Ode to Bree

Minus One Million Points

UNEDITED CHAPTER EIGHT [2]

       Home seemed like anything other than home, and right now, it sure seemed like a punishment quarters.

       Fifteen minutes ago, Kat stopped in front of Nathan's house. Fourteen minutes ago, he waved her goodbye and warned her never to pull a stunt like that ever again. Thirteen minutes ago, he opened up his front door and was confronted by his angry father and sobbing mother. Twelve minutes ago, he was being hugged by his sobbing mother as his angry father tried to yell at him. After five minutes of doing so, his mother pushed him into the living room, her sobbing coming to an end and the anger inside of her rising.

       "Where the hell were you?!" His father yelled, staring down at him with menacing eyes. "Your mother went to pick you up, and when she asked your teacher, she said you were absent!"

       "Dad-" Nathan tried to speak but his father cut him off.

       "Your mother has been worried sick about you!"

       "Dad, I was with some friends, okay?"

       "Since when do you have friends?" James snapped at his son. His blood was boiling with anger. "You weren't supposed to be hanging out with friends. You were supposed to be in school, studying and getting good grades!"

       "Da-"

       "I expected better from you!"

       "But I-"

       "You weren't answering your God-damned phone! Your mother even called the police because she thought something had happened to you."

       "It wasn't my plan!" Nathan yelled, frustrated that his father wasn't giving him a chance to explain.

       But how could he explain the situation to his father? Hey Dad, remember Kat? Well, she tricked me into going with her and this other girl that I kind of-sort of like a little to celebrate her and her jerk of a boyfriend's mock two year anniversary.

       Yes, that sounded like a good explanation.

       "The fact that you went along with it makes you more in the wrong here! You should have called or left a note or something. Look at how much of a wreck your mother is!" He pointed towards a tattered looking Catherine: her hair was frizzled and her face was wet with tears, and red and puffy like her eyes. Used tissues were lying on the coffee table in front of her.

       Nathan felt guilty, but the anger diluted all the guilt he felt, and he figuratively began to dig his own grave.

       "Why does she even care? She didn't care twelve years ago when she left us! I wasn't even going to go over to her place after school. I was going to ditch her and her stupid plans," Nathan looked at his mother with forced hatred. He didn't mean his words, but yet they came out like a bullet, and hit her right in the chest.

       "Nathaniel," his father took him by his arm, firmly gripping it. His father never said his full name, even if he was introducing him to someone new, or out of pure anger and frustration.

       Nevertheless, Nathan continued to dig deeper.

       "She wasn't here to see how much you hurt. I was young, but man, I understood. I had no one to call Mom or Mommy. I only had a Dad that was too busy to notice what his son was going through, but don't worry," he yanked his arm out of his father's grip and moved away from both of them, "I figured it out."