Cash’s POV
“Hi, Royal,” my mom and Royal were staring directly at each other. I assumed neither really knew what to do in a situation like this.
“First and foremost, everyone to the living room couch,” dad said finally cutting the tension and silence.
“I really don’t have to stay. I understand this is an… uncomfortable situation.”
“Everyone. To. The. Couch,” with that we all walked into the living room with Royal sitting between me and the edge of the couch.
“First of all, what happened to our front door,” I looked at Samuel who was just hanging his head down.
CRASH
Everyone’s head snapped upward.
“Samuel, what was that?”
“I’ll be back.”
When he came back there was a very feisty kitten in his arms. It didn’t seem to be scratching him, but it was squirming and hissing.
“SAMUEL PUT THAT THING DOWN!” My mom has always been afraid that we would get rabies by some strange animal.
“But Mom.”
“NOW!”
He put the kitten down and much to everyone’s surprise it ran and attached itself to Royal’s jeans, “these jeans are fu…” he squirmed in his seat when he saw my dad staring holes into him, “full of holes anyways…” he bought them that way.
“Well, at least we know what happened to the front door. Next on the agenda, why are you here?”
“I…”
“I am not addressing you, Cash.”
“Umm… Cash and I are working on a project together for school… so, umm, he invited me over to work on it… for school…” Royal has always been uncomfortable around my parents. Instead of being rude or cursing them out any time they run into each other he gets fidgety and disappears somewhere.
“And why is your bike in the back of Cash’s truck?” By now my mom was taking Royal’s appearance in, which did not help his nerves at all.
“Uhh… your son forced me to ride with him.”
“Could’ve worded that better,” I whispered to him before continuing to explain, “do you know Marcus Black? Coach Black’s son.”
“Yeah, big dude, dark skinned, football player.”
“He illegally hit Royal causing him to go down way too hard and not get back up for a good couple seconds. I thought I should give him a ride instead of letting him get on a motorcycle hurt.”
“Oh!” Mom was a very emotional person, which is weird because she’s a nurse so she should be use to everything, “are you okay?” She ran up to Royal probably causing more discomfort.
“I’m fine. I swear,” this didn’t stop her from moving his head around a little.
“Why don’t you stay for dinner, Royal,” my mom disliked Royal’s parents my dad despised them. He knew Royal was uncomfortable and he was pushing that nerve even further.
“I’m o…”
“That’s a great idea! You boys can work on your project till dinner is ready and then we won’t send you home hungry.”
“Okay,” where is this Royal when I suggest literally anything.
At dinner
After the living room talk mom and dad sent Samuel, who was trying to convince the cat to get off Royal’s leg, to his room. Then they went to clean up the front door and figure out what things needed to be replaced. Luckily it was just a mess nothing expensive was broken beyond repair. Royal and I went into my room to work on our project and come up with a plan. Of course as soon as the door was closed he was back to himself.
Now we were all sitting at the table just kinda waiting for someone to speak up. Dad was looking at the son of the two people he hates above all else. Mom was watching dad. Royal was picking at his food. Fern and Samuel had gone to eat upstairs to avoid the tension. And I was situated between everything watching the drama unfold.
“So,” after fully taking Royal’s appearance in for the first time since everything started, “what was going through your parents mind when they let you look like that.”
Royal said nothing just looked straight at my father. All of his piercings were displayed and most of his tattoos were too. His clothes weren’t the best either with black combat boots, ripped black jeans, a ripped t-shirt with a half plaid, half solid colored flannel over it. And don’t get started on his makeup, yes, it was one of the most natural looks ever, so if you don’t look to closely you can’t tell at all, but dad was glaring at him with a fiery intensity.
“Now, Jason, don’t be rude to our guest,” my mom was a sweet lady and although she has threatened me multiple times about what she would do if I got a tattoo she wasn’t going to show that side to Royal, “do you not like your food, sweetheart.”
“Oh, umm,” he didn’t have the guts to tell her that he doesn’t eat meat after she prepare this steak for him I will.
“He’s a vegetarian, mom.”
“So, that’s where his morals start.”
“JASON! Stop! I’m sorry, honey, you could’ve told me.”
“It’s fine, really,” I didn’t know whether he was talking about dad’s comment or the food, but he was just done, “I should get going. Thank you for your hospitality, Mr. and Mrs. Hugh.”
“Bye.”
He hastened to the front door and I didn’t say anything till I heard it close, “seriously, dad.”
“I don’t know why you had to invite that boy over. His parents are bad enough I don’t need his appearance to infect the other kids.”
“I seriously cannot believe you. He looks FINE!”
“He looks like he belongs in a gang.”
“Mom, back me up here, please.”
“Jason, he’s a kid and although I don’t agree with everything he’s already done you shouldn’t beat him down for his parents doings.”
“Natasha, we both know that he’s following in the footsteps of his parents.”
“Well, he won’t ever change if no one shows him how.”
“Fine, I’ll be civil. Cash, why don’t you invite Royal to our family picnic and game day tomorrow. I’ll apologize and we can get more comfortable together.”
“Fine, but he’s probably not going to agree.”
“Just try, sweetie.”
Later that night
Me
~ My dad wants to apologize
Ice Ice
~ 😒
Me
~ And invite you to our family picnic and games tomorrow
~ At Limelight park
Ice Ice
~ That’s 3 hours away
~ y would I want to go to that
Me
~ I don’t know
~ please do or my parents will think I didn’t even ask
~ plus we can use it for our project
Ice Ice
~ Fine
~ if anything happens I will kill you
And with that I put my phone down and started to get ready for bed. Tomorrow was going to be a long day.
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