by Red Monster
This time, they found themselves outdoors, at night, on a street in a poor, dirty urban neighborhood. The air was hot and dry, and the street was dotted with sand. Theresa and another girl were walking along the sidewalk.
"This is America, isn’t it?" asked Sean.
"Phoenix, Arizona, to be precise. Theresa’s here as an exchange student. She’s fifteen now. That girl she’s walking with is her hostess." Kellin said.
A dusty pickup truck pulled up next to Theresa and her friend. A Native American boy, about thirteen years old, opened the door.
"Jennifer, why don’t I give you and your friend a ride home. You two shouldn’t be walking alone in this neighborhood at night." said an adult male voice, coming from the driver of the truck, a young man who looked like an older version of the boy sitting next to him.
"Is that John Proudstar?" asked Sean.
"Yes, and that’s James sitting next to him." Kellin said. "Let’s get inside."
Kellin and Sean flew into the back of the pickup truck and looked through the window into the cab.
"Yeah, it’s dangerous. The Tigers like to terrorize girls." James agreed, referring to the dominant gang of the neighborhood.
"He’s right, Terry. Let’s get in." said Jennifer. She and Theresa climbed into the cab and crowded in next to James. Jennifer shut the door and John started the truck moving again.
"Jenny, aren’t you going to introduce us to your lovely friend?" asked John.
"Of course! I’m sorry, where’s my manners? Guys, this is Theresa Cassidy, she’s an exchange student from Ireland who’s staying with us. Terry, this is John Proudstar, and his little brother James. They live on the Apache reservation a few miles outside town. John works for my dad’s business." said Jennifer.
"What kind of work does Johnny do?" asked Sean.
"He installs soundproofing and does drywall." said Kellin.
"You know, Johnny seems like a really happy young man. But why does he keep looking at Terry like that?" asked Sean.
"He’s just as insecure as the Johnny you always knew, Sean. He’s just not trying to do anything where anybody else is better. And he likes Terry. How can you blame him? She’s a lovely young lady."
"You know, in my universe, it was James Proudstar who fell in love with my daughter, not John." Sean said.
"Yes, I know. But right now, James hasn’t yet reached the age where he’s interested in girls. Don’t worry, Johnny isn’t going to break Terry’s heart." said Kellin.
"I know James would never break my Terry’s heart, but I’m not so sure about Johnny. He was a little too insecure for his own good back when I knew him." Sean said.
"Don’t worry, Sean, he’s not going to hurt her. I’ve already seen what’s going to happen." said Kellin.
"Pleased to meet you, Theresa." said John.
"Likewise." Theresa said shyly.
"Did that boarding school put her in an exchange program?" Sean asked.
"No. She got kicked out of the boarding school a few months after that sordid conversation we heard. The nuns caught her and her roommates about to be up to no good with some boys." Kellin said.
"Oh, dear, you’d think they’d learn." Sean moaned.
"But of course they didn’t. So she was expelled and came back home. Then you and Tom found out about this exchange program, and you told Theresa about it, and she really wanted to go, and live with a ‘normal’ family for a few months, so here she is."
"Our family’s already met Jenny. Perhaps we could bring you home, Terry?" John suggested.
"Johnny, we met Jennifer when we visited you at work and she was there. I don’t think Grampa would be happy about you bringing a white girl home." said James.
"Yeah, Johnny! Back off, you’re old enough to be her babysitter." said Jennifer.
"You’re right. I’m sorry. I’ll leave your friend alone." said John.
"It’s okay, I don’t mind." said Theresa with a little laugh.
"Johnny, what is it Dad always tells you? Don’t waste your energy chasing skirts?" James said.
"Dad never tells me that! Because I don’t chase skirts." John said defensively.
"It’s okay, guys, really. I think it’s kind of sweet." Theresa said.
"Now there’s a different person from the angry young tomboy back in Cassidy Keep and the drunk boarding school student." Sean observed.
"She still finds the opportunity to drink, Sean, that much hasn’t changed. It’ll be a very long time before she manages to shake that habit. But living with a sister and two brothers and a mother and father has her acting more like the sweet little girl asking for help with her homework." said Kellin.
"Kellin, about how old are you?" asked Sean.
"I’m three-thousand, six-hundred, forty-eight years old, Sean. Not easy to back up in this body, I know."
The truck pulled up to an attractive single family home and stopped.
"Now don’t go wandering around at night like that anymore, you two. If you ever need a ride after dark, you can call me. I wouldn’t want anything to happen to you." John said.
"He’s always home at night, he never has a date." James said bluntly.
"You be quiet. Do you have a key, Jennifer?" John asked.
"Of course I have a key, Johnny. Geez, you sound like my big brother or something." said Jennifer, stepping out of the truck.
Theresa stayed and lingered a moment, stopping to look at John before she got out. He returned the gaze intently, and for a moment, they both forgot what they were supposed to be doing. Finally, James reminded them.
"We’d love to take you home, Terry, but we don’t have a spare bed." said James.
"I’m sorry, I should go. I’ll see you two around." said Theresa, joining her hostess.
"This is just a little too jarring. In my universe, it was always James who couldn’t take his eyes off Theresa, and some other young man who told them ‘Okay, break it up, you two!’ and Terry didn’t even notice the attraction. And the Johnny I always knew would sooner prove his strength to a pretty girl than flirt with her. This is really weird." said Sean.
"Well, John isn’t with the X-Men, and James is only thirteen." said Kellin.
"Where to next? Are we going to meet the rest of the Proudstar family?" Sean asked.
"A very nice family, but no. A brief history of the near future, then another step in your daughter’s life. Theresa and Johnny got to know each other better. It was pretty easy, since she and Jennifer would stop and greet Jennifer’s father wherever he happened to be working, and Johnny would always be there. Theresa went home in the Spring as scheduled, but she stayed in touch with John. When she was eighteen, she traveled back to Arizona and they got married. They’re devoted to each other, but Theresa still drinks too much, Johnny still works at a rather low-paying job, so their lives are not without hardship." said Kellin. He did the fairy dust trick again, and this time they found themselves in the main room of a stuffy, poorly lit apartment. John was standing next to a closed door, presumably to the bathroom. Theresa was out of sight.
"Terry, are you okay? What’s going on in there?" John said to the door.
"Johnny, call the ambulance again." came Theresa’s frightened, pained voice from the other side.
"Terry, what’s going on?" John asked again.
"It’s happening again! We’re losing another baby!" Theresa cried.
John rushed to the kitchen to call 911 while Theresa sat in the bathroom and moaned in agony.
"They’re ‘losing another baby’? Kellin, what is she talking about?" asked Sean.
"This is Theresa’s seventh miscarriage in five years. She never knows she’s pregnant until she loses the child she’s carrying. And yes, it has a lot to do with her drinking problem." said Kellin, predicting Sean’s next question.
"Poor Terry. Not that any child would want to be raised in a slum like this." Sean said, taking in the impoverished surroundings.
"Terry, the ambulance just pulled up outside. Let’s go." said John. He opened up the door, and a moment later emerged carrying Theresa, with a blood-stained towel wrapped around her waist.
"I hope they don’t go on like this forever." Sean said.
"They won’t. Things will definitely get much better for them. Let me show you." said Kellin. He led Sean into the apartment’s tiny kitchen, where he performed a new teleportation trick. This time, Kellin took a bottle of chocolate syrup, drew a circle of it on the floor around himself and Sean, and they found themselves back in the kitchen at Cassidy Keep.
"When is this?" asked Sean.
"This is right now. A few months after that last scene we just watched." said Kellin.
John was pouring beer, wine, and every type of liquor known to man down the drain. Theresa was sitting on the counter next to him and watching uneasily.
"Johnny, is that really necessary? Couldn’t we give all that liquor to some pharmaceutical company to use in cough syrup?" Theresa suggested.
"No way, Terry. This stuff’s been poisoning you and killing our children for years. It has to go. This is the beginning of a new life for you." said John.
"We don’t know for sure what was causing all those miscarriages." Theresa reminded him.
"Well, it wasn’t Rh incompatibility. We got tested for that. There’s nothing abnormal about anything in your body, except maybe your liver. It can’t be malnutrition, I’ve seen you eat. Have you been hitting yourself in the stomach with a baseball bat?" John said.
"No, honey, I haven’t been beating myself up." Theresa said glumly. "How’s your job?"
"It stinks. The owner never shows up, the manager has a huge stick up his butt, and it rains every day. I miss Arizona." John said.
"Well, we’ll have to go back to the roach motel in Tiger territory if you wanna work in Arizona." said Theresa.
"I’m sure I’ll get used to it eventually. It’s just not very fun right now. Have you found out anything about your uncle?" asked John.
"I went to visit him today, and he thought I was my mother. The man’s lost." she said.
"I know I’ve been asking a lot of questions, but what happened to Tom? Where am I?" Sean asked.
"Tom is in a mental hospital with paranoid schizophrenia. He thought you were going to skewer him on a metal pike, and killed you in self-defense." Kellin said nonchalantly. "Would you like to see your death in person?"
"No! No... I’ve seen enough mayhem and tragedy for one trip. God, the more things change, the more they stay the same."
"Sean, Tom didn’t kill you in a jealous rage. He’s crazy! It has nothing to do with you, or Maeve, or Theresa. He was never a criminal, hasn’t suffered any unspeakable horror in this universe. His mind just... went wrong, somewhere along the way. It happens. There was nothing anyone could have done to have prevented it." said Kellin.
"This isn’t such a perfect world after all." Sean said.
"Is there anywhere else you keep liquor?" John asked.
"No, Johnny, you’ve drained it all. What’s your problem, are you gung-ho about having kids?" said Theresa.
"Of course not, but anything that makes you miscarry can’t be good for you." said John.
"Did you ever think it would be a perfect world?" asked Kellin.
Sean said nothing, he just studied the tiny lines that were barely visible on Theresa’s face, and realized the futility of his speculation.
"You’ve seen enough. I’ll take you home now." said Kellin. This time, his antennae shook, and the room gradually became quieter and darker, until Sean was surrounded by silence and complete darkness. Then, the silence was replaced by a familiar voice, and a shaking feeling came into play.
"Hey, Sean, if you were feeling sick, why didn’t you just go to bed instead of falling asleep at your kitchen table with a cheesy old book from Paige?" asked Jubilee, shaking him awake.
"My god, Jubilee, I just had the strangest dream. At first, I knew it was a dream, because it was just too weird, but then I forgot and started to think it was all real." he said groggily.
"Okay, now I’m glad you didn’t come to dinner with us last night. You might wanna go to the communications center, as your daughter Terry is on the line and wants to know if she can come visit with her X-Force friends."
"Yes. I’ll be right there."
End
"All that we see is but a dream within a dream."