Cracked windows part 7

Inner Peace

Boxman’s perspective

I found where my son Jethro was hiding, after a long journey.

After being kicked out of my home, my business, out of my partner’s life, I had to let my kids go and let them be free. Let them figure out what makes them happy.

I went to the sun, my birthplace. Well, a place that always seems to know my name and gives me feelings of home.

After awhile, I traversed to a long wooded path and finally, I found my Jethro. He was there among the other models, and I reconnected with one of my sons. He explained to me that after Professor Venomous went Turbo, and became Shadowy Venomous, he knew he was was danger. He gathered some of his earlier models(brothers) and left Voxmore.

I couldn’t help but feel a touch of pride at the amazing level of self preservation and was so happy to see him. I thought he was dead.

“Why don’t we stay here? It’s so quiet and peaceful here, father. No one ever fights here. Here, there is no hero. There is no villian. And… we can talk and dance and watch the woods in peace,” Jethro explains and I take in a deep breath, looking up at the immense sky. Yes, the woods felt good right now.

The open fields over there, too.

I told my son I would stay here with him.

Because peace sounded good right now.

We spent the days resting, meditating, singing, dancing.

The water by the woods sustained me.

The fires at night that my sons created built me.

I thought back to everyone and everything and how I treated so many people. How I was as a person. How more than anything, I loved to create things. Why do I insist on destroying when all I really want to do is sit down with blue prints and draw up new exciting designs? I realized I was going around in circles all my life. The excitement that attacking the plaza was insistent on the fact that I was unhappy. With Professor Venomous and our kids, we were all very happy. It was short and sweet, but in that time, we were so happy. I still attacked the plaza, but I didn’t care about it as much. I cared about our family. I cared about all of us.

I knew after all this was over, I’d have to go back, and check on things and check on my other kids.

I know now that Shadowy Venomous took away the love of my life. How long before he comes back? How long before I see my darling again?

I was thinking never.

Professor Venomous struggled with power even in his youth as a superhero. He always wanted more. He never felt good enough. No matter what anyone said, no matter what anyone else could get him to see, it wasn’t enough.

There was no sense of confidence, no sense of reasoning that he was all he ever needed to be. But, I can’t worry about all that now.

I’ll worry about that tomorrow.

Right now, I have something no one can take away from me.

Inner peace.

That was until..

“Box-butt!” I hear the familiar cry. It’s Fink.

“Hey! Hey Fink!” I yell with a grin, waving as I see her coming close. She leaps in my arms and I hug her close.

“Why are you out here in these stinky woods?!” She asks loudly.

I grin and she jumps down from my chest. “I was trying to find myself.” I looked over at my son Jethro and she looked as well. “I found my son. I found a bit of inner peace.”

She sniffled. “I wonder what that feels like.”

Her quiet words break my heart. “You still livin’ over at Voxmore, sweetie?” I ask. She shakes her head.

“Nope. Shadowy demolished it even worse once you left.”

I feel myself cringe. “Oh.”

She nods, and I can tell she’s trying not to cry.

“What have you been doing with yourself lately? Still playing the piano and recorder?” I ask, trying to gather up a more positive energy for our conversation.

She frowns and growls. “How can I do that?” She spat out. “I’m homeless.”

Her raw honesty hits me hard and I can’t speak for a moment, but I try to swallow that pain and smile, saying to her in a barely reassuring tone, “Oh, sweetie, you know that..”

I try to gather my thoughts and think of a logical explanation for a young girl’s father to up and abandon her to go apeshit all over town, destroy her own idea of family and security and then, not even try to check up on her well being.

“When will you try to knock some sense into him?!” She blurts out angrily, “He won’t listen to anyone. Especially not to me!” Her tears come streaming out. I lean into hug her and she pushes me away.

“Oh, Fink, I don’t know. I’m not sure what I can do.”

“My boss wasn’t ever happy ‘till he was with you,” She says quietly, kicking at dirt on the ground. “He was always so lonely and bored. And, as much as I hated you and despised you and wanted you to be shot into the sun—”

“That’s happened to me already,” I pointed out and she gave me a look that was surprise and a bit of awe.

“Well, as much as I wanted that to happen, I admit that you made him way too happy. So, you gotta try!” She stomped at the ground, kicking up dust.

I chuckled sadly and she sighed. “I think I’ll try, Fink. But, I can’t promise anything.”

“You better promise!” She pretends to snap her jaw at me and I grin.

“I’ll get your dad back,” I say and she doesn’t say anything.

“Fink?”

She crouches on the ground and I see her shaking, so I go over to her and gently touch her back. She lightly flinched a moment but then leans in to my touch.

“I ain’t ever had a real family, and boss was the only one I ever thought I could ask for. He treated me so nice and read me bed time stories…” she sobbed. “And he had called me his daughter before…”

“Because you are his daughter. You are. And nothing changes that. You hear?” I get to her level and our eyes meet.

“What.. what is he, Boxman?” She asks in a trembling voice. “That’s not my dad. That’s not…” she can’t finish her sentence and I wrap my arms around her, and being her close in a gentle embrace. I feel her sobs in a shuddering pattern and she grips onto my shirt tightly.

“All I know is I’ll get PV back. Somehow.”

“Really? You swear?” She says in a quivering voice. I nod.

Jethro comes rolling in and joins us for a group hug. I nod and say yes.

“I am Jethro!” He says loudly and I nod.

“Good point, son,” I say to him. Fink nods and she says, “Spot on calculating there, botsy!” And Jethro grins.

“Don’t worry anymore; Fink. It’ll all be okay,” I say and she sighs in an exhausted way.

“Thank you, dad,” Fink says so softly, I barely hear it, but it’s real. She considers me her dad, too.

My heart is so full and warm and I kiss the top of her head. “Anything for you, sweetie.”

I realized right here was my most important inner peace. My family.

And I had to try and keep it together. For better or worse. Cracked or whole.