Justin Davis, page 2
She struck too close to home.
“What are you talking about?” he shouted. “This is who I am now.”
“No. Not really.”
“Mrs. Patent, no offense, but you’re a secretary, not a psychiatrist, okay?”
Justin didn’t wait for an answer. He stomped out, emptied his hall locker, and slammed it so hard that teachers ran out of their classrooms. He then stormed down the hall, kicking walls and cursing the world, as frightened students flew out of his path.
He marched up the mountain highway toward his humiliating home in Davis town. If only a car would hit him and end his misery.
CHAPTER 3
He tramped along, kicking stones, hardly seeing the monotonous forest’s trees on both sides. It was six miles to Thomas, two and a half more to Davis. A billboard boasted of coming county events—the Spring Bird Walk; the Woodcock Round-up. He shook his head and rolled his eyes. They could have filmed Groundhog Day here. No actors, just film the town every day.
He hadn’t always scorned Tucker County. As a child, he reveled in his life as a small-town celebrity in a town founded by and named after his family. A botanical garden, and even a college forty miles down in Elkins bore the family name. The Davis family lived in a great ancestral home, the finest in the county. Justin went with his dad to the golf-and-racquet club in Canaan Valley. Beyond Tucker County, at the university in Morgantown, Tark Davis was an academic celebrity, and Justin basked in family pride.
With all these blessings, Justin might easily have become an insufferably arrogant child. He did not, however, and for that the credit went to his parents. His mother, Star Davis, had grown up as a destitute orphan. Rather than make her a bitter or greedy adult, her past inspired in her a deep empathy for the less fortunate, and she taught this to her son.
Justin’s father, Tark Davis, though wealthy and erudite, believed that his good fortune obliged him to serve others, and he too taught these lessons to his sons. Thus, when Justin decided at an early age to study martial arts, Tark made him promise to use his skill only to protect the innocent, never out of pride. Justin Davis greatly admired his parents, and he embraced their values.
Indeed, from childhood, Justin idolized his father. He walked and talked like Tark Davis. Everywhere they went together, people smiled and said that Justin was a perfect copy of his dad. And they told his father that Justin was a handsome, brilliant child. Father and son enjoyed the same sports, admired the same natural beauty, and laughed at the same jokes.
All of Tucker County called Justin the prince, a title he relished from early childhood. His little brother, Joey, almost from infancy, adored Justin. Crawling, toddling, or walking, Joey followed Justin, as much as Justin followed his father. Thus, from Tark, to Justin, to Joey, the Davis men were a very tight team.
Tark often took his older son on trips, which always had some beneficent purpose. Star Davis had not been a healthy child, and did not like to travel much. She was happy to stay at home on the family estate to engage her passion of writing, and look after Joey. When Star’s career prospered, Tark built her a media room on their estate where she did frequent online interviews. Justin liked to sit and listen. He was fascinated by his mother’s ability to tell delightful and meaningful stories.
At times, Tark would take his boys up in his plane and fly over the town, the high school, or Canaan Valley. If safety permitted, Tark let Justin steer the plane for a few minutes. If they had time, they sailed off through the blue to Morgantown. There they walked along the wide Monongahela River, walked on the lovely campus, visited Tark’s office, and always made their final stop at Justin’s favorite ice cream parlor. On their approach back to Davis, Tark would fly over Blackwater Falls, before landing on the private runway at his large country estate. The family had their routine. The men flew and Star wrote articles and books.
Weather permitting, the family held picnics on a favorite shaded meadow on the Davis land. Star would read from her latest writing, and the family listened eagerly. His mother was Justin’s favorite writer. “And it’s not because you’re my mother,” he always said.
Justin passed his childhood perfectly content with his life. He excelled at school, dominated regional martial arts as well as the youth social scene, and admired his parents above everyone he knew, or saw or read or heard about.
Around the age of thirteen, Justin made his first independent intellectual foray. He developed an increasing interest in movies and books about superheroes and higher worlds. Such interest, by itself, was normal. Much of humanity enjoyed such stories, and so did Justin from early childhood. But he now insisted, in talks with his parents, that he was developing a special theory to explain why so many people relished such stories.
Knowing that Justin consistently achieved genius scores on standard intelligence tests, and seeing his firm interest in this topic, his parents tried to understand exactly what he meant. Out of love and real respect for their son, his parents listened as he tried to articulate his new theory.
With parental help, Justin’s theory took shape as follows. People all over the world were powerfully drawn to stories of superheroes and higher worlds. Justin believed that the standard psychological explanations for these phenomena were not the whole truth. In his view, people were fascinated by higher powers and worlds because they actually existed within the universe. People intuitively, though unconsciously, understand this. Therefore, it was easy and natural for so many people to suspend their disbelief when watching such movies, or reading such books.
Obviously, Justin acknowledged, Hollywood’s versions of superheroes and higher worlds were fiction, but only in the details, only on the surface. The basic premise was true. Superheroes and higher worlds really existed, and Justin wanted to find them.
Star Davis, an avid reader of Plato in her youth, contributed an idea to Justin’s theory. In his Meno, Plato presents the notion of anamnesis, the idea that we know certain things because we remember them from a past life. “I don’t know if reincarnation takes place,” Star said, “but at least Justin is in good company here. I mean, with Plato.”
“I think we understand my theory now,” Justin said.
“Fascinating,” Tark added.
“I want to explore this further,” Justin said, “but I don’t know how. Maybe I should meditate.”
“You could try that,” Star said. “And you might also read more books on the subject. It would seem that if you’re right, other souls over the centuries must have come to similar conclusions. Some of them probably wrote about it. We can look online together.” Star Davis smiled. “I used to dream of being a librarian.”
Justin effortlessly transmitted his interest in these topics to Joey, who demanded that Justin inform him of any new discovery in this area. Justin was happy to see that his entire family encouraged him in his new interest.
Soon after this, two new developments stressed the tight unity of the Davis family. The first was that Tark Davis grew in fame and popularity. His innovative programs to improve education in West Virginia gained national attention. Soon, Tark was crisscrossing the country, though not in his small plane. Around the nation, he became a most sought-after speaker at all sorts of academic and government seminars, conventions, think tanks, and more. The national press soon discovered him. A brilliant scholar and educator who served the poor, looked like a movie star, and spoke with heaps of country charm, could not fail to become a star commentator on endless national news shows. Both major political parties talked to him about running for office on their ticket.
Everyone seemed highly pleased with Tark Davis, except his own family, who complained about his frequent absence. During his short visits home, Tark asked Justin about his research in metaphysics.
Justin angrily said, “You don’t have time to hear about it. You’re always gone. You want to help everyone, but you have no time for your family.”
Startled by these words, his father promised Justin that he would spend more time at home. “I have unavoidable commitments for the next few months,” Tark said, “but after that, I promise things will be different. It will be like it was before. I promise you.”
It had been a little over a year before Justin’s suspension from Tucker County High School that Tark Davis had made this sincere promise to his son. Soon after that, a second new development stressed Davis family solidarity. Romance struck Justin in the form of his first girlfriend, lovely Sherri Bunton. His mother warned him that the Bunton family was very ambitious, and that Sherri possessed a generous portion of that proclivity. Tark also expressed concern. But all such parental caution was in vain. Sherri was, by wide consensus, a top-tier beauty at Tucker County High School, and her family was growing prosperous by county standards, though not on the scale of the Davis family.
Family gatherings now took on a new configuration. Tark was usually absent, and Sherri was always present. Already feeling the absence of his father, Joey now complained to Justin. “You act so weird around Sherri. Why can’t you be normal?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Justin replied.
“I mean you don’t talk to me; you only talk to her.”
Justin said he would be more careful.
The time that Tark had requested of his family, time to honor previous commitments, now passed. But just when his family expected him to return home to what had been their happy life, he revealed to his wife and elder son another, more serious problem.
The Davis family had previously suffered financial reverses in the Great Recession. Justin was too young at the time to hear about it, and Joey was not yet born. Since that time, Tark and Star had been rebuilding the family fortune, slowly but surely. But very recently, indeed in the last month, an apparently coordinated series of financial attacks on the family’s investments and holdings again put them in financial difficulties.
“This is serious,” Tark explained to his worried wife and son. “I swear to you, I had every intention to stay at home and only fly into Morgantown a few times a week for classes. But I have no choice now but to keep traveling. Of course, some of the programs I can do online, but many of them, especially those that pay well, I can’t. At this point, I have to accept every paid appearance I can get. You can’t imagine how disappointed I am. You cannot have wanted me to stay home more than I wanted it. I have no desire to be a famous talking head on television, or to appear at endless banquets and conventions. But these engagements pay well, and for my family’s sake, for your sake, I have to push myself hard. I should have spent more time with you. You mean more to me than anything. I hate what’s happening. But I owe it to you.”
“Tark,” his wife said, “we don’t need to be rich. It doesn’t matter to me. Really.”
“That’s right, Dad,” Justin added. “It will be embarrassing here in Davis, but we can move to Morgantown, where we don’t have an image to keep up. I like Morgantown.”
“I appreciate both of you so much,” Tark said. “I just need a little time to get us back in a safe position, and then whatever it takes, I will stay with you, I promise. Morgantown may be a good idea. I’ve been gone too much. Justin, you and Joey are growing so quickly, and I want to be there for you. I don’t want to just feed and clothe you and tell you how much I love you, and then fly off again. Perhaps Wordsworth was right when he said, ‘The Child is father of the Man.’ Maybe I have to learn from you. We’ll really talk about these things. I haven’t been here for you. But I’ll make it up to you. I give you my word.”
These words both disappointed and pleased Justin. He didn’t like the delay, but his father would keep his promise. Justin now looked forward to an intimate metaphysical discussion with both parents, since Star also gladly participated. Indeed, her interest in these topics preceded that of her husband or son. She had often escaped to other worlds, through books, in her unhappy childhood.
Justin increasingly saw what he wanted in life—basically, to become a great man in the world, for the best of reasons. He would serve humanity in some way or other (to be determined), and exalt his family even beyond their present status.
In his childhood games, Justin had fought bravely to protect the innocent, rescue fair maidens, and bring justice to Earth. In early adolescence, his dreams began to take more serious shape. He would go to one of the best colleges, and one day become, at the very least, a US senator, if not something higher. Like his father, he would fight for justice, for the innocent and the needy.
All these noble dreams ended in his fourteenth year, on a cold, dark, moonless night.
On that cold, moonless night, Justin went with his mother and Joey to see a movie down in Elkins. Tark Davis stayed home to work on a legal case. At the movie, Joey didn’t feel well, and so the family returned early. Star and Joey went upstairs, and Justin stayed in the great room with his father. His father smiled at him and returned to his legal papers. Justin took a book off the shelf and read. Occasionally, he looked out through the large picture window that faced the street. Soon after, Justin heard a burly engine that broke the still air. He looked out and saw a large SUV parking across the street, opposite the Davis estate. Justin had seen that car several times during the last week, always at night, always parked opposite the Davis mansion. He assumed the large vehicle belonged to a friend of the Wyndhams, who lived across the street.
After several minutes, Justin heard heavy footfalls coming up the steps, making the old wooden porch groan. Who could it be at this hour? Justin stood and looked out the window, but the visitor was already at the door.
A large masked man pushed his way past the unlocked door and without a word, shot Justin’s father at point-blank range. The killer then turned his gun on Justin. But the boy, a martial arts champion gifted with lightning speed, had instinctively grabbed an iron poker from the fireplace. With a furious cry he smashed the killer’s gloved gun hand. The killer screamed, grabbed his gun with the other hand, and ran. As Star came screaming down the stairs and rushed to her husband, Justin pursued the killer, racing down the steps and dealing two ferocious blows to his upper back. The killer shrieked like an animal, fell into the waiting car with its masked driver and running motor, and the black SUV fled into the night.
Justin ran back to the house where his mother wailed, “He’s gone! Your father is gone!” Joey cried uncontrollably. Justin could not breathe or see anything in front of him. Neighbors began pouring into the Davis house. Soon, state police arrived from Parsons. Star Davis held her husband in her arms as if he were still alive.
As the ambulance took his father, as police investigated, as paramedics cared for his mother and brother, and as the whole town gathered outside his house, Justin sat alone, unmoving on a chair, watching the big front door swing blindly in the frigid wind. Over and over, his shocked mind vowed deadly vengeance against the killers.
The murder stunned Tucker County and most of the state. It shattered Justin’s mother. Joey was traumatized and couldn’t speak.
All of Tucker County seemed present at the funeral. A large contingent came from West Virginia University, including the president. The governor came with a contingent from the state capital in Charleston. Officials came from Washington, and around the country. Visitors filled the area hotels.
Most prominent of the mourners was Senator Hunter Clay of Virginia, a leading national politician who seemed headed for a run at the presidency. About Tark’s age, tall and imposing, the senator came with his lovely wife, Barbara. At an appropriate moment, they offered consoling words to Star Davis, who hid her grief behind a black veil. Senator Clay explained that he met Tark in Washington and was very impressed by him. He came to offer comfort to the family and to honor the memory of the departed. The pastor asked the senator to speak, but he declined, saying that he wanted to hear from family and close friends.
National, regional, and local news teams were there, remaining at a respectful distance. County and state police were out in force. Star Davis was too grief-stricken to mind Joey, and that task fell to Justin. He held Joey’s hand, but released it to shake hands with Senator and Barbara Clay when they approached him.
“If I can help in any way,” the senator said, “don’t hesitate to call me. Here’s my personal card.”
Justin took the card, thanked the senator, made a polite bow to his wife, and watched as the senator walked with his wife toward their reserved seats. Joey watched them go with a mixture of grief, confusion, and awe.
The funeral went on and on. Many people wanted to speak. Justin knew his father was widely admired, and he had always liked to hear his father praised. But he could not pay close attention now. His own feelings and thoughts overwhelmed him. He was asked if he wanted to speak. He did not. The funeral ended. Close friends accompanied the grieving family back to their home in Davis, where food was spread on tables. Justin tried to be polite. He thanked those who offered condolences, but he could say nothing beyond that.
After the funeral, Justin sank into dark despair. He stopped cutting his hair. He dressed in black. He went deep into the woods where no one could see his anguish. And anguish flared into rage. Revenge possessed his mind. Hour after hour, relentlessly, he practiced deadly arts with daggers and guns. He steeled and strengthened body and mind into a calm killing machine.
His mother urged Justin to be noble and work for the good of others like his father, to make something of himself. “You can’t give in to anger and hopelessness,” she said. “You could do so much for this world.”
“I don’t care about the world.”
The town and county rose up in support of the Davis family, but the family’s troubles were only beginning. Within weeks of his father’s funeral, a new crisis struck the grieving Davises. Star confided to her elder son that the family finances were in grave danger. “I feel terrible to burden you with this news,” she told him, “but I fear you would not forgive me if I did not tell you. You must remember that your father spoke of an apparently coordinated series of attacks on our family investments.”
