Chapter Text
Stan looked at the photo of him and his brother, taped to the sunscreen of his car. They were young, fit, enjoying the boxing ring. Good times.
It will be alright, he told himself. Your brother invited you himself. He wants to see you. He wouldn’t do that if he was still angry, right? After all these years. It was just a small mistake, anyway, a minor setback. His brother had made something of himself. Building this house… It must have cost a fortune.
Stan’s stomach growled. Without thought, he rubbed it. It had been aching for days now. Hopefully, he wasn’t getting sick. At least he would be able to sleep in a normal bed, instead of in his car.
His eye fell on a slither of white on the seat next to him. Was it-?
It was.
With a relieved sigh, Stan picked up the squashed cigarette from the passenger’s seat. He rolled it a couple of times and patted the tobacco back into shape. With the engines off, his car was getting colder and colder by the minute. Better be fast smoking this.
He wanted to savour every last drag of his cigarette. It had been days since his last one. He wanted to stall going inside just a bit more, too. What if Ford didn’t want to see him? No, Stan told himself. Poindexter wouldn’t be so cruel as to call him here, just to take him down.
He finished his cigarette, took a deep breath and stepped out of his car. The blizzard blew straight through his battered red jacket. Stan slung his duffel bag around his shoulder and slowly made his way through the snow.
Walking towards the front door, he passed something that looked like a war zone. He could see barbed wire everywhere. On the front door hung a sign that said “NO TRESPASSING!”
He didn’t remember Ford being so… aggressive. Sure, as a kid he had liked odd decorations. Their room had been filled with monster figurines and other nerd stuff. This, however, felt very different. As if it wasn’t just for show.
Stan shook his head and stepped onto the porch. ‘You haven’t seen your brother in over ten years. It’s okay,’ he told himself, ‘he’s family. He won’t bite.’
He knocked on the front door.
‘Who is it?!’ Ford opened the door. He had this bewildered look in his eyes. The circles under his eyes were almost as dark as his tie and his clothes were crumpled and messy, as if he’d slept in them multiple times. ‘Have you come to steal my eyes?!’ He pointed his crossbow at Stan.
‘Well, I can always count on you for a warm welcome,’ Stan replied. Why did his brother own a crossbow? And why on earth did he point it at him?
‘Stanley, did anyone follow you? Anyone at all?’
‘Eh, hello to you too, pal.’
Without warning, Ford grabbed him by his coat, pulled him inside and shone a flashlight into his eyes.
‘Ah!’ Stan exclaimed in surprise. ‘Hey, what is this?’
Ford let go of his coat and stepped backwards. ‘Sorry,’ he said, ‘I just had to make sure you weren’t-’ He looked around the room, almost as if he was expecting someone else. ‘Eh, it’s nothing. Come in, come in.’
He led the way towards his living room -if you could call it that. There was paper everywhere. Something that looked like a dinosaur skull in a fish tank. Stan could hear the crackle of electricity and smell the damp carpet. He was surprised by the state the house was in. His brother’s part of their room used to be so clean and tidy.
‘Look, are you going to explain what’s going on here? You’re acting like mom after her tenth cup of coffee,’ he said.
Ford stood in front of his desk, his back turned. Papers were piling up on the table and the surrounding floor was littered with notebooks and chewed-up pens.
‘Listen, there isn’t much time,’ Ford said as he turned around, holding some sort of red book. He looked haunted, his face pale. ‘I have made huge mistakes and I don’t know who I can trust anymore.’ He walked back towards Stan, turning away the head of a skeleton on his way.
Ford admitted he made a mistake? This was Bad.
‘Hey, easy there,’ Stan lay his hand on Ford’s shoulder. ‘Let’s talk this through, okay?’
‘I’m-’ Ford sighed. ‘You can’t. You can’t know about them.’
There it was. Classic Ford again. Never letting anyone know what he might have done wrong.
‘You don’t understand, it’s too dangerous.’
Stan looked at him. Suddenly, he felt anger wash over him. He had paid for gas with his last pennies, and when he arrived, Ford said he couldn’t help him?
Ford pushed his red book into Stan’s hands. ‘You are the only person I trust to take it,’ he said. ‘I have something to ask of you. Remember our plans to sail around on a boat?’
Would he really-?
‘Take this book, get on a boat and sail as far away as you can. To the edge of the earth. Bury it where no-one can find it.’
Oh no, he wouldn’t.
‘That’s it ?!’ Stan said. ‘You finally want to see me after ten years, and it’s to tell me to get as far away from you as possible?!’
‘Stanley, you don’t understand what I’m up against! What I’ve been through!’
‘No, no. You don’t understand what I ’ve been through.’ Oh, how he wanted to share what he had experienced. How he went to prison in three different countries. Or that he once had to chew his way out of a car. But he didn’t. ‘You think you’ve got problems? I’ve got a mullet , Stanford! And where have you been? Living it up in your fancy house in the woods! Selfishly hoarding your college money because you only care about yourself!’
‘I’m selfish? I’m selfish?! How can you say that after costing me my dream school ? I’m giving you a chance to do the first worthwhile thing in your life and you won’t even listen!’
That was a low blow, even from Ford.
‘Well, listen to this! You want me to get rid of this book?’ Stan took the lighter from his pocket and held it underneath the book. ‘I’ll get rid of it right now!’
Ford dove towards the book. ‘No, you don’t understand!’
Stan stepped sideways, dodging his brother. ‘You said you wanted me to have it, so I’ll do what I want with it!’
‘My research!’
To his surprise, Ford hit him with a right hook. Stan stumbled backwards, struggling to regain his balance. As Ford came for him again, he kicked him away.
‘What’s this big deal, anyway?!’
‘You’ve ruined my life,’ Ford said, trying to hit him, but Stan kept dodging the attacks. ‘And you’re attempting to ruin my life’s work!’
WHAM!
Stan heard his nose break at the impact of Ford’s fist. Oh great, he thought, not again . Ford stopped for a moment, looking horrified. Then, he advanced again. Stan spat out the blood that was streaming into his mouth, dodged another attack and punched his brother’s gut.
Ford doubled over, groaning.
‘Look…’ Stan started, panting slightly. Before he could finish his sentence, Ford jumped up.
And punched.
Right on his chin. Stan could see a tooth sailing through the air. He stumbled backwards, trying to grab something that would hold him up. His shoe snagged on a loose wire lying on the ground. He lost his balance and smacked his head against the fish tank.