The Ways of Patching Up | ✓

Third

It was finally the weekends, the time when people were supposed to have a leisure time away from the stresses of work and school. Most of Elliot's friends usually spent their time with their respective families, hanging out at some place or even sticking themselves together. For the young boy himself… well, let's say he experienced something different.

Dad was stuck in the basement as always, as he claimed that he had lots of experiments and research to do. He was wearing his wrinkled lab coat and a pair of brown long pants that were worn out and stained with unknown liquid. Many different apparatuses were scattered all over his desk, with Elliot recognizing some from his science lab. There were also strange papers sprawled on the floor around him.

Elliot had tried to pick one of them and read through its contents, but the young boy encountered countless words that he had no idea of. Ab... strat…? Proto... type…? Aff.. lation? What's that all supposed to mean…?

In spite of everything, the child didn't want to spend his time alone for the entire Saturday and Sunday again. He was always in his room, reading or playing with his DS that Dad had given him for his last birthday… and he was bored of doing the same routine over and over again. He wanted to, at least, spend some time with his father even though he was focused with his job… and got his attention somehow.

"Dad," Elliot skittered towards him, "what do you usually do for your job?"

"Elliot…" Lawson groaned as he turned towards his curious son, "can't you tell I'm busy here?"

"...but I'm bored..." he whined, as he tried placing his arms on the table, "I wanna stay here and be with you."

"Go play with your DS or read something," Dad breathed as he crumpled his research drafts into a ball and discarded it into the trash can, "don't you have friends, too?"

"I have played with all the games and read all the books," Elliot answered as he pushed his lips forward, "and all my friends are with their family, so we should be together and talk about something, Dad."

Lawson didn't say anything, and merely continued with his work. He had wasted most of his energy on the job, but he rejected most of the papers he had made. His manager had been pressuring him to finish the project up with tight deadlines. His nerves tickled with annoyance at the memory of his obnoxious boss, and the fact that his son was nagging him when he was supposed to be upstairs made everything even worse.

He then snatched a box of markers and then a blank paper from his stack. He handed it to the child, who simply stared at the objects, "go draw something if you're bored, seriously."

Elliot was thrown aback by his Dad's actions, and fortunately for Lawson, he didn't seem to complain. He silently took the paper and the markers, and then went off to the corner. Elliot wasn't at all a fan of drawing, but the child knew that if he refused to do what he said, Dad would get angry… and he didn't like seeing him mad.

Lawson rolled his eyes and resumed with his piling project. The brightness of his computer screen was hurting his sight, and he had been feeling so light-headed since early in the morning, but there was no choice. There was no more time for rest and fooling around.

Meanwhile, Elliot had already an idea in mind of what to draw: his family being whole again. He was already thinking of showing it to his dad, and somehow made him happy. He was trying to draw human figures, but ended up looking like stickmen, but he added details such as their clothes. He could hear his father's tapping noises while he was finishing up with the drawing…. of Mom.

Elliot then took a good look at the sketch. He wasn't really impressed with it, but at least it looked better than most drawings he had done. The child had drawn himself, where he was in the middle of both of his parents, Mom to the left and Dad to the right. He was holding both of their hands, and they were all smiling together. The sketch managed to bring his spirits down, as he badly wished for this to happen.

If Mom and Dad could get along again…

The young boy shook his head furiously, casting the thoughts away. He brushed off the markers to the side and shot up from his spot, determined to show it to Dad. Taking a deep breath, Elliot scampered towards him.

"Hey Dad!" He exclaimed, coming to his side, "look at what I just drew! What do you think?"

Dad groaned loudly, "ugh, Elliot… I'm busy with my work, you don't need to show me-"

Lawson's grip on his papers immediately loosened, which caused them to fall into the ground. His darkened eyes behind his thin glasses widened as he stared at the drawing, while Elliot could hear his silent gasp.
The young man suddenly barred and gritted his teeth as both of his hands balled into fists. The child's heart instantly dropped when he noticed the sudden change in his father.

"DON'T YOU EVER DRAW ME WITH HER!!!" Lawson yelled on top of his lungs as he raised his hand and knocked the paper off Elliot's grip.

The boy felt the nasty slap against his fingers, inducing pain and causing him to lose his balance. Elliot felt his rear making contact with the floor, resulting in his brief yelp. He then glanced up at his father, whose eyes glinted with menace. There was a vein popping out of his neck as his son could only gawk at him, shaking on his boots.

"DON'T YOU KNOW, YOUR MOTHER LEFT ME FOR A FUCKING ASSHOLE AND ABANDONED ALL OF US!!!" Dad screamed. 

Elliot instinctively shielded his face with both of his arms. The child's mind was currently filled with so much thoughts, but he had no clue why the drawing upsetted his father. He didn't have a single clue what the heck Dad was screaming about… all he knew was that he was completely furious about Mom.

However, when Elliot noticed nothing happened, he dared himself to see, and noticed that Dad had stopped with whatever he was doing. His anger suddenly subsided while his gaze zoomed down at his trembling son, as if something was stopping him from going further. Dad huffed and puffed, before removing his glasses and rubbing his eyes with his coat. He kissed his teeth, and then hung his head as his voice… seemed cracking?

"...Dad?" Elliot squeaked as he found the courage to stand back on his feet. He gulped as he neared Dad, who was acting really strange, "are you okay?"

"Leave me alone, Elliot..." Dad mumbled without looking at his son, "go back to your room and do something else…"

"But Dad-"

"Please..." he begged.

Elliot felt an unknown force rocking through his small body, especially at how desperate Dad's voice had become. At this point, the boy knew that whatever Mom had done to Dad… it must have made him really sad and angry. He wanted to hug him and tell him that it was all fine and that he would always be with him no matter what, but seeing how his Dad could snap any time soon… he had no choice but to obey.

"I'm sorry..." Elliot mumbled before he grabbed the drawing that Dad had knocked off his hands. He could feel his gaze boring through his skull as he retreated out of the basement, and went two steps at a time.

When he ultimately returned to the top, the kid averted his attention back to the drawing. Tightening his jaw, Elliot forcefully tore the paper apart, while he felt something pricking in the corner of his eyes. He then hurled the sketch away from him.

Dad never had an outburst like that before, and the fact that it was because of his son's creation… made him feel that he was the one at fault.

Elliot stormed off back to his room, but he was unaware that the drawing that he ripped into half… wasn't really that half. His father and him were still holding hands and left intact, while the drawing of his mother was on the other piece of the paper, seperated from them.