Darren's body jerked upwards in his bed as Linnie's shrill voice rang in his ears. Shit, Darren forgot Linnie liked a nice cold, glass of milk before bed every night. Hearing an impatient foot tapping coming from the kitchen, Darren thought it would be best not to waste anymore of his father's time.
"Darren.", Linnie started off calmly, "I see you've gotten the groceries. I also saw something that I KNOW I didn't order. Care to tell me what that might be?"
"You talking about the beer?", Darren asked, trying to mask his nervousness, "Yeah uhm…that's funny. I don't remember buying that either. They probably accidentally mixed our groceries with someone elses."
"I don't think so Darren. To buy alcohol, you'd have to be IDd. I would understand that excuse if it was something like toilet paper, or a different snack or something, but alcohol has a special procedure, Darren. You can't accidentally buy alcohol.", Linnie complained, crossing his arms, not falling for Darren's lies one bit, "How much of it did you buy, and did you buy anything else?"
"Yes! Ok? Yes, that's mine, but I swear that's the only pack I bought. Blue Moon isn't even that heavy! It's only like 6% ABV, and I only had like 3 drinks. I've had worse."
"I'm not worried about how heavy it is, Darren. What I'm worried about is why you bought alcohol when I told you I didn't want to see it in my house!"
"Technically it's not your house if you're paying rent on it-"
"Darren!", Linnie snapped, causing Darren to jump and cower slightly. It had been such a long time since he had saw his father that angry, that he had forgotten that Linnie could get angry at all. He was usually a sweet, overly passive man that allowed everyone to treat him like a doorstep. Hell, a huge part of the problem with Darren's parents' relationship was caused by Linnie's timid nature, and how he basically allowed his wife to control him, and force Darren and his sibling to walk on eggshells. But tonight, Darren found himself face to face with the same Linnie that had confronted him the first time he was caught shoplifting. Aware of his father's anger but unwilling to back down, Darren took a breath and looked right into Linnie's flamed, green eyes.
"I don't get it what the big deal is. It's just a 6 pack of beer! You're acting like I bought vodka or whiskey or some shit, and even if it was, I'm almost 40,000 years old, Papa! I'm an adult! I deserve to be treated like one, and I deserve to have the same rights as you do.", Darren yelled, making Linnie step back, "See, this is exactly what I wanted to talk to you about earlier. Why can't you give me the freedom as an adult? To make my own decisions, to drink and enjoy drugs as I please, to live wherever I want, why do you always have to be right on top of my ass?"
"Because I care about you, Darren!", Linnie yelled back, tears starting to flow down his cheeks, "Do you want to know WHY I don't allow alcohol in my home? It does nothing but bring pain and misery on people's families. It tricks people into believing its ok to treat other people so cruelly and with no empathy, not to mention all it can do to your health."
"Ok, but don't you think that's not your call to make anymore? For god's sake, you shouldn't even be stressing out about me anymore. You should be planning a vacation or leaving the city to retire or some shit."
"But I don't. I have a family to think about and take care of, since it's very obvious your mother isn't going to do any of that.", Linnie cried, "If you felt like you were being treated unfairly around here, then why didn't you talk to me, like the adult you claim to be? Why did you deliberately disobey me and then have the nerve to lie to me about it?"
"Oh my god, it's literally just a pack of beer."
"I don't care what it is, and I don't give a damn how old you are, Darren Cosma! The point is, you've disobeyed your father, and…and", Linnie was at a lost for words, Darren's cocky smirk staring at Linnie mockingly, sucking all hope and anger out of him, "And….I…I don't understand why. Why have you been acting this way towards me lately?"
"Like what? What are you talking about, Papa?", Darren ached his brow. Linnie sighed in exhaustion.
"Like this. You keep cursing in the house even after I've asked you to stop, you go and do things behind and back and then lie about it, you steal from other people, you're constantly giving other people an attitude, honestly Darren, the list goes on.", Linnie said, "Where have I gone wrong, huh? When Chelsea brought you here, I felt so awful that you were stranded out in the cold with very little to eat, so I decided to help out and give you a place to stay because of how much love I have for you."
"Don't you mean, Had?"
"No Darren! Have! Now stop interrupting me please. It's my time to talk right now.", Linnie snapped, his preschool teacher voice slipping out momentarily, "Anyways, I brought you in because I thought this would help you get what you need, and I thought that if I gave you as much support as I could, you'd be better off and kept off the streets. Now, you know I've never demanded much from you kids, but for all the 35,000 years I've been married to your mother, the 40+ hours I had spent in labor pushing all 3 of you out, and the countless amounts of times I was told that I was never good enough, you'd think my family would have the courtesy to say thank you every once in a while."
"Ok woah, chill out!", Darren yelled, before lowering his voice, "Damn, you really starting to sound like Nora right about now."
At that comment, Linnie froze up, unable to respond to his son. A part of him wanted to explode, call Darren ungrateful, and go on and on about all the sacrifices he made trying to take care of all three of his children, but the rest of Linnie kept him from doing so. He had promised himself that no matter how upset or frustrated at the children he got, Linnie would never stoop so low as to start abusing them. Despite all the crap Darren was giving him right now, Linnie knew he still loved him, even if he was making it super hard not to slap him right now, and as much as he loved his three children and caring for them, Linnie would be lying to himself if being reminded by his abusive past wasn't exhausting.
"Darren.", Linnie took a deep breath, "Ironically, that's exactly why we're having this conversation. I can't help but worry you'll turn into another Nora someday. I don't want that for my children, Darren."
"OK you know what? Here's the thing, you stupid bitch.", Darren snapped, "Don't you think Nora started acting like that because she had no idea what the fuck she was doing with those fucking bottles? There's a huge fucking difference between having three little drinks and downing entire bottles of Evan Williams like it's a fucking water fountain!"
Linnie was speechless. He knew his relationship with his oldest was always rocky, but he never would have thought Darren would have the guts to insult him. Before he could process what had just been said, Darren continued.
"Believe it or not, Papa, you can actually trust me to take care of myself. I'm so sick of you treating us all like a bunch of fucking babies when in reality, the only real baby is you. Oh, and newsflash Princess, no one asked that you spend 40 hours in labor. No one asked to be here.", Darren finally said, throwing himself off the chair and storming off to his room, grabbing on the shirt and jeans he had worn before coming over to Linnie's for the first time. Seeing Darren head towards the front door, Linnie got up and placed his hand gently on the door, trying to keep Darren from opening it.
"Darren, wait! Where are you going?", Linnie asked, the tears still streaming down his face. Darren rolled his eyes and shooed Linnie's hand off the door, finally opening it, "Please, it's dark and cold out there! Please! I'm not trying to kick you out! It's just…"
"I know you're not kicking me out. I'm leaving.", Darren said as a matter-of-factly, "I'm sure one of my bar buddies will be more than happy to give me a place to crash."
"Darren…I…", Linnie stammered as Darren left, his tears now becoming more thick and violent. He collapsed on the couch and started sobbing, wishing his son would come back and questioning his ability as a father. It was a good while before Linnie was able to gather himself and dry his tears, before grabbing out his phone and calling Darren, his call getting declined each time. Before he could finally came and go to bed however, Linnie felt his phone ringing, Chelsea's Caller ID showing.
"H-Hello?", Linnie sniffed, hearing loud music in the background.
"Hey Papa! We finally finished up with the last show for the night, and I thought I'd check on you and Darren. How's he been?", Chelsea asked in a bright tone. Linnie sighed.
"Hi honey. Things could be better.", Linnie said sadly, "Your brother brought beer into my home and we got in a fight, and now he's left! I don't even know where he's gone off too. I've tried calling him but he's not picking up."
"Yeah, sounds like typical Darren alright.", Chelsea groaned, "Swear, he needs to learn what freaking gratitude is."
"Well, I may have been a little harsh on him as well. I had gotten so upset, I started using the 40 hours to labor card to explain why I felt like he needs to be more respectful, a-and it's…it's just…I don't know Chelsea. I really want to help him, but I just..I don't know what to do. He's so belligerent towards me, and all I want is for him to feel loved for and cared about, but I also want him to understand that I have boundaries. A-and now he's out in the streets and…"
"Woah hold on. Did you kick him out?"
"No! No, he chose to leave. I tried to stop him but he pushed right past me. Oh..", Linnie whined, "I don't know where he could've possibly gone to, but I'm worried. It's so dark and dangerous out there. I'm just worried someone might try and hurt him."
"Well, I guess if you want, I could call him. Smack some sense into him.", Chelsea said, laughing slightly at the last statement, "Honestly Darren's a tough kid, I'm sure he can handle the sleazies out in the neighborhood, but if you want, I'll call his stupid ass and tell him to get home."
"Oh no, please don't curse. I don't need two fowl mouths.", Linnie nagged, "And if you could please, but don't tell him I asked you. He won't answer if you do, but I need him back home safe."
"Sure thing Papa.", Chelsea answered before hanging up the phone, leaving Linnie alone to sulk and head to the bathroom, brushing his teeth, and grab a pillow and blanket and lying it across the couch, deciding to rest there until Darren had come home to him.