Craig walks Kai over to the beginnings of a garden.
Craig: Have you ever planted anything before?
This is not what Kai expected Craig to show him. He was expecting something more exciting…like bees.
Kai: No
Craig: Everyone should start a garden at some point in their life. The idea of planting a seed, taking care of it, and watching it grow –
The irony of what he just said in light of his current situation is not lost on Craig. He pauses for a moment to reflect on it.
Kai: So you just put a seed in the dirt, and that’s supposed to be meaningful?
Craig: It’s not just about putting a seed in dirt.
Craig walks over to his scarecrow.
Craig: It’s about giving honor to the Watcher of agriculture and giving the seed everything it needs to carry out its purpose. It’s respecting the earth below us for giving us the gift of sustenance. It’s the humility of it because not everything you plant grows. You can’t knock it until you’ve tried it.
Kai kneels in the dirt and begins to plant the crops there.
Craig sits down on a nearby bench and continues his words.
Craig: Not all soil is capable of providing such a gift. The ground under our feet is devoid of any of the properties needed to grow anything. This lot used to be industrial. Years of chemicals seeping into the dirt has destroyed any chance that seeds planted here will be viable. I hope to revive it one day. But for now, I’ll have to rely on these planter boxes.
Despite his disinterest in the beginning, Kai finds himself fascinated with Craig’s words. He always thought about dirt as something to wash away. Kai never saw it for what it could be. He continues planting.
It’s getting late, and it’s time for Kai and me to get back home. I still have a lot of studying to do. I find Kai and Craig at the back of Craig’s house. Craig is going on and on about gardening, and Kai seems strangely invested in what he’s saying. Craig has always had that effect on people – the ability to make them care about whatever it is he’s passionate about. That’s what made him so good as the leader of the conservation camp.
I walk over, preferring to grab Kai and leave, but there are a few things I need to say to Craig first.
I sit down next to him…allowing the old hues of attraction to briefly surrounded me before disappearing again like ghosts of the past. He’s still attractive and in good shape for his age, but I’m smarter with my feelings now. I won’t allow him to seep in as he did back in Sulani. He looks up at me with familiar eyes…Kai’s eyes.
Craig: Peri! It’s good to see you. You look –
I’m not about to get into all of that, so I cut him off before he can even get started.
Prosperity: We need to talk.
Craig: Sure
Prosperity: We made a mistake, Craig. A serious mistake. We were naïve to think that you stepping away from your son would be okay. He needs you. He needs his father.
Craig: Peri –
Prosperity: No, hear me out.
I speak in quiet tones to avoid Kai overhearing.
Prosperity: What you wanted or what I wanted never mattered. It’s always been about Kai. And we were so caught up in whatever was going on between us that we neglected to think about him. That has to change now. Our decisions have hurt him, and we have to fix it.
Craig: You know who I am and what I stand for, Peri. I never wanted this.
Prosperity: What the hell do you stand for? You talk about conservation and all this bullshit about preserving the planet. How could you care so much about the Earth but not the sims on it?
Prosperity: He’s your son. There are things that he needs that I can’t give him. Only you can. Do you know he went all the way to Sulani to find you? I can only imagine his heartbreak when you weren’t there. You can’t keep doing this to him. You can’t keep running away.
Craig: Who said anything about running away? This is who I am. This is the life that I left my overbearing family to live.
Prosperity: This life is not just yours to live anymore, Craig. You have a son that you have to consider. But just like that day in Sulani, I’m not going to beg you to be a part of Kai’s life. And if you think of him as a mistake, just know – he was never a mistake. You were!
I get up to leave.
Prosperity: Let’s go, Kai.
Kai and I spend the ride back to Britechester wordless, but it’s far from quiet – at least in our minds as our thoughts fill in all the empty spaces. I can see the confusion on his face. He’s finally met his father, but I can only wonder if it has helped or hurt him. I want to blame Craig and put it all on him, but he’s not the only one at fault for the hurt our son feels right now.
I step over to Kai. He’ll probably never get an apology from Craig, but that doesn’t mean that he shouldn’t get one from me.
Prosperity: Kai, I’m so sorry for all of this. I should have done more. I should have made better decisions and I’ll spend the rest of my life trying to make up for that.
Kai: It’s okay, ma. I – I uh, have to finish my homework.
Kai pulls out his book, sits down, and begins to read. Is it really okay, or does he want to avoid talking about it? I guess only time will tell.
(Generation 2 Chapter Summaries)
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