My Father's a Homo

A Tight-Knit Family

Disclaimer: I did not steal this from @sociopath_of_sorts on Archive of Our Own, that's also me.

A/N: I'm gonna do this song-by-song as best I can. Obviously, not all of them will be included, as the story is told from Jason's point of view.

Whizzer, Mom and I sat around the kitchen table, talking and laughing all the while. Like a family. The linguine was out on the table, and we were trying to forget the fact that Marvin was going to walk through the door at any minute. Or at least I was, while Mom and Whizzer pretended they weren't. But I saw it my whole life until the divorce. The way that Mom would cringe away from Marvin, while keeping her face in a loving smile. And now I see Whizzer doing it too. I've heard him talking to Mom about how he feels like he's being shoved into the "house-wife" category. Personally I don't think that's very nice.

Suddenly, the door banged open. Mom and Whizzer immediately jumped up from the table, Whizzer running out to the door.

"Hey, babe," I heard Marvin say, followed by the sound of them kissing.

I stayed in my seat, looking down, fiddling with the chess piece in my hand. A white king. Whizzer told me it was his favourite piece one day while we were playing chess, and it's been mine too ever since.

Marvin walked in, sitting down at the table. Whizzer followed behind him. The first few buttons on his green shirt were undone. He sat down beside my fa- Marvin, looking at him like a lovesick puppy. I couldn't really understand why, though. I knew Whizzer well enough to tell he was scared. Scared that one day Marvin's yelling would progress into hitting. We all were.

We sat in silence, all of us simply pushing our food around the plate (except Marvin), until finally the silence was broken.

"Do you wanna know something?" asked Marvin, eyebrows raised. "I love my tight-knit family. Especially the way they cook linguine." He laughed at his own stupid joke. "I mean, isn't it great? We're all so swell."

"Such a dear clientele," inserted Mom through gritted teeth.

"Exactly!" grinned Marvin. He turned to me. "So, how was school?"

Without looking up I replied, "Fine, Dad."

"Just fine?" he asked me. I noticed Mom flinching a little.

"Yes," I replied, looking up. "Just fine."

Marvin stopped eating suddenly. "Don't take that tone with me, young man!" He stood up, turning to Whizzer. "And by the way? Linguine's burnt. Who the hell is stupid enough to burn pasta?"

"I-I'm sorry, Marvin," Whizzer replied in a small voice. He was looking down, hands clasped atop his knees. "I-I-I'll do better next time, I promise."

Marvin simply rolled his eyes before walking into the kitchen, leaving his plate behind him. I let out a breath I hadn't even been aware I was holding.

I looked to Mom, "Please may I leave the table?"

She nodded tersely, and I stood, taking my plate into the kitchen. I scraped my dinner into the bin before washing the plate, leaving it to dry on the drying rack. I ran into my room, closing the door behind me, before sitting down to play a game chess. With myself, of course.

I kept playing and pretended that I couldn't hear the raised voices through the walls.

531 words