FAMILY TIES
      By Spense
 

Chapter Eleven

Jonny glumly returned to the house at the appointed time.  Dinner
hour was always at 6pm.  Rachel had dropped him off just near enough
the driveway entrance so he wouldn't have to ride that far.  That
gave them more time to spend with each other.  She had also given him
good advice on how to deal with the scene to follow.

"Play a part, Jonny.  Do what they expect.  Don't lose your temper.
Apologize nicely to Will and tell your father you forgive him.  Make
them feel good and they will leave you alone.  Then promise to work
on your grades.  I'll help you.  I'm a scientist, remember?  We'll
take care of it.  Just tell them what they want to hear."

Jonny walked into a house that felt---strange.  Nothing was happening
in the kitchen.  Nobody seemed to be around.  The table wasn't set,
Mrs. Evans wasn't there, Hadji and Jessie were nowhere to be seen.
Slowly, Jonny set his packs on the counter, as Bandit headed for his
water bowl and dinner that had already been put down for him.

Jonny wandered out into the foyer.  This was really weird.  He was
opening his mouth to query IRIS to everyone's whereabouts when Race
emerged from his suite on the main floor.

"Jonny!  There you are!"  Race draped an arm over Jonny's shoulders
and steered him to the family room, maneuvering him towards the
couch.  Race sat on the coffee table across from him.

Jonny didn't have to feign puzzlement when he spoke.  "Where is
everybody?"

Race looked concerned.  "Rae was very ill this morning.  Benton, Will
and Rae just got home from the hospital.  She's fine," he hastened to
add, "but she was very, very sick.  It happens sometimes with
babies.  She woke up with a high fever.  It broke about 2 this
afternoon, and they just released her.  Will and Benton are upstairs
with her now.  Hadji and Jessie went to the hospital with us, and we
dropped them off to see a movie in town.  They needed a break."

Jonny just nodded in relief.  He was pleased Rae was okay.  It wasn't
her fault she was a pain.  And he was just as glad not to see Hadji
and Jess.  They asked too many questions.

"Anyway, Benton's a little preoccupied right now, but he's still very
concerned about you and what happened yesterday.  He asked me to talk
to you.  Now what is going on?"  Race finished, concern etched on his
face.

Jonny remembered his mother's coaching, acted as expected, and
followed the script.  "Are you sure Rae's ok?"  he asked first,
meaning it, but not caring as much as Race probably thought he
should.  He just made sure he didn't show it.  Why did they all think
he would feel the same way about things that they did?  Did they
think he didn't have a brain?

Race nodded thankfully.  "Yes, she's fine.  I knew you'd be worried
and Benton wanted to reassure you on the point as well,"  Race
finished, then pointedly waited.

Jonny did as expected.  He apologized for his behavior yesterday and
this morning, talked about the fact that it was hard to concentrate
on schoolwork with all the changes in his life, Rae and all, and said
he was just tired from all the working out he'd been doing.  He
finished by promising to do better with his homework.

And the amazing fact was that Race bought it all, looking very
relieved.  Rachel was right, tell them what they expected.  Race
headed upstairs to report to Benton, and Jonny, bemused, headed into
the kitchen for dinner.  That had been easier than expected.  Lying
really wasn't that hard.  Tell them what they expect to hear.  Was
that what his father had been doing to him all this time?

Jonny grabbed another sandwich and headed upstairs to his room.  He
was stopped at his door by his father's voice as he came out of the
nursery.

"Yeah, Dad?"  He answered calmly.

Benton moved quickly over to his son's side.  "I'm so sorry about
yesterday, Jonny.  That was inexcusable of me.  I just want to make
sure you're all right.  And Race said he talked to you.  I'm sorry,
but Rae . . ."  He gave Jonny a quick hug.

Jonny steeled himself not to flinch, or show his real feelings in his
eyes.  Tell them what they expect to hear.  "It's okay Dad.  I know
you didn't mean it.  How's Rae?"

Benton's relief at his son's demeanor and Rae's recovery showed
clearly on his tired face.  "She's fine," he said, taking a deep
breath.  "Thank heavens.  It's an ear infection, but with a fever
that high, you don't take chances.  And I just wanted to make sure
you were all right.  Race was worried about you this morning.  He
told me about running into you in the kitchen.  I was worried too."
He hugged his son again.

"I'm okay," Jonny said, steadying the glass of milk he held.  "I just
needed some space."  And of course he knew Race would tell his dad
about seeing him in the kitchen.  Didn't Race always tell his father
everything?  Everybody always made sure Benton came first.  Jonny
wasn't stupid.  He knew that.

"Okay," Benton commented, "I understand.  Just get the grades back
up, ok?"  He smiled at Jonny's nod, then continued, "Great, now I've
got to get Rae's formula.  She's hungry now that she feels better."
He squeezed Jonny's shoulder again in relief and headed back down the
stairs.

Jonny was bemused as he gratefully entered the privacy of his own
room, holding the door slightly so Bandit, who had just materialized,
could slip through, and set his meal down on his desk.  Tell them
what they want to hear.  Well, that was easy.  And he supposed he
should be grateful to Rae for getting sick.  That certainly took the
heat off him.

But still, Jonny was annoyed that his father had sent Race to talk to
him instead of doing it himself.  Well, that was certainly par for
the course in his life right now.  He rated about as high with his
father, as well, Bandit did.  Thinking about his conversations with
his mother, he realized that he was probably just one more possession
to his father.

Jonny continued the plan his mother had helped him set up.  He
finished his homework, and did what he was expected to do the next
day.  He ate family meals, apologized politely to Will, who was
really distracted with Rae's illness, played in Questworld with Hadji
and Jessie, and basically acted a part.  It was a long day, but he
thought he done pretty well.  He was glad there was school the next
day; he didn't think he could keep it up.  It felt really, really
foreign to him.  He could relax at school, and see his Mom in the
afternoon.  He'd already told Race he was going to run after school.
They had bought it easily.  And the amazing thing was that to his
family, the whole scene with his father in the family room on Friday
afternoon was treated like it never happened.

Well, Jonny knew it had.  And it had shown him a side of his father
that he didn't like one bit.  And now he knew his father for what he
really was.  A lying bastard.  And Jonny felt no compunctions about
lying right back.  Not anymore.  His mother deserved better than
she'd gotten from his father, and frankly, so did he.  He could
hardly wait until Monday afternoon.