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| THRESHOLD BY MARIQUA |
CHAPTER 1 |
Sam Rappaport walked briskly into a room at the mental health center where Todd Manning, his surrogate son, was standing looking out of a window. He was somewhat slouched with his hands in his pockets in an attitude of "I don't give a damn" and he didn't look away from the window even when Sam strode into the room.
"Hi Boomer," Sam tried to greet him in a very casual way, "What's the good word?"
Todd finally deigned to look over at Sam and his upper lip curled slightly. "Why don't you tell me! I've been bugging this basket-weaving bunch here to let me go. I don't understand what the holdup is."
Sam winced a little at his words. He was sounding more like his son, Will, every day. It had been nearly two months since Todd had been checked into the center. When he had first come out of his catatonia, he had had the mind of a four-year old boy. That had been a bizarre day if there ever was one. Dr. Lange had told him that Todd had regressed back to a childlike state and that it would take time and a lot of therapy to effectively bring him back to his real age. If it hadn't been so tragic, it was almost laughable to see Todd as a child. Before anyone had noticed, Todd had escaped from his room and run all over the hospital and when they had found him, he was in the pediatric wing playing with stuffed animals scattered all over the floor. "Come on, Boomer. Time to go. You can take one of those toys back to your room if you want," Sam had said to him, knowing that it might give him some comfort. Todd had chosen an Elmo toy and hugged it to his chest. He grabbed Sam's hand and looking at him as a boy does with his father, he had let Sam lead him back to his room.
"Poor Tea!" Sam thought as he watched Todd. It hadn't been a smooth ride for her at all since Todd had woken up. At first she had been "Mommy" to Todd. Tea had to step in and take over as Todd's nurturing parent. Tea had been quite good at it, too. She was gentle and patient with him -- even when "little Todd" had a bad temper tantrum one day. She had calmed him down right away and coaxed him into letting her read him a story. The weeks had gone by quickly and each day Todd had seemed to progress a little more in his development. The second or third week Todd was acting like a ten-year old and had played a number of pranks on the nurses and orderlies who came to his room.
Each week Dr. Morris, Todd's assigned therapist, was delving more into Todd's history. Sam knew there had been some breakthroughs but there was yet no reemergence of Todd's former adult self. Dr. Morris had told Tea that Todd was resisting coming back because of a deep-seated trauma in his life and that he would, most likely, have to go through these stages of mental growth before he could be ready to face what his mind had so successfully shut out.
It was only within the last week that Todd had moved into a stage which was somewhere around sixteen years old. Tea, needing some time off, had gone to see her family in New York with strict instructions to Sam that he was to call her every night and update her on anything new with Todd. She was due back here any minute to confer with Dr. Morris again as to Todd's condition. There was a good chance that Todd would be allowed to go home with outpatient therapy sessions.
"So, what the hell are you staring at?" Todd asked as Sam continued to look at him.
The door opened again and in walked Tea, dressed in a pale green, tight-fitting dress. As she walked in, Todd's slouch straightened up and his eyes widened. Her eyes connected with his immediately, and she smiled hesitantly. "Hi, Todd," she spoke brightly. "Good news! They say you can go home today!"
Sam beamed and went over to Todd and patted him affectionately on the back. "Isn't that great, Boomer? I know you're ready to get out of here."
Sam nodded to her. Todd observed her shapely hips as she left the room. Never taking his eyes off her, he grinned wickedly. "Some babe, huh Sam?"
Sam frowned and the tone of his voice deepened threateningly. "Todd, cool it! I suggest you keep your mind on doing what Dr. Morris told you to do. You don't want them to yank you back in here, do you?"
Todd grabbed a gym bag on the floor and walked with Sam to the door. "That loser! He's ancient and doesn't know anything about what's going on with me."
Sam shook his head. Some things never changed. Todd at sixteen had a lot of the same sarcasm as the adult Todd. "Look, Todd. Do me a favor. Show me and everyone else just how smart you really are. Stay with the program."
They walked to the front desk and found Tea there signing papers. For an instant, she looked up and fixed her eyes on Todd. Sam's cell phone interrupted the silence. He took the call and then spoke. "Tea...Todd...I'm sorry I can't accompany you home. Something's come up. I should be able to make it over a little later, though."
"No problem, Sam." Tea handed the last form over to the woman behind the desk. "Ready, Todd?"
Sam waited to see what Todd would say. Todd looked from one to the other with an amused expression. "Cut me some slack, will you two? I'm outa here!"
Sam wordlessly let Tea know that he would be available if she needed him. He hurriedly left the building.
Todd walked over to the driver's side of his black Ferrari which Tea had driven over to the center.
"Give me the keys!" he demanded harshly.
"Todd, I think I'd better drive."
"I've got a license, or don't you remember that?"
She reluctantly handed him the keys with a withering look. Sam had told her that he was in a sixteen-year old frame of mind. She knew she had better not aggravate him too much.
Todd slid easily into the black leather seat -- his long fingers touching the steering wheel lovingly. Tea adjusted the seat belt and tried to think
positive thoughts. At least he was coming home. Never mind that he was an adolescent mentally. She would be grateful for what she could get. It had been a long time.
The engine roared into life and with a screech of wheels, Todd peeled out and into the traffic. His face was flushed with pleasure as he whipped around cars and zoomed full speed ahead.
"Todd, please!" Tea begged him as she found her breath again. "We are not in the Indiannapolis 500!"
Todd glanced at her and laughed out loud. "This is a blast, Tea! You've got to learn to loosen up!" he said, patting her knee. Tea felt her skin crawl as his hand touched her skin. She bit her lip to keep from saying anything. Let's just get home she thought.
Dusk began to settle over the skies as Todd pulled into the garage in the penthouse building. The garage was filled with cars, but no one was around. Todd parked the car and turned off the lights. As Tea began fumbling with her seatbelt, he noticed that the skirt of her dress had hiked up closer to her hips. "What a body!" he thought with an awakening desire. Just as she released her seatbelt, Todd leaned over and grabbed her waist, pulling her to him with a strength that surprised her. His mouth covered hers amid her muffled protests. Pulling her in closer, he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. Tea pulled back from him with fire in her eyes as he covered the spot with his hand where she had savagely elbowed him.
"What did you do that for?" he spewed out the words angrily.
Tea was too exasperated with his behavior to speak. She swung the car door open in a fury, slamming it shut and walked away from him, speaking words of Spanish in staccato. She turned back and walked toward the car again. He was leaning over the top of the car watching her as she came back toward him.
