37. A Conundrum for Pip
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(Continued from our last post…)
Pip stepped into the back door of Wing Tails Sticker Studio a with a bit of restlessness that he tried to cover over with humor. Calisto and Lima both had their necks craned out of the break room to eavesdrop on their Spyder and Pip’s conversation.
“Mother came over to my house.” Pip started.
“Yeh, so?!” Spyder asked, not understanding the issue.
“We need to talk. There’s a lot you don’t know.”
Pip and Spyder left Wings Tails and walked down to the KiKi’s Bagel Shop to talk an over coffee. Spyder hadn’t expected to return to the same bagel shop for lunch after picking up breakfast and surviving the morning’s drama with Perrie Hauteur, but that’s how life is sometimes.
Over warm mugs of coffee, Pip opened up. He explained how he had spent the last twenty years shielding his mother’s image, how she had abandoned him shortly after Belle’s death, and how he’d had no choice but to live with his aunt. He admitted he’d never really known where his mother was, only that she was gone more often than present, and that attempts to visit had always been unwelcome. About ten years ago, he had given up.
“I’m so sorry. I had no idea.” Spyder said holding back tears in his eyes.
“Of course you didn’t. I haven’t been very honest. The night when Belle died and your mom told us, I went home and my mother blamed me for what happened. I knew then something wasn’t right and your mom helped me see that. She was so kind. I wasn’t really sure how to explain that to you then, so I just pretended like my mother loved me like your mom loves you and I’ve been pretending since. I hope you can forgive me.”
“Gah, Pip. I just wished you would have let us help you. That’s all.”
“Spyder, you’ve helped more than you’ll ever know.”
“So whats the deal about the video games?”
“Well you know I’ve been playing Jungle Fight forever and it’s always been free. About six months ago, when I signed in, it required me to put in a banking account number. I tried an old account that my dad took me to set up for me and it worked. I really didn’t think it would work, but it did and so I didn’t worry about it. Well I guess my mother’s name was also on that account and it’s been charging her money. If I download anything, I try to make sure it’s free. Sometimes it’s hard to tell. Before it would only let me download things that were free. I guess that’s different now.”
“So… you need a job?” Spyder asked.
“Yes, but it’s not just that. I can’t keep thinking about what mother said when she came over. She said, “I knew I should have let him have your egg.” What could that possibly mean? I keep thinking about it over and over again. It doesn’t make any sense. Dad was always with us until he was gone. He DID have me. He was an awesome dad. Always able to calm her down when she got worked up. I miss him everyday. But what do you think that could mean, Spyder?”
To be continued… New dragon story installments each Friday. Subscribe below to follow the dragons. Read the beginning of it all at Blog 1: New Adventure Awaits.
