at 7 am tomorrow so that we can drive you to the community center to get enrolled. “ 

"Yeah I know. I thought we agreed I was going."  

"This is over my objections, Quincy! What you did today was wrong and unfair! It worried me and made me waste my time and that doctor's time, not to mention the money it cost for the co-payment !"

"Quincy, you have to understand that much has changed for our family since last summer. Things we do can now potentially make news. We're not anonymous people anymore. I'm a US Congressman, and I have a lot of people watching my every move. The fact that I had to walk out of a very important Committee meeting today for a family medical emergency is on public record. Hopefully no reporter or constituent starts asking questions about it."

"Yes, Sir." Quincy muttered while staring at the floor.  

"We need to be a team, Quince, now more than ever. It's important that I succeed in this new position that I have, not just for myself, but for the country. What we're trying to do is very important, and it's going to have a tremendous impact for years to come. This is your future that we're trying to improve, Quincy. You have to realize this." Steve said.  

Quincy continued to stare at the floor with a scowl on his face. "May I be excused?" He finally said.  

Steve and Carol looked at each other and then Steve slowly nodded. Quincy got up and went back up the stairs while his parents sat in silence with worried expressions on their faces.  

Quincy stormed into his bedroom and slammed the door. He stood in exasperation and issued a loud sigh with his hands on his hips. Just then Erik materialized next to him with a concerned expression. 

"Is everything allright, Quincy? You seem mad." Erik then put an affectionate hand on Quincy's shoulder. 

Quincy looked over at Erik. "Yeah, everything is allright, I guess. I get mad when they try to tell me what to do all the time." 

"Well they are parents, Quincy. Mine were the same way." 

Quincy then sat on the bed facing Erik. "So Erik..." He said after he sat. "You never really talk about your parents very much. How come?"

Erik sat next to Quincy and stared straight ahead. "It's been a while since I've seen them. I guess that's why." 

"So what were they like?" 

Erik smiled and looked as though he were staring at something very far away. "Mother was always very nice, very kind. She always let me pick out whatever I wanted at the grocery store!" Quincy giggled at that. "Father was always busy and working, but when he was here, he always made sure we had time to do something together, even if he it was just him sitting there while I put dandelions in his hair!"

Quincy laughed. "I can totally picture you doing that!" 

"Sometimes we would go on trips, and Christmas was always really nice! I used to get so many presents!I would on my birthday too! I really miss getting presents." Erik said whistfully. 

"So do you miss them?" 

"Miss who?" 

"Your parents! Duh." 

Erik became quiet. "I don't know if I do or not." He finally said. 

"What do you mean?"  

"I don't know. It's like...it's like they're still here. I don't feel like they ever left. If they did leave, it doesn't seem like it's too long ago." 

"No, they definately left, Erik. They left a long time ago too, I think." 

"Well it doesn't seem like that to me." Erik said without looking at Quincy as he got up and went over to the window facing the back yard and stared out of it. 

That night, Erik surprised Quincy by hopping into bed with him just as he was about to turn the light off. Quincy was glad to have his pal next to him, and the two of them giggled and laughed as Quincy shut off the lamp. Quincy then lay down and snuggled up next to Erik. The two of them wound up talking for hours. 

"This was the best, funnest day ever." Erik smiled.  

"Me too. Today was a blast."  

"Thanks for taking me out on your bike and helping me get over my fear of going out into the street. I feel so much better about all that stuff that happened now."  

"I'm glad too. That was hilarious in the CVS." Quincy grinned. The two of them laughed in the dark for a couple of minutes. 

"I hope your parents are done fighting." Erik said after they quieted down. 

"They were fighting mainly about me going to that day camp, and that's been settled. I'm going, so I would guess they are." Quincy said.  

"They went at it pretty good."  

"Things haven't been the same since Dad got elected to Congress. We used to do things together all the time, now I hardly see him anymore. Everything is so different now."  

"I guess that's what happens." Erik said.  

"He didn't even really want to run. It was all Mom's idea, she's the one who's really political. She says that Socialists and Obama want to take over America and turn everyone into slaves." Quincy said.  

"That sounds pretty scary." Erik said.  

"Pretty much since spring of last year that's all anything has been, politics. Dad hasn't taken me fishing or hiking or anything. We used to do that kind of stuff all time. I miss the way things were."  

"I do too..." Erik said in a sad and dreamy voice.  

"I guess when something changes big, sometimes you just have to accept it."  

"Yeah...I guess you do." Erik said in a contemplative tone while he stared at the ceiling. 

Quincy yawned and looked at his digital clock, which was flickering due to Erik's presence in the room. "Wow, it's almost 2 AM. We've been up for awhile! Hopefully I can get back to sleep." He said.  

Erik reached over and put his hand on Quincy's forehead and Quincy closed his eyes and immediately started lightly snoring. Erik got up off the bed and walked over to the window that faced out of the side of the house. He looked up briefly at the stars, went over to the desk, and sat indian style on it so that he could silently guard Quincy while he slept, just like he did every night.  

Outside, on the street between Quincy's house and the neighbors to the right, a small Mazda hatchback was parked on the curb. Inside the car, in the driver seat, Dr. Singh gasped as he saw a faint, green light appear in the second story side window, and then retreat back into the room. He started the car, quickly added the green light that he just saw to the other items of information that he had accumulated that evening and glided off into the darkness.