"I'm not going." Logan stated flatly, squaring off with his big brother first thing in the morning.
"Logan..." The man ran a hand through his hair, knowing it was going to be a long fight this morning.
"It's May twelfth, Andrew." The teen reminded him, with steel behind his words.
"I'm sorry, but you almost missed too many days of school already." The elder understood his feelings, it was an important date to the whole family. "I'd allow it otherwise." Admittedly most of those absences were not the child's fault, most were due to an unwelcomed illness in winter.
Logan crossed his arms, "I'll leave school." At present the child was unsure how he would get by undetected by the teachers, but that didn't matter right then.
This had moved from being just a strongly worded request to a full blown teenage tantrum. "And I'll spank you with the hairbrush every night this week if you do." Andrew replied, looking down with a stern glare. The threat was not empty, however it was over-exaggerated.
The teen glared at his brother, with furry behind his blue eyes and a red face. "This is not fair!"
"It is too fair," Andrew replied, attempting to keep his own temper under control. "You're more than welcome to go visit after school."
"You know what this mean to me!" Logan said, blinking back tears of frustration.
"I understand, Logan, I really do." The man said, softening his voice. "But, you can't afford to miss one more day. And you know, they would want you to go to." Especially with the teen's current grades it would be better for him to remain in class for the day.
"Shut up!" The teen snarled, feeling a slight sting at those words.
"Look get dressed and I'll drive you to school." Andrew said, still needing to get the others moving, there was no more time to waste on this argument. "I can pick you up as soon as bell rings and take you over if you want."
"No," Logan replied, not budging from his spot.
Andrew gave him a quick smack on the rear end as a warning, "Go, now." He turned to address the screaming from the kitchen. The day had just started and already he was exhausted.
Turning to give the teen one last warning the adult added, "If I get that call Logan-"
The teen moodily slammed the door shut, knowing he'd hear about it later. He didn't care though, Andrew was not being fair.
****
It had been a long wait for the ending bell. Logan had been completely unfocused the entire day as well. Twice he had been scolded in class for it, not that he care about that much. Thankfully, he managed to avoid another detention.
Past the seemingly endless rows of stones and flowers and in the far right corner, the teen knew he would find them. Before too long, his eyes settled over the well-known headstone. He had spent quite a lot of time in the cemetery for someone so young.
Dalton Anderson Emily Anderson
January 24, 1969 - May 12, 2004 August 5, 1970 - May 12, 2004
"Hey," Logan muttered softly, a wave of guilt crashing over his chest. "It's been a while, Mommy. Daddy, you too."
The boy sat down next to them, pushing his phone into his backpack so not to be interrupted. "I don't know what you do in heaven, or if I really believe in it anymore." He said wondering how they would feel about that bit of information. His father was never religious, but his mother liked taking them to church. "But, I hope you got the time to listen to me."
