DISSONANCE
by
Duckling
Chapter 24
The Chapters
“Why would he need to take Joe away?” asked Chet. “I mean, why not just move back close to him; he could keep an eye on him better that way.”
“I don’t know,” Phil stated, “But I think it’s because as long as Joe is here, he’s accessible to all the creeps who come looking to hurt him. If Frank feels that his dad has failed to protect Joe, which I’m thinking he does, then it would make sense that the only way to keep Joe safe is to take him away from the Hardys altogether. If Mr. and Mrs. Hardy don’t know where Joe is, then they can’t be compelled to convey that information.”
The other teens sat in stunned silence, absorbing Phil’s theory. It made perfect sense.
“It’s all about Joe,” Callie said sadly. “It’s always about Joe.”
“With Frank,” agreed Tony softly, “I think it always has been about Joe.”
Callie suddenly glanced at the sandy-haired boy beside her. Here, there was no sibling to compete with; here she alone stood at the center of his affection. She gave him a small, tender smile which grew wider as Phil blushed furiously. She squeezed the hand that had been holding her own, then laced her fingers through his.
The others smiled, their eyes politely averted from the ever-reddening Phil. Chet turned to Tony: “So, what should we do? About Frank taking Joe, I mean.”
Tony shrugged his shoulders. “What can we do?” he countered.
“We could fight back,” Phil suggested quietly, his face less red than it had been a moment ago. “It’s not fair of Frank to take Joe away from us.”
“But he isn’t doing it maliciously,” Chet refuted. “He’s only doing it to protect Joe. And guys, not to seem a traitor, but I honestly don’t know how much more Joe can take. He’s been hospitalized more times in his seventeen years than ought to be allowed.”
“And what about Joe?” Tony prodded. “He’s going to want to be with Frank. Should we really force him to choose between us? I think his parents are already doing that to him.”
“Where does Biff fit into all this?” Iola asked suddenly. “I mean, I know he told us he was at the Hardys’ house when Frank and his friend Brian arrived, but why isn’t he here with us?”
Again, it was Phil who responded. “I think, somehow, Frank got him to agree to watch out for Joe, and to tell Frank when something went wrong. And Biff is probably in a very similar position as Joe right now; both are caught between us and Frank.”
“Why do you say that?” Callie asked, genuinely perplexed. “We’re not upset with Biff.”
“No,” agreed Tony, speaking up suddenly. “But I agree with Phil in thinking that Biff is afraid that we might be. Remember how hesitant he’s been around us lately, as if he’s unsure of his welcome. That could easily be the result of his having been put in a position of knowing things he couldn’t share with us. He might think we’ll resent the fact that he’s been in Frank’s confidences when we haven’t.”
“Poor Biff,” Iola sighed. Then she regarded her friends carefully. “So what is this going to do to us?” she asked finally.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, when Frank faces off against his parents, and forces Joe to choose, what will happen to us? Will we hold grudges against each other for sympathizing with one side or the other?”
The other teens stared at her in dismay.
“Well,” the girl continued resolutely. “I can perfectly understand why Callie and Phil should want to confront Frank and prevent him from taking Joe, but at the same time, I can see how Chet would feel as he does. It might even be,” Iola gulped painfully, “that I agree with him, although I don’t quite know that for sure. But do our differences of opinion mean we have to cease being friends altogether?” She glanced anxiously from face to face. “Are we going to give Frank the power to destroy the friendships we have left?”
“No,” Callie replied simply, looking fondly at her friend. A chorus of male voices echoed her. “No, our friendship is strong enough to withstand even fundamental differences of opinion.”
“Let’s make a pact,” Tony said softly as he stretched out his hand, “That we’ll always remember that, whatever happens. However much we disagree with each other,” the dark youth peered intently at his friends, “our friendship comes first.”
The others leaned forward and placed their hands on top of his. “Deal,” came a soft chorus. And then the friends leaned back into their seats and smiled.
***
Laura Hardy sat at the restaurant table and idly swirled her straw in her soda. Fenton reached over gently and stilled her hand. He smiled at her tenderly. “Love, I haven’t seen you do that in years.”
Laura returned the smile and let her hand drop to her lap. She leaned back against the chair.
“What’s wrong?” Fenton prodded gently.
Laura looked deep into her husband’s warm brown eyes and asked: “Is Frank planning on taking Joe away?”
Her husband dropped his eyes and began swirling his own straw.
“Fenton? I need to know.”
“I believe so, love,” Fenton at last responded with a sigh. Catching himself playing with his straw, he shot his wife a rueful grin and put it down.
“Why?”
Fenton regarded his beautiful wife thoughtfully. He straightened up in his chair as he leaned over the table and began to tell Laura about the fight that had taken place in the study all those weeks before.
“So he thinks that we’ve failed Joe,” Laura stated flatly at the conclusion of her husband’s narrative.
“I’m afraid so.”
“And when were you going to tell me all this?” She queried a bit angrily.
Fenton sighed again. “To be honest, Laura, I had hoped I would never have to.”
“You were just going to leave me in the dark?” her voice was sharp with incredulity, and something else that Fenton couldn’t quite place.
The dark brown eyes regarded the checked pattern of the tablecloth.
“I see,” continued Laura icily.
“No, love” Fenton finally responded, his voice weary and sad. “I don’t believe that you do.”
He looked up into her blue eyes, and did his best not to flinch at the anger he saw there. Was he going to lose her as well?
“Laura, you’re right; it was wrong of me not to tell you from the beginning. I really have no explanation for why I didn’t. All I can say is that I so desperately didn’t want it to be true, that perhaps I persuaded myself that it wasn’t worth mentioning. That it would all blow over.”
“I know, I know.” He hastened on, seeing his wife about to protest. “That was very poor judgment on my part. Like I said, there is no real reason other than that I just couldn’t bear to bring myself to say anything. I’m sorry.”
“I guess,” he continued softly, “I just didn’t want to believe that I could have failed my boys, our boys,” he corrected with a glance at his wife, “so miserably.”
Laura had sat stiffly as she listened to her husband’s explanation. Now her anger towards him drained away and she felt compassion take its place. She couldn’t help it, she loved him. “But honey,” she remonstrated gently, “You haven’t failed them. Despite what Frank says, you are not at fault. And it’s absurd of him to insist that you are.” This last bit came out unexpectedly bitter.
Fenton eyed her with surprise. He had never known she felt that way too. He said as much.
“Well,” Laura confessed, reddening somewhat. “The truth is, I only just realized it myself. But how Joe could have noticed is beyond me.”
“Joe always has been very perceptive,” Fenton reminded his wife gently.
“Was it – was it that obvious?” Laura stammered with some embarrassment.
“It wasn’t to me, love,” Fenton responded kindly. “But I must confess, I was pretty busy trying to keep my own temper in check.”
Laura sighed. “Poor Joe. It’s reached the point where he has to ask us to come visit in shifts. Fenton, what happened? How could everything fall apart like this?”
Fenton’s eyes narrowed as his face hardened. “Frank,” he replied harshly. “Frank started all this mess; he took one single mistake and blew it all out of proportion.”
Laura looked back down at her half-eaten dinner; it had grown cold. Deciding that she was no longer hungry she glanced back up at her husband. “Call for the check, dear, I want to go home.”
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Disclaimer
The Hardy Boys belong to Simon and Schuster and the Stratemeyer Foundation. The authors have just borrowed them for an adventure or two. The authors promise to put the boys back when they are done with them. The authors do claim copyright to the original characters in this story. Please do not borrow original characters without express permission of the authors.