Hi All!
If anyone one could come up with a better title for this chapter feel free to make suggestions. I've been wrecking my head with this, and would appreciate a bit of help!
"Right, explain," Mr Dutton asked Rip. He was sitting behind his desk and handed him a blank envelope and the note he had just written, apologising for Rip's late arrival to school and not having done his homework. 'Family matters' he simply cited as the reason. Rip was wondering if this explanation would ever do if he'd use it himself.
Rip just shrugged his shoulders. He was certain that there was nothing he could say that his uncle would accept as an excuse.
Mr Dutton turned his attention to the blue pieces of paper in front of him. He signed them, then turned them over and wrote something on the back of each one of them before handing them back to Rip, together with two more envelopes with the names of the respective teachers on them each.
"I am waiting, Rip!" he had told him impatiently without even looking up while he was dealing with the notes.
Rip knew that any explanation would only result in more scolding. Getting notes home from school was never acceptable in his uncle's eyes, no matter what. Any explanation would just be seen as trying to make an excuse for something that was in his uncle's eyes inexcusable. He was always on the teachers' side.
Before he placed the notes in their respective envelopes, Rip read what Mr Dutton had written on the back of them and made a disgruntled face.
Thank you for letting me know.
Please do not hesitate to contact me
in person if the issue persists!
Sincerely
J.Dutton
"I was just tired, that's all. I wasn't doing anything, I wasn't even talking or nothing, I just switched off a bit," Rip told him, sounding a good bit sassier than he had intended to and already crossing his uncle's threshold of what was an acceptable tone for him.
Mr Dutton looked up at Rip, staring at him from above his reading glasses that were sitting on his nose far too low, the frown on his forehead and raised eyebrows communicated anger but not half as bad as Rip expected him to be.
"Sorry," the boy muttered and started biting his lip, watching his uncle carefully from between the curtain of his hair.
"That's not what I am asking about. I want to know why you asked Robert to sign them for you?" Mr Dutton asked calmly, as he screwed the lid of his fountain pen close.
Rip rolled his eyes and regretted it right away, as he saw his uncle's facial expression darken.
"Don't you roll your eyes at me!" Mr Dutton snarled at him through gritted teeth and with dangerously narrow eyes.
"Yeah well. That's exactly why! You always overreact on everything. All I did was switch off a bit in class, it happens. It's not my fault if they can't teach and are boring as fuck, it shouldn't be that big a deal," Rip argued belligerently.
"You told a teacher to fuck off! You didn't expect Robert to just sign it, did you?" his uncle asked sharply, his increasing anger making itself known.
"No," Rip admitted meekly.
"So, come on, out with it then! What did you expect Robert would do?" Mr Dutton asked again, this time a little calmer, reminding himself of his resolve from the previous day.
YOU ARE READING
Rip - Becoming Whole
Hayran KurguSequel to 'Rip - Trust'. Three years after the murder of his mother and little brother, Rip has finally started to settle into his uncle's home having found security and love. The ghosts of his childhood however are starting to haunt him now even...