Chapter V Royal Flush

Chapter 5 Royal Flush

Trent

Though Trent's ego was the part him that felt more bruised than his face, he felt the rest of the day pass by in a blur. Of course, he had after school detention to serve. It hadn't dawned on him until he caught sight of Mr. Bateman's muted expression when he waited out front. Since he was the acting father, he was the one who got the call.

Nothing could be worse than Mr. Bateman's silence. Trent kept his head low and made no attempt to say anything. Mr. Bateman led the way to a white SUV and Trent got in the passenger seat trying not to feel like the worst person in the world. His after school detention was set for tomorrow. That was nothing compared the disappointment he felt coming from Mr. Bateman.

They pulled up into a driveway that might as well have been a two way street. It weaved through an endless yard decorated with different kinds of bushes, shrubbery and trees. Except that most of it had been abandoned for over a decade. That didn't mean Trent's (no wait, it was Caleb here) father hadn't hired an efficient landscaping company. Caleb was glad to at least have that to look at rather than Mr. Bateman.

The silence was near deafening.

After driving a quarter of a mile, a three story tall white mansion lay before them. They had to pass through a gate to admit them. A stern looking woman with salt and pepper hair stood by the gate offered a respectable nod their way. Caleb, ahem, Prince Caleb, nodded in acknowledgment right back.

A whole team of housekeepers, cooks and a various set of other people Caleb didn't know were standing on the steps. He was glad the announcers (Caleb and his little brother secretly called them blow horns) didn't follow him here.

Caleb found himself shaking his head, half in exasperation, the other in dread. "This is exactly what I'd been trying to avoid."

"He's your father and like it or not, this is your life." Mr. Bateman said in his stern tone.

Caleb was in deeper than he thought. He kept his comment to himself to avoid getting in any deeper trouble. Caleb had to wait until Mr. Bateman to get out of the car, then to open the door for him. Even though he plainly could have opened it himself. Caleb, as Trent, had to open doors for himself in school the whole day. And survived.

What he didn't fully understand, is when he held doors open for others, he was mostly met with cold silence.

"Welcome home Prince," a cheery, yet tall woman greeted him at his door. She wore a pair of three inch heels, black pencil skirt, a silver wrist watch on her left wrist, black hair brushed over to her left side, blue top and a ten inch device in her right arm. Caleb couldn't see what was on the screen. He never could.

"You don't have to bow here," Caleb said with a small hand wave gesture. His slight British accent could be heard here. If anything, Caleb appreciated the fact that he could shed from his disguise here. He could be himself and not carry on a foreign accent.

"I'm sorry! Should I...?"

Now Caleb felt bad for her. She looked like she had no idea how to fix her mistake. The fear in her blue eyes showed that she didn't want to get fired. What did Caleb's father tell her?

Caleb had to take her gently by shoulders and looked her dead in the eye to show how serious he was. He had to ignore the deer caught in the headlights expression which turned into something swoon worthy. "Look, just be yourself around me. You can do that and still do your job just fine." Then to the rest of the staff gathered on the stone steps he added, "That goes for everyone here."

A few nods of appreciation were scattered but word would spread to the rest.

The new assistant only smiled back. She could have been much older than him and Caleb saw it, the look in her eyes. Someone else's fantasy. Caleb re-lived one every time he looked into the eyes of someone who knew who he was. Caleb was tired of it.

At least he learned something from this, he couldn't run from himself.

"The princess called," the woman said while trying to keep up. Caleb didn't bother asking for a name since that had caused others to faint. He hardly had to lift a brow and he had women down at his feet. These stone steps looked too dangerous for any fainting.

"Ok." Caleb answered politely without laying it on too thick.

"She wants to know how you're doing and if you could please call her back."

Caleb probably wouldn't, not that he didn't love his sister. He felt he needed to separate himself from his life, just for a short while.

"Also, your mother called." Caleb took a tiny note how the title 'Queen' didn't carry into the sentence. Caleb figured his mother had a way of carrying herself. Sometimes offensively so. Considering she wasn't particularly born into royalty, Caleb slightly understood why.

"I'll be sure to call her back after I finish some homework." They were entering the front doors and Caleb felt weird just saying the word 'Homework'. Not because he'd never had any homework. The work he was assigned was easy. Most of everything being taught in Glendale High was easy, he'd already gone over every Shakespeare play imaginable. He had to write an essay on A Midnight Summer's Dream.

The woman only laughed lightly at this, as if he said something witty. Caleb didn't comment.

"Oh I never got that play. Can't say I ever understood or cared for it." They were standing in a room with a grand staircase which split and led in two different directions. To the left in a room with sliding doors, a grand piano (courtesy of the queen) was being covered by a large white cloth as he walked by.

"Really?" Caleb turned to face the opposite of the piano room where a pool table had yet to be covered by a white cloth. That had to be Mr. Bateman's doing. Caleb felt another pang of guilt just thinking of the man's disappointment.

"Yeah," She said not sensing at all that she could be treading dangerous waters with him. "I don't think Shakespeare is something that can be shoved down anyone's throat, especially a teenager."

Caleb sensed this conversation was heading only one way. Down. So he turned to face her. "Have you tried reading it out loud?"

Now that he was offering her his full attention, she appeared to step down.

"No. Why?"

"Because you said you didn't understand it." He replied. "If you try reading it out loud, it'll make a lot more sense. That's just part of the magic of Shakespeare's writing. It's timeless. Forward driven if you take a closer look."

He didn't like making anyone look like a fool, but she managed to stomp on his toes in a short span of time. Not that Caleb meant any real harm. She might not have realized what she was doing. Caleb just had to remind her.

"I'm sorry." She clutched her phone close to her chest, concealing the screen from his view.

Caleb hoped she wasn't about to burst into tears now. "Don't be." He tried again. "Just try it."

He was halfway up the steps when he heard her call out, "I will!" But he didn't respond, he was already on the second floor.

This place was probably as close to a crappy apartment as he was going to get. The house was left in shambles, abandoned for nearly eleven years. There were people working extra hard in every room making repairs. Hammers pounded all over the place while the scent of fresh paint floated in the air.

The workers walked by, heads down to focus on their work. Caleb didn't bother with any greetings. He didn't want to hold anyone back from their work. Everyone was super focused on their jobs.

Caleb didn't bother going to his room. He figured there would be workers in there and didn't want to disturb them either. They were probably filling his room with things he was sure his father had sent over. They would be things he wouldn't need. He already learned, by entering a room, the workers would suddenly clear out.

He took a different turn to head up a smaller, single staircase that led up to the attic. No one would be up there. Caleb had already discovered a dusty pack of playing cards. He set up a small table after blowing a layer of dust away. He sat by a small window that overlooked the front yard. There was a balcony leading out to the side of the house over to a garage which sheltered the cars.

Caleb was also aware of a guesthouse out back. Caleb originally intended to move in there, but the whole family (including Mr. Bateman) jumped all over him like he said something outrageous. So he never set foot in the place. It was the attic for now.

With little difficulty, Caleb found his little spot by the window, untouched. The same wooden chair unmoved, sat by the table. The deck of placing cards remained right where he left them. Nothing in the attic was touched since his discovery three days ago.

Caleb wasn't exactly used to the mansion. It was smaller compared to the usual kingdom he'd spent hours roaming around in. He half expected to find his mother out in the garden with the gardeners. His mother had an almost obsession with Osiria roses. They were roses naturally red and white. His mother had almost fifty bush's of them in the garden.

Sometimes Caleb missed taunting Augustus whenever he walked in a room. Augustus and Caleb were never close as far as Caleb could remember. He always felt like he was being treated coldly, and Caleb never understood why. That was probably why Caleb taunted him. To get a rise out of him and maybe they could sort this unspoken (grudge?) thing out?

But Augustus only ignored him.

The last time Caleb tried taunting him with an old American joke, an hour after the dinner showdown with their dad.

"Your shoe is untied."

Caleb was in the library when Augustus walked in, book in hand, granny green apple in other.

Nothing. Caleb got nothing. Just cold silence.

They hadn't spoken since and that was almost a week ago.

Caleb was mildly surprised to have Mr. Bateman join him in the attic. Mr. Bateman barely spared a glance at the surroundings and pulled up a plastic chair. It groaned when he took his seat and gave Caleb an expected look.

Caleb dealt out the cards, Mr. Bateman laid out the cash. This time it was in American dollars. They started a game of poker. Caleb won. His Royal Flush beat Mr. Bateman's Full House.

Though Caleb might not always care that he came from royalty, but it was as if, by some sign, that the universe was trying to tell him something. Caleb always bluffed in a game of Poker until he got his Royal Flush at hand. It was the hardest hand to get, but for Caleb, it was always the easiest. Poker also gave him time to think.

"You should go after him," Samantha said back at the dinner table. Their father had already stormed out with his wife nearly at his heels.

Samantha had a beauty about her that was hard to describe. No amount of jewelry could enhance it. Her skin was milky white and like their mothers, her voice had a way of carrying a point without having to shout. Caleb shared the same icy look they had when things got serious.

Augustus remained silent through the entire ordeal. Caleb could have sworn he saw an I-told-you-so expression but Augustus had the best poker face. Augustus picked his soup like nothing ever happened. Caleb wasn't sure why, but it peeved him even more.

Caleb excused himself and wandered the halls that branched off into different directions endlessly. There were few places to find the king. He started at his father's private study but it was empty. Caleb was starting to feel bad but then he wondered why he should in the first place. It wasn't like he asked for anything ridiculously outrageous, like ask for a dragon as a pet.

All Caleb really wanted was to make a road for himself. To grow up. See life from a different perspective.

He needed to look someplace where the King was least likely to be. Because that was something Caleb would do.

When he found his father, his mother was with him. Her eyes had brimmed over with tears and Caleb felt that he might have done something more than cross a line. Since it was dark out and they were on the downstairs balcony that led out to the hedges, Caleb couldn't tell for sure if his mother had been crying. She kept her face away and walked out.

That left Caleb and the King in one of the rarest opportunities. They were rarely ever alone together. Samantha once said it was because they were too much alike. Once Caleb started looking a little closer at the father and son arguments, he could see the truth. She was right.

Caleb's father had a rigid figure. His back was to his son. He acted like he didn't know his son was there, but Caleb knew better. His arm was perched on a round pillar to hold himself up. His shoulders and back were straight. It eerily felt like Caleb was looking at his future self.

"Letting you go, might be hardest decision your mother and I may ever have to make." The king said without turning around. He was speaking in Swedish. Caleb felt himself lean into the doorframe and picked the half full moon to look at instead. "You know your mother still hasn't forgiven herself for accidentally leaving you alone."

Caleb wished then that he had the proper words to say back, but what was there to say?

"I'll even bet on it, that you're thinking about what to say to that." The king finally turned around. His eyes had more of an earthy toned look, still blue but still the opposite of Caleb's. "It's fine, you don't have to say anything."

It was odd to Caleb, because he'd never heard his father talk like that to him. The king was usually more passive aggressive with his words. Direct. Like a teacher that never went home.

"So you will go where I say you will go." Caleb leaned away from the doorframe in shock. "And there will be no complaints as long as I get to pick the house, the school, Mr. Bateman will go with you and I'm hiring you a bodyguard-"

Caleb leapt across the balcony to hug his father without any restraint. The King hardly seemed to know how to hug back so he awkwardly patted his son on the back. "You're nearly a full grown man now but with your heritage you need to understand that with it comes a far greater responsibility."

"Thanks, dad."

Caleb wasn't sure, but he could almost feel the king was smiling.

"You'll have to change your name you know."

"I know." Actually he didn't know.

"You'll need to keep an extra low profile."

That, Caleb did know.

"You'll be staying in a house I stayed in. Where I met your mother to be exact."

Back in the present, Mr. Bateman eventually started to open up more as the game progressed. They went on for a second round, the wall of tension that separated them began to crumble down. By the time Caleb had another Royal Flush in his hand, Mr. Bateman folded before Caleb could commit to another victory dance inside his head.

They managed to hug things out, and everything went back to normal.

Caleb eventually went back to his room, it was empty, and let himself become Trent again before getting ready to do homework.

Trent let himself fall on his back and onto his bed. The spring protested as his body bounced on it a couple of times. He wasn't entirely sure why, as he turned his head over to his left side, while holding his hand out, but a smile sprang to his face. He let himself relive that sliver of a moment with Jason all over again.