Daddy Patterns - Son of my Enemy

Distraught and bewildered, landowner Reginald Whitmore watched his son Maximilian burning with fever and delirious in his hospital bed in Ironwood Village. He had arrived a few moments earlier with his wife, thinking it was some kind of prank when he received the phone call, but now he was facing his youngest son in a critical, truly dangerous condition, when just a few hours earlier he had been perfectly healthy. Maximilian had returned to the Whitmore mansion just five days ago, and everything pointed to him spending a peaceful and productive summer there, trying, among other things, to repair his relationship with his father as much as he could. Reginald was diligently trying to make Maximilian's stay at Whitmore Vale as pleasant and safe as possible, as he had a secret intention to ask him to settle there permanently. The nurses removed Reginald's companions from the room, leaving only him and his wife inside. At the same time, Reginald threatened the medical staff to take good care of his son. "This is not just about my son's health. Your life is also on this bed," he said to the head doctor. "We are doing our best, sir," he replied. Maximilian, in his frenzy, had clenched the bed sheet in his fist and, with his eyes closed, was muttering incomprehensible words.

"Who was with you, Max? Who got you into this, son? Who did this to you?" Reginald asked with intensity and sadness in his eyes, leaning over the young man's sweaty, pale forehead.

"Emerson..." Maximilian said curtly.

His father paused and looked at him more thoughtfully, with a searching gaze.

"Which Emerson?" asked his wife, Miranda.

"Emerson... Emerson Hawthorne..." Maximilian said.

"It can't be," whispered Reginald, straightening his body, his eyes wide. "It's not possible," he said, swallowing his saliva with malice.

But let's start the story from the beginning. Maximilian Whitmore is a 29-year-old psychotherapist who lived in Baltimore, Maryland. His father exiled him there when he realized he was gay. How did he find out? He caught him flirting in the barn with one of his farmhands when he was 17. Reginald lashed out violently at the worker, punched him, and fired him, while asking him not to talk to anyone about the incident or his son's sexual orientation. He tried to raise his hand against Maximilian, but restrained himself at the last moment. When Maximilian finished school, his father sent him to study in the state of Maryland. After a while, Reginald gave the worker some money to move with his family to another state, as their house was destroyed after a fire broke out mysteriously.

Reginald Whitmore's empire is located in Silverford County, Virginia, an area where he owns almost all the land, and year after year, he acquires more, through both legitimate and illegitimate means. In Silverford, the economy relies heavily on agriculture and livestock production, among other things. There are many cowboys, rough-mannered people, and families who uphold tradition. In these parts, it is not enough to be smart to keep what you have; you also have to be tough. This is something Reginald Whitmore excels at.

Unfortunately for him, his three sons did not inherit his possessive zeal. His eldest son, Trajan, now 36, lost his wife to cancer a few years ago and turned to the church for spiritual and emotional support, categorically rejecting any further involvement in the family business. The second son, 33-year-old Hadrian, worked for a short time in the family business, but soon met and married a girl active in communist collectives, an environment that attracted Hadrian himself. He had always been at odds with his father, but gradually, as Hadrian began to immerse himself in Marxist philosophy, they became enemies. Reginald kicked him out of the company, and Hadrian now works as a teacher and has a young daughter with his wife.

The boys' mother died in a car accident when Maximilian was 3 years old. Reginald blamed the doctors for not being able to save her. Maximilian has no memory of his mother. His father turned to business for solace and neglected his sons. This is something for which Maximilian, and the other two, still blame him today.

The reason Maximilian visited his family home now is because Wade, his partner from Baltimore, asked him to. Wade is a rather special case. He belongs to a local mafia involved in smuggling and other illegal activities. They met when the court sentenced Wade to a few hours of psychotherapy and community service in order to avoid imprisonment. Maximilian was assigned to be his therapist. He noticed that, beyond his rowdy temperament and masculine appearance and physique, Wade also had a compassionate side. He did not expect Wade to take the psychotherapy process seriously, but Wade paid attention and opened up. He was also won over by Maximilian's attitude, who approached his case with interest and professionalism. In essence, he focused on listening to how Wade, now 35, had grown up and suggesting some situations in which it would be useful for him to reduce his delinquency. He did not hope to make him a new person. Not because he saw any charm in the "bad boy" style, but because he liked to be realistic with people.

After the hours the state required them to spend together, Maximilian and Wade remained friends and soon developed a romantic relationship. Wade identified as straight, and Maximilian was the first man with whom he had a romantic relationship. For this reason, Max did not mind that Wade asked him to keep their relationship a secret from their mutual acquaintances. Wade was not particularly cultured, but he was a restless spirit. Next to Maximilian, his anger and cunning diminished and were replaced by protectiveness and companionship. Wade saw the young psychotherapist as an intelligent man who listened to him carefully and cared about his well-being, despite all the criminal acts he had committed. Maximilian felt that he was a tough man who softened as he got closer to him, and that fascinated him. It was like taming a wild beast. But he did it with tact. As Wade told him, he didn't see in Max the "aggressiveness" with which other gay men had approached him until now, and he pointed this out as a good thing. "Instead of psychoanalysis, you hypnotized me. I know you hypnotized me and cast a spell on me," he would say jokingly when they were flirting, implying that he had seduced him.

Their relationship as partners lasted two years. Already in the first year, Maximilian asked him to break away from the mafia for good and offered to move with him to another city if necessary. Wade promised he would, but he didn't. Suddenly, he asked him to leave Baltimore because it wasn't safe. The rival mafia was hunting down loved ones of his own mafia! So Wade suggested that Max go to his parents' house in Silverford for a while. He accepted, since summer was just around the corner and he wouldn't mind taking a long vacation. What bothered him was that his partner continued to endanger his life and his own with his lifestyle.

Already, on the plane, he began to wonder about the future of their relationship. Traveling with him was his friend Beth, who was visiting a childhood friend in Silverford who was getting married around that time.

"When and how will you return to Baltimore, Max? Will the danger have passed? I'm very worried about this situation," Beth said to him on the plane.

"I don't know, Beth, I don't even know how long I can stand living with my father. In Baltimore, with my relationship with Wade, there's no way I can go back. He told me himself that he would settle his accounts there and that we would move to another city, where we could be more open about our relationship."

"How serious is he about your relationship? Does he see a future together?"

"From what I understand, yes. He often talks about 'us'. He makes plans. Maybe it's just his impulsiveness. But he often tells me that he can't see himself with anyone else."

"I'm still impressed that you got together with and stayed with a guy like that for so long. Doesn't he scare you?" Beth asked.

"A little, yes. More so at first. Maybe he reminds me of my father. No, 'maybe'. He definitely reminds me of him," Maximilian admitted. "His primitive tendency to constantly compete, his hunger for conquest, his physical dominance... They definitely have a lot in common."

"So it's unresolved trauma? Daddy issues?"

"Definitely. But I still don't understand what I'm looking for in a partner. Someone to 'protect' me from my father or someone who resembles him?" Maximilian said thoughtfully.

"I'm very curious to meet your father. How old is he?"

"He's sixty-one."

"You always talk about him with awe, sometimes with anger, bitterness, or even hidden admiration, I must say..."

"Admiration? I assure you that admiration is the last thing I feel for my father. However, I am glad that you will be staying at my parents' house for a while. We have a lot to discuss."

"You're lucky I'm single at the moment. And what can one do in Silverford if they get bored?"

"Well, I've brought the hard drive with Gilmore Girls on it."

"Oh, I know that series. But I wonder what you see in it."

"It allows us to escape to a world where tenderness is still allowed."

"And the closest you've come to that tenderness was Wade?"

"Um... He's not that bad. He has nice feet, among other things! Haha!"

"Oh, I'm going crazy! Are you a foot fetishist?" Beth said emphatically and laughed loudly.

"Please watch your language! We have small children here!" said a passenger in the back seat, annoyed.

"You can wear your headphones, ma'am," Beth replied seriously, glancing out of the corner of her eye at Max, who was trying hard not to laugh.

***

"Emerson... Emerson, Father..." Max said in his feverish delirium. "Emerson Hawthorne... Let's find him, Father..." His pulse oximeter showed a frantic heart rate. Sweat rolled down his smooth, determined chin and dripped onto his neck.

"Call the police," Reginald ordered Miranda. "Call the police immediately and let me talk to them."

***

When Maximilian and Beth arrived at the Whitmore mansion, Reginald and Miranda welcomed them warmly. Beth was impressed by how huge the house was and was given a tour of all the rooms by Max. The architecture of the rooms had an old-fashioned glamour. Surrounding the main house were staff quarters, stables with horses, garages with cars, a barbecue pavilion, fountains, and gardens with winding paths. Beyond that were small woods and a river. The entire estate was enclosed by a concrete wall and railings. To enter, a large iron security gate had to be opened after approval. Whitmore Vale, that is, all of Reginald's real estate, surrounded the mansion and stretched across almost the entire county. These vast, endless expanses were fenced off with simple wire mesh, but Reginald's workers often found it broken. Within Whitmore Vale were pastures, livestock farms, factories, and the headquarters of Whitcorp, the family business.

On the second night after Maximilian's arrival, Miranda hosted a dinner at home in his honor. Miranda Hale was a professor in Max's psychology department in Baltimore. She had noticed that he was a sensitive child and wanted to help him adjust. So they became close, and she began giving him private sessions in her office, as she could see that the boy was carrying some trauma. Max told her all about his father, sharing every bit of bitterness and resentment he felt toward him. Miranda helped him a lot to emancipate himself, to become self-sufficient and independent. A few months after they started their sessions, Miranda left the school and disappeared from Baltimore. About a year later, Max learned that Miranda had gone to Virginia, met his father, and started a romantic relationship with him. He felt betrayed by her. That she had abandoned him for the "enemy." He wondered how an educated woman, with a scientific background in the humanities, could be charmed by a rough, traditionalist redneck like Reginald. That's how Max described him in their sessions, and Miranda agreed.

When their relationship reached its fourth anniversary, Reginald and Miranda announced that they were getting married. Max decided to accept it and not stand in their way. He found it consistent on his part not to condemn and disparage other relationships that he could not understand. His own type of relationship was criticized by a large portion of the world, and that was something Max wanted to stop. So he thought it would not be right to do to others what he did not want them to do to him. Miranda made sure that Maximilian's relationship with his father improved. Shortly after the wedding, Reginald apologized for the first time to his son, whom he had been so quick to drive away from home. He assured him that he would try to overcome his homophobia. It was around that time that the state legalized same-sex marriage, and being gay became a little more mainstream. It is true that Miranda, as a stepmother, greatly benefited Max in terms of his relationship with his father. However, deep down, he never stopped feeling resentful about Miranda's change of heart.

Now 50 years old, she has been living in Silverford, in the Whitmore mansion, for the past four years. She is now called Miranda Hale Whitmore. Her son, 27-year-old Caleb, has been living in the mansion for two years. From what they have told Maximilian, Caleb is on the autism spectrum and sometimes suffers from panic attacks. However, he is very functional and takes on many responsibilities at Whitmore Vale, mainly manual labor. He once wanted to be a professional athlete, but his condition prevented him from achieving this goal. Reginald trusts him implicitly and lets him handle many situations instead of doing so himself.

For legal and technical matters, Reginald has Sebastian Crane, a 42-year-old ambitious lawyer, as his right-hand man. He has "people" on the County Council and influences developments in Silverford as he sees fit, depending on the interests he serves. As Reginald's close advisor, he is often at Whitmore Manor and has a good relationship with the family.

On the evening of the welcome dinner, Reginald sat at the head of the rectangular, decorated table. Next to him, on one side, sat Maximilian and on the other his eldest son Trajan, who had been invited especially for the occasion, as he did not live at home permanently. Next to Maximilian sat Beth. And next to her, Miranda and Sebastian. Next to Trajan sat Caleb and next to him his girlfriend Diana. At the other end of the table sat Vernon Harrow, Reginald's father-in-law and Maximilian's mother's father. He didn't always live there, but in recent years, due to problems with his arthritis and being a widower, he moved to Whitmore Manor to receive assistance.

"I would so much like your brother to be here," said Reginald. "I called Hadrian personally to invite him, but he refused."

"I'll go to their house tomorrow to visit them," said Max.

"Hadrian will soften up eventually, you'll see," said Miranda. "Do you remember how you used to be with Max, my love? But you worked it out," she said to her husband. "Hadrian is a father now, and he'll find that parenthood often requires you to appear harsh and unreasonable."

"Did you miss the estate and nature, Max?" said Trajan, wanting to change the subject.

"I did, yes. Every time I see it, I feel differently. I was glad that Dad finally took the deer and buffalo heads off the walls," Max said mockingly.

"Miranda convinced me," said Reginald, wiping his mouth with a napkin.

"Dead bodies aren't decorations," Miranda said.

"The owl in my office at the company, don't anyone dare touch it," Sebastian said ironically.

"There are no men without trophies..." muttered Grandpa Vernon and took a bite of cheese.

"Poor animals," Beth said sadly.

"The good thing is that they don't know what people do to them," said Trajan. "Whereas people are aware of the evil their fellow human beings do to them," he added, stroking the black beard on his jaw that was beginning to turn gray.

"Since we're all gathered here tonight, I'd like to make an announcement," said Reginald in a formal tone of voice. "I have some good news to share with you about a good deed I did, which I am sure will make Trajan and the rest of you very happy."

Everyone looked at him. Those who were holding glasses or cutlery put them down.

"I have begun the process of adopting Caleb. Caleb will now have a father. And I will have another son," Reginald declared cheerfully and decisively.

There was a moment of awkward silence among those present.

"How do you feel about that, Caleb?" Miranda asked with a smile.

"Very good," Caleb said shyly and looked down.

"Give us a smile, then!" his mother asked, and Caleb smiled.

Max looked at Trajan, and Trajan returned his gaze. Their expressions were neutral.

"Indeed, father, you did a good deed," Trajan said encouragingly. "I hope you will be a good father to Caleb."

"All I can do is try," Reginald replied, grabbing his short-cropped neck.

Maximilian didn't speak. He just looked sympathetically at Caleb, whom he liked because he seemed like a decent kid.

Later that night, everyone had gathered in their rooms, and Max and Beth were getting ready to go out for a night on the town in Willowridge City, the largest city in Silverford County.

"Last night around three, I woke up and felt like having a cigarette," Beth told Maximilian. "I sat by the window in my room and lit it. Suddenly, I saw Miranda walking by below. She was looking up at the windows of the house. I pulled back and she didn't see me."

"And what did she do? Did she stop outside?"

"No, she kept walking until I lost sight of her. It just struck me..."

At that moment, there was a knock on Max's door. He answered it and Miranda came in, holding a bottle of wine.

"Forget the walk!" she said. "Tonight we're going to drink, gossip, and catch up on our news. The kind that's not suitable for old people! I'm a heavy drinker, you know. I hope you are too!"

They didn't disappoint her. They stayed inside and started talking about their personal lives. Mainly Max and Beth. Miranda asked Max if he was in a relationship. He told her that he was in a complicated relationship, but without going into too much detail. He didn't want his father to hear about the dangerous situation he had been in.

"How are his feet?" Miranda asked jokingly.

"Really, you told Miranda you're a foot fetishist? I don't believe it," Beth said, laughing.

"Oh yes, I know everything about Max. I've completely figured him out!" Miranda boasted.

"Miranda thinks I like men's feet because, as she says, I have an Oedipus complex with my dad," Max said cheerfully.

"And how do those two fit together?" Beth asked.

"Listen carefully," Miranda said. "When Max was little, three years old if I'm not mistaken, he nearly lost his life. His father had returned from hunting. It was dusk, summertime, and there was a light drizzle. Reginald took off his shoes and sat down in the living room to rest. Max was still outside, playing in the playground they had built for him nearby. Suddenly, a half-crazy friend of Reginald's came to the house and went inside. He wanted to ask him for a favor. His beloved dog had been diagnosed with rabies, and since he couldn't bring himself to kill it, he wanted to ask Reginald, who was tougher, to do it. "Where's the dog now?" Reginald asked. "Outside, I tied it up in the yard," he replies. "Are you crazy?" says Reginald, "We have small children here." He immediately grabs his rifle and rushes outside. The dog had already broken its chain and was running towards Max, who was swinging on the playground! Max saw him and started climbing the swing chain like Tarzan and crying. Just in time, Reginald arrives and kills the rabid dog just before it bites Max. Then Max falls down on the ground and associates his father's bare feet with the feeling of security and care in his little mind.

"Wow, the human soul is an abyss," Beth says ecstatically.

"It's imaginative and plausible," said Max, "but I don't know if it's true. By the way, you know you've violated medical confidentiality, right?"

"Come on, it's been ages since I had you as a patient. Anyway, did you see how the hard-hearted father's mind immediately went to his child? It's at moments like these that we see how much they love us!" said Miranda. And she added, "You never told us. Does he have nice feet?" she asked Max.

"Yes, he does, manly ones. But what fascinates me about him is his sensitive heart, hidden beneath many layers of hardness."

"Another trait of your father. What more proof do you need?" said Miranda.

Max took a silver cross from under his shirt and showed it to the women. "This is his cross, and he gave it to me to protect me while we are apart and he cannot watch over me."

The two women smiled and were moved.

"The wine hit me hard, guys," Beth said after a while.

"You had an empty stomach, you hardly ate anything. Didn't you like the food?" asked Miranda.

"It's not that. I just felt a little nauseous earlier," she replied.

"Could it be... Don't tell me... Have your breasts always been this big?" Miranda asked, and with a sudden movement, she grabbed the girl's breasts with her hands.

Beth pulled away. "Yes, why do you ask?"

"Did you take a pregnancy test? You said you broke up two months ago," Miranda said suspiciously.

"Oh, don't put ideas in my head..." Beth muttered. After a while, she retired to her room, exhausted.

"Max, I wanted to tell you that I really appreciate that you didn't react negatively to Caleb's adoption. It will do him so much good to feel wanted by a father figure. You know very well how this works, especially in a case like his. I'm glad you didn't let your initial feelings of sibling jealousy get the better of you," Miranda confessed.

"Listen, Miranda, if my father feels the need to offer his tenderness and love to another person, I accept it with joy," Max said. "I really hope he can give Caleb affection.

"Oh, Max, you're such a sweetheart!" said Miranda. "Caleb has great respect and love for your father. And he really appreciates you and your siblings."

To Max, it seemed a little excessive for Caleb to appreciate him without really knowing him at all. Even the supposed love for Reginald seemed like an exaggerated statement to him. Max hoped that this was not a trick by his father to make him and his siblings jealous. He hoped Reginald would treat young Caleb with respect. As for the Whitmore fortune, he didn't care if there was another beneficiary at the table.

***

"Speak, my son. What did Emerson Hawthorne do to you?" Reginald whispered in Maximilian's ear, stroking the young man's dark brown hair back. "Tell me what he did to you, and I'll punish that bastard as he deserves!"

Even the medical staff at Ironwood Hospital waited for Maximilian's response, all hanging on his pale, trembling lips.