Home Again - 7

The doorbell was ringing mercilessly when Stephen rushed to answer it. Fred was standing there, his face eaten with worry.
"Good afternoon."
"Good afternoon Fred. Are you looking for Daniel?" Stephen inquired.
"Yes! Have you seen him?" Fred asked in panic.
"Yes he’s here, don’t worry."
Fred sighed in relief and shouted "Dad, Phillip he’s here!"
Edgar and Phillip ran toward the house.
"Oh God! We were just about to call the police!" Phillip said.
"How did he come here?" Edgar shouted angrily.
Stephen told him.
"But I was going to have a heart attack! We’ve been looking for him for nearly an hour!" Edgar shouted.

"Dad, calm down please." Fred said nervously.
"Dad!" Daniel’s voice came from inside.
Edgar moved Stephen out of the way and rushed inside. He grabbed Daniel’s arm aggressively and grunted "Haven’t I told you not to open the door to anyone or go outside the house?"
"Hey! Take it easy!" Stephen protested.
"Stay out of this." Edgar shouted in rage then he pushed Daniel brutally outside the house.
Fred took Daniel’s arm gently and walked home. Daniel was shivering and breathing heavily.
"Relax Daniel, relax please." Fred muttered.

They all headed home and as soon as they entered the house Edgar shouted in rage "Why did you do this Daniel? Why didn’t you call us at least instead of causing all this panic?"
Daniel looked at him with widened teary eyes.
"Don’t look at me like this! Answer my question!" Edgar said firmly.
This was how Burns used to shout at him right before a brutal punishment. Daniel was scared of what is coming, he was paralyzed and couldn’t move.
"Dad stop, it he’s shaking like a leaf!" Phillip shouted.
Edgar headed to his room still huffing and puffing.
Fred sat beside Daniel and said reassuringly "He’s just blinded by anger please forgive him."
"What did I do?" Daniel choked.
"We … we were just so worried Daniel…just make sure you keep us aware of your whereabouts."
"What is he going to do to me?" Daniel asked in fear.
"He’ll do nothing!" Fred said emphatically "He’ll probably come and apologize for what he did."
…………………………………………
Edgar walked slowly to Daniel’s room. Daniel was standing beside the window crying silently.
"Dan." Edgar said.
Daniel turned to him and wiped his tears.
"I was so worried about you, overreacted." Edgar declared.
Daniel said nothing because he felt a lump in his throat. Edgar held his shoulders gently and said "For a moment I thought I lost you again, do you understand how hard this is for me?"
"You were so rude to Stephen, he was so nice to me." Daniel demurred.
"I will fix this don’t worry."
"You grabbed my arm so hard it hurts." Daniel said rolling up his sleeve.
Edgar rubbed it gently and kissed his forehead.
"I’m sorry Dan, I’m so sorry son."
………………………………………
"I’m sorry for what happened Stephen, I overreacted. I hope you understand the situation I was in."
"I’d have gone crazy too, don’t worry." Then he said after a pause "The way you treated your son was a shame."
"I was under a lot of pressure …."
"You should work hard to regain his trust."
Edgar looked down with guilt.
"You should be more patient and compassionate."
"We’re doing our best." Edgar assured.

"If you allow me, I’d like to be involved."
Edgar gave him a confused look.
"Daniel needs constant support and supervision, you are so busy and due to my work as a writer I stay at home most of the time. I think I can offer a lot of help." Stephen explained.
"But you know, Daniel is not an ordinary teenager." Edgar pointed out.
"I know." Stephen said with a smile.
"So he stays with you during the day while we’re at work."
"Exactly."
"Why not? I agree." Edgar said.