Page 56 of Semblance

Though my words were meant to be a joke, they seemed to have touched Shadow deeply.

“You know my dad never took me to a park, not once? Or played catch with me or read me any bedtime stories?”

“You’re probably exaggerating,” I said. “He must have spentsomequality time with you.”

“Oh, don’t get me wrong, he did spend time with me, but most of that was spent teaching me about numbers, strategy, and business. I remember one afternoon going over to the Constantine house when I was eight and listening to Abraham read to JuliaWhere the Wild Things Are. I was captivated both by the story and the fact that Julia got to experience something fun with her father. I got home and my dad started drilling me on Gaussian distribution formulas. Did you know by the time I was seven, I could already do advanced Calculus equations? I was a freak.”

“It sounds like you were quite the brainiac.”

Shadow practically scoffed at what I said.

“With all the neurological enhancement pills and vitamins I was taking at the time, I’m surprised I can’t read your thoughts right now.”

I want you to fuck me until I can’t stand anymore.

I turned away for a moment and faked a cough while breaking eye-contact with him just in case hedidhave some voodoo ability to read my thoughts.

“Growing up, people always thought I had it easy. After all, I was the future of the Midnight Society; an anointed prince. They believed that anything I wanted came to me at the snap of my fingers. What bullshit,” Shadow’s jaw was clenched. “What they didn’t see was my father pushing me to my limits, both mentally and physically. I was never allowed to cry, since it was a sign of weakness. I was never allowed to complain because endurance was a way to build both strength and character. Even something that should have been fun like soccer matches were a point of stress for me. I always had to be the best player on the field and my team always had to win, otherwise I risked disappointing my father.”

“That’s horrible. Every kid should be allowed to enjoy their childhood. Those memories are so very precious.” I paused. “Did your father push Calisto just as hard?”

Shadow shook his head. “She got off easy, being a girl. While I was reading books about chaos theory and memorizing political platforms, she got to bake cookies, play with dolls, and go to the zoo.”

“What about your mom? Did she agree with what your dad was doing?”

“She worked me just as hard. After all, she bore the Tremaine last name and the prestige associated with it. Every Tremaine male was forced to live up to the family legacy; weakness was never allowed,” he sighed. “There’s a legend about our family. Back in the seventeen hundreds, there was one Tremaine baby boy born with a birth defect—something as trivial as a cleft lip. Because of this, the baby was a symbol of weakness, and because of this small defect, they delivered the baby to an orphanage and stripped all records of his birth from the history books.”

“That’s awful. How can a mother carry a child for nine months in her stomach only to dump it away after first glance?”

“This is the world I live in. The Midnight Society only cares about strength and power and they don’t mind deception in order to obtain it,” Shadow said.

“Do you want to leave the Midnight Society?” I asked.

Shadow shook his head. “Tell me about your father,” he said, abruptly changing the focus of topic. “What was he like?”

A wide smile crept across my face as I thought about him. “He was everything to me,” I said. “He was my inspiration to become a classical pianist.”

“Did he push you to have piano lessons when you were young?” Shadow asked. I shook my head.

“No, I asked for them,” I replied. “I have pictures when I was still in diapers and my dad sat me on his lap in front of a piano, my whole fist trying to push down on the keys. I was inspired at a very early age.”

“Did your dad play the piano?”

“Occasionally he played a few rudimentary songs like Fur Else and a couple of Beethoven’s and Bachs,” I replied. “He taught me up to a certain level but when I got into the more complex pieces, we had to hire a piano teacher. The one my dad found was quite the piece of work. He was a Russian psychopath.”

“How so?”

“Well for one thing, he told me to start lifting weights so I could build strength in my puny little arms,” I laughed. “Keep in mind I was fourteen at the time. However he was a good teacher and many of his unconventional techniques got me to the level I’m at today. He didn’t come cheap though. My dad’s teacher’s salary couldn’t cover food, mortgage, and the Russian so he had to take a second job teaching night classes.”

“Your dad sounds like a good man,” Shadow said. “I would have loved to meet him. I always have high regards for a man who takes care of his family.”

“I’m sure your father did the same.”

“My father worked hard to obtain power for our family name. Your father worked hard to make you happy.”

“Do you resent your dad?”

Shadow shook his head. “No, I loved him and respected him very much. But sometimes I wish…” his voice trailed off.

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