Echo

Jose, Tomas and Hiro now walked to the regional high school. Abby was ready to graduate this spring. Tomas and Jose were both in their sophomore year, Hiro a freshman.
    As it turned out, Abby truly was sick. It took a lot out of her family to make sure she got her dialysis every week. The whisper around the neighborhood said she would never be able to have her own family. It was a well-known fact that unless you could manage to buy one of the Chinese kidneys, she probably would not make it past thirty. You couldn’t tell from knowing her, though. She might be a little too slender but she sported one of the widest smiles in school. And her generosity was just as inclusive. She made time for everyone; a smile here, a word of encouragement there; always the one to sort out the disagreements at home and the first to pass on dessert if they came up short. She treated Jose just like a kid brother, no more, no less.
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    Time passed uneventfully, the kids all doing fairly well in school. Abby graduated and luckily found a job with an Internet company doing web processing. Before long, Tomas and Jose graduated, both finding local work. Jose learning how to weld and Tomas drove a long haul truck. Hiro still needed to complete his last year of high school. Papa Diaz found a job in Mexico. He sent home money and letters, making a big difference to the family. The letters tapered off after a few years and then the money. Mama Diaz confided to Mrs. Preston her suspicions about a new family. Men that have left home were well known for womanizing, even the best of them. But to reject the responsibilities of supporting the family you left behind in a poor country while you take off for a rich one with better opportunity? It cut deeply.
    Tomas and Hiro were profoundly affected. Hiro closed down, keeping his emotions bottled up, confiding in no one. He dropped out of school, joining Mrs. Preston at her job in the grocery store. But Tomas became the hard case. He developed a real nasty edge, dissing Jose every chance he got. He started stealing supplies from the school, then disappearing for days after Mama Diaz or Mrs. Preston confronted him. He stopped contributing to the household. Everyone tried to give him the benefit of the doubt, but he sarcastically rejected every attempt to reach out.
    Jose was feeling closer and closer to Abby and Scotty. The three of them all harbored insecurities, being self-described outsiders, creating a natural bond; Abby, because of her medical needs that drained the family’s resources and Scotty, because of his secret disability. Oh, yes, Scotty hid a secret.
    Tomas and Jose eventually moved out. Each had found girlfriends, Tomas moving in with his. Mama Diaz sorely missed their financial contribution but she found a job in a local restaurant. Things were not too God awful. Emma and chubby Bonita, who now insisted on being called Bonny, grew up, ready for high school. Life had actually been kind to the blended families, everyone growing up safely with a decent roof over their heads. Now that Tomas no longer lived with them, they found the tension in the house over his antics evaporate, laughter creeping back in their lives.
    The only problem now, was sixteen-year old Scotty. The last few years found him developing some unusual behaviors. He became very withdrawn and secretive, although a miracle manifested in his lazy eye and skin conditions. The bald spots on his ringworm scars began to grow hair, growing in an unusual glowing blond. His lazy eye stopped wandering and his impetigo scars disappeared. Under the circumstances, he should have been wild with joy. Tragically, he hardly noticed.
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    Scotty move into the bedroom with Hiro after Tomas and Jose moved out. He currently suffered alone with his misery; face down on his messy bed, waiting for Hiro to return from work with Scotty’s mother. He rolled over on his back, wracked with the apprehension and distress that had become his constant companion since the beginning of the growth of his tail. Yeah, that’s right . A tail . Not a small one either. The same time his tail started to grow, he started his growth spurt; so sudden and remarkable that his bones constantly ached, especially the back of his shoulder blades. Now, he measured a full six feet tall. And his tail? The same length; six feet of golden muscle and fur. Fur. He balled his fists tightly, anger and fear fighting to overwhelm him. He easily concealed his new tail by winding it