House of Anubis: Triad of Memphis

House of Parents pt. 3

Eddie's glare became more disapproving moment by moment until Lucille began explaining.

"We're not even dating! We're more like..." Lucille trailed off as she glanced over at Jared, trying to think of something else to refer to it as. "...dating..."

"Nice one, Lucy," Jared muttered.

"Dad, you met mum in school," Lucille continued, using a new tactic. "And you loved her obviously because...well you got married and you had me...I'm not saying Jared and I have made it to that point yet, but we certainly do like eachother."

"Yeah, and with all do respect sir, would you really want to deprive your daughter of her happiness? Her pure...happy happiness?"

"Oh, who has the better choice of words now?" Lucille remarked.

"You two really like eachother?" Eddie finally asked.

Jared and Lucille nodded abruptly.

"Give me time to think about it." He stood up and left out the room where he spotted Amber leaning against the door from the hall. She stood up innocently, and he passed by her, expecting such a thing from Amber.

Amber entered the room once again and gave a silent cheer. "He'll totally say yes."

~~~~~
Jonah and his mom went searching for Jared after their own reunion only to find him when he was heading down the stairs from the girls' rooms. He turned back around upon seeing them waiting down below, but their mother stopped him.

"Here. Now. Jared."

Jared rolled his eyes as he did as she said, and she pulled him along into the living room. Jonah followed but stood by, and Niamh noticed them from the railing up on the second floor, so she glided down the stairs and listened just outside the door.

Ms. Clifton took a seat on the couch, and Jared took a seat on the one opposite.

"Well?" she folded her arms. "I expect you have something to say to me."

"Other than 'I don't want to be in the same room with you as much as you don't with me', there isn't much else," Jared crossed his arms just as she was doing.

She remained silent for just a moment. "You know, I don't just come to these things for Jonah. I come for you too."

"With the amount of lies you tell, I'm surprised you still expect me to believe a word that comes out of your mouth," Jared admitted disrespectfully.

"I'd like for you to at least show me some respect-"

"-oh, something we both lack, isn't that right?"

Ms. Clifton still held her ground and held herself in her proper position, not allowing his words to phase her. "I'd like to know why you hate me so much, Jared."

"I'd like to know the same thing. But seeing as we're never getting anything out of eachother-" Jared stood to his feet and proceeded to head out the room, but his mom stood to her feet.

"You are not going anywhere until we get to the root of this problem, now," she hesitated as Jared slowly turned back to face her, "is this because of your dad? Because you can still see him if you'd-"

"-it's not dad," Jared cut her off sternly. After a while of displaying so much anger towards her, it was natural for him to always do so, no matter how much sadness, pain, or guilt he'd really been feeling. It all seemed to blur within him and his constant resort was outrage. "And I don't know how after so long, you still don't see the problem."

"I-"

"-no, you let me finish. You detest me...You think I'm failure and a waste and you'd do anything to have another son like Jonah or in fact-no other son at all. You think my behavior is my fault; you think my anger is my fault; you think my dyslexia is my fault-"

"-well maybe if you try-"

"-I do try!" At this point, Jared wasn't concerned with what attention he'd attract. "I have always tried, and you've never been there to help me. I have spent countless nights trying to live up to your miraculous expectation that I might be better by the next day, but no! My brain doesn't work like that, and you with your negligence have denied me any understanding and you put me down for everything! And you didn't try to help, and you didn't try to understand, and you didn't give a crap about me!"

"I care about you-"

"-you were so hell-bent on ridding your life of me that you sent me to boarding school all my life, and Jonah only this year. The most time and money you've ever spent on me was to get rid of me."

"Well maybe if you made something out of yourself as you were growing up," Ms. Clifton remarked.

"Made something out of myself?" he repeated. "Oh, you mean like walk five miles to the drugstore to get Jonah some medicine when he was really sick because you were too busy 'working'?" Jared brought up. "Because I did that. Or-or turning off the television when you had fallen asleep with it running all those nights? Or watch after you when you had been working too late and had come back home too tired for your own good? Or beg and plead for dad not to go, not so much because I wanted him to stay, but because I knew how much it tore you apart. So you need to rethink your entire life up to this point and be disappointed in yourself."

"I didn't say I was I disappointed in you."

"Yes you did. Seven years old, you told me I was a disappointment to the family. Eleven years old, you told me I'd never live up to high expectations. Thirteen years old, you told me I was so much of a disappointment, if you could do so, you would get rid of me entirely."

"I never said th-"

"-a son doesn't just forget that." Jared realized his voice had begun wavering and he had begun crying, but he didn't try to conceal the tears. He knew it'd be no use. "And no son just makes that up. Not even me."

Their mom glanced back at Jonah.

"He's telling the truth," Jonah admitted.

She turned back to Jared and went over to him just to pull him into an embrace suddenly realizing that she was the problem and that Jared was right about it all. She didn't realize she'd been that way, or especially that she made him feel that way, and she was determined to make things right.

~~~~~
Hmm, well that is that chapter! A lot of Jared, yes yes. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. I'm not sure what discussion questions to base around the chapter so...

Did you enjoy it?

Yeah, that's all for now. Until next time, Aristocrats!