In spite of his anger, Jack did notice how his son was standing up for himself. He wasn’t acting like a child who’d been caught doing wrong – he was keeping his calm, and speaking levelly, in a way the older man had rarely seen. When he saw that determined look in Ulric’s brown eyes, he was strongly reminded of Katelynn.
“… Ulric, what did happen last year?” He remembered those quiet weeks, when the boy had barely spoken to his parents and spent so much time out of the house. Jack had known something was wrong, but, “I tried to talk to you, but you wouldn’t tell me. What was so terrible that you couldn’t share it with your mother and me?” All those old fears rose in his mind now – drugs, crime threats, and worse.
Ulric’s arm is immediately around Mira’s waist, wanting the contact right now and hoping she did as well.
Here goes, then. Mira already knew, at least. So did Gail. “… You remember Jesse, right?”
Jesse… Mira’s teeth gritted at the name, remembering what Ulric had told her about him. Remembering what he’d told her about the reason for traveling back to the past. The hurt that this guy caused her fiancé infuriated her and only caused her to move closer as her head settled against his shoulder for some comfort. Mira and Ulric had both come to Metro City heartbroken. But somehow they found each other.
Mira was sure to keep herself quiet for the moment, knowing Ulric was talking and confessing directly to his father. Right now, she could only stay close and give him as much comfort as he needed.
“Your friend from high school?” Jack nodded. “Yes, I remember him.” He remembered, too, that Ulric had only started getting into punk and goth fashion after he started hanging out with the other boy. It wasn’t the clothes (or piercings) he minded, but changing your appearance for someone wasn’t usually a good sign. Had Jesse gotten him in trouble … ?
Jack Maple 