Chapter 6
"REESE! Get in here right now!" Lois roared when she hung up the phone.
Reese walked into the kitchen, head low, with Malcolm following behind him at a safe distance.
"What's wrong? What'd he done this time?" Hal asked, rushing in from the living room. Dewey also got up from his spot on the couch and peered around the kitchen doorway to watch the show.
"That was Mr. Herkabe on the phone. It seems that Reese has been fighting at school again." Lois pointed an accusing finger at her son. "But that's not even the worst part. Mr. Herkabe said that he cussed at him and told him to 'go rot in hell, you fucking bastard' among other things. What's wrong with you Reese? You do not speak to people like that—especially not your principal!"
"Reese! What were you thinking?" His dad asked with shock.
"But he—"
"I don't care! There's no excuse for that behavior. I will not tolerate one of my boys acting so blatantly disrespectful!" Lois shouted.
"If you would just listen—"
"Close your mouth, Reese. It doesn't matter what he did. There's NO excuse. Do you understand me? None. I may not be the best mother, but I know that I didn't raise you to be a disrespectful, defiant little punk."
"You mother's right, Reese. Sometimes people say things that we don't like, but it doesn't mean that you can tell them what you think. If I did that at work, I'd have been fired years ago!" Hal spoke up.
"In all fairness, Herkabe was a total jerk to him and he didn't even start the fight this time." Malcolm tried to defend his brother.
"You stay out of this Malcolm!" Lois warned. "Do you have any idea what two weeks suspension is going to do to your grades? My God, Reese, you're barely passing now! Don't you ever want to graduate?"
"I don't care. I'm stupid anyway." Reese muttered, thinking about was Mr. Herkabe had said to him.
"Don't you dare get smart with me!" Lois advised. "You'd better care! You will graduate! Even if it takes ten more years for you to do it! Mr. Herkabe also said that you left school without permission. What have you been doing all afternoon?"
"I was home the whole time." Reese lied.
"Well I hope you like it here because you will not step foot outside of this house—not even to go in the yard—during your two week suspension. I'm going to call you every hour to make sure that you're here. Then after the two weeks, you will only leave long enough to go to school for the next three months."
"Three months! You can't ground me for three months!" Reese protested.
"Oh I can't? You watch me, mister. And while you're stuck in the house with nothing to do for the next two weeks, you will clean every room—including the garage—from top to bottom. I want everything in this house to be spotless. And no music, video games or TV for three months!"
"Dad?" Reese looked to his father for help.
"Honey, don't you think three months might be a little steep for something like this? He's worse things than this before." Hal reasoned. Lois turned around and glared at him with a look that meant he'd better support her decision, or else. "Listen to your mother, Reese." He said, not willing to argue with her further.
"This is so unfair. You could at least let me tell you what happened. No one ever bothers to listen to my side of the story!"
"You're right, I don't care what your excuse is this time. I've had it with you. You're the most ungrateful and disobedient kid I've ever seen. You're worse than Francis!"
"I'm not a kid! I'll be eighteen soon and you won't be able to tell me what to do then!" Reese shot back.
"Oh, is that what you think? You think when you turn eighteen, then you're magically allowed to do whatever you want? Well let me tell you something—as long as you're living this house, you will do what we say and don't you ever forget it! Now go to your room. I don't want to see you for the rest of the evening." Lois ordered.
"FINE!" Reese turned and stomped off, slamming his bedroom door behind him.
Trembling with anger, he locked the door and grabbed one of the cigarettes that Malcolm had left on the dresser when they hurried out of the room. "You want defiant, bitch? I'll show you defiant!" Reese mumbled bitterly to himself. He climbed out of the window and lit the cigarette. As he smoked, he decided that he would definitely sneak out and see Jade tomorrow if for no other reason than to spite his mother.
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A/N: Thanks so much for your reviews Skat8erchick and Ruperts-a-honey! They really help inspire me to write more! Reese is my fav too, obviously—but I might end up being really mean to him before this is over. I guess I'm just sadistic like that. :-) I think this story is going to turn out a lot longer than I planned so keep up the reviews and let me know how it's going.