CHAPTER 41: Family Friction

"You know what this means? This girl ought to have a swastika tattooed on her face for all of Ontario to see!"

Peater gulped and glanced at me worriedly. Elias, meanwhile, cleared his throat.

"You fell in love with a slipshod, messed up Snow Pea?!" he yelled.

"A girl who took out someone's eye when she was six years old?!"

"Yeah, why? Got a problem with that so-called crap? Cause I can give 'em to ya!" Peater smirked slightly at his clever comeback.

"Peater, what in the hell happened to the universal rule of respect your elders, eh? You don't talk to you parents that way! Even the Holy Bible says it ― "Thou shall respect thy parents"!" Elias snarled.

Peater's eyes flashed with anger.

"Does it look like I give a damn about what the bible says? No? Okay then! Just shut you God-forsaken hole! Please! Thank you so much!"

Elias looked offended at his son, but he fired back nonetheless.

"You have truly shamed the Haliantherus family name. First you fell in love too fast, and then there's the fact that you fell in love with a freaky Snow Pea! Like, Jee-suuz! Already having cognitive decline?"

"How mature of you, bozo!"

"Bush plant!"

"Dimple doofus!"

I glanced back and forth at the verbal battle that was taking place between father and son. Tears then came into my eyes as I realized that I was the cause of this conflict. I always tore friendships and families apart unintentionally. I inadvertently let out a sob as I sank to the floor, heartbroken by the damage I was causing. That was enough to stop the two boy-plants from arguing. As the twosome knelt down beside me, I cried, "I'm a failure, and I'm worthless. I'm the cause of all this trouble . . ." Peater hugged me, which brought a grimace onto Elias' face.

"Ugh . . . stupid old thing called love . . ." Elias muttered.

Peater gave him the death stare in response.

"SEE WHAT I MEAN? I KNEW THIS WOULD HAPPEN! I WOULD FIND SOMEONE WHO LOVED ME THAT WAS "DIRTY", AND THEN YOU'D HATE HER! NOT ALL SNOW PEAS ARE THAT BAD! BESIDES, DOES IT LOOK LIKE WE'RE IN BACK IN THE STONE AGES?! NO? OKAY THEN! WELL WHERE EXACTLY ARE WE?! IN THE 21ST CENTURY! 2013, TO BE EXACT! NOT TO MENTION THAT WE'RE IN CANADA, AND CANADA IS A FREAKING FREE COUNTRY, UNLIKE CRAZY OLD RUSSIA, WHICH HAS VLADIMIR PUTIN AS A CRAZY LEADER, ALRIGHT?! ELYSSIA IS JUST . . . JUST . . ."

He cut himself off as I whimpered slightly at the fact that I was putting salt in the wound again.

"I always knew that you'd fall in love with a crappy slob fresh from the crappy gutters. You know ― the slums down by Kensington market." Elias snickered, happy to see me crying once more.

"She is not from Kensington, but from Etobicoke! And she's not . . . crappy! Plus, how dare you call Elyssia a slob!" Peater yelled.

"And love isn't stupid! Remember . . . her . . . ?"

Elias gasped, and his eyes took on a faraway look for a few seconds.

"Yes, yes. Daydream, my friend. Make me happy, and give me power." Mar laughed from her corner.

She had somehow managed to remove her blindfold and untie herself, lest allowing her to skip over to us.

"Oh, how hungry I am for a soul!"

"Look away! NOW!" I warned as the puppet's eyes turned red.

But it was too late for me. Once again, Mar had gained control over my mind, and I was once again feeling blank.

"Elyssia, no!"

. . .

"One hell of a hypocrite! Says to look away, now look what she's done!"

"Shut up, Father!"

. . .

"I so freaking hate you, Peater! I wish you'd never existed! I wish that you'd just die with your crappy, good for nothing father, and go to hell! You're stupid and foolish, and I was ridiculous in falling in love with you! Get the hell outta my life! You don't deserve me! And I deserve better than you, you jerk!"

"Elyssia!" Peater knocked me to the floor, which snapped me out of my trance.

He had tears in his eyes, and Mar was laughing manically. I then recalled the insults that I had hurled at him, and once again, tears welled up in my eyes.

"Yes, yes . . . now it's his turn!" Mar cackled.

Peater turned around, looked into Mar's red eyes, and started beating me up.

"Peater, stop! STOP!" I yelled, but to no avail. I was slammed against the wall, which left me a bit disoriented.

"Oh, sure . . . jerk . . ." I slurred.

"Dumb idiot! Father was right! You're just a piece of crap!" I gasped at those words as Peater punched my mouth, which caused it to start bleeding.

I then shoved the boy-plant onto the ground, which snapped him out of his trance.

"Elyssia . . . are you all right?" he asked as he put a leaf on my shoulder.

Then both of us were hugging and crying as we realized just how evil Mar truly was.

"OOHHH! If only I knew this earlier on so that I could separate you two!" Elias screeched.

Peater found a cloth and pressed it to my mouth to stop the bleeding before he turned to his father.

"You would have separated me from the girl who's . . . the most important thing in my life? You would have had me kill myself all over an incident and a NAME?!"

Elias clicked his tongue. "I love you, Pea. I only want you to have the best and brightest future ―"

"Yeah, right. No offense, but if you really loved me, you'd be happy that Elyssia and I love each other." Peater cut in.

"Sure looks like it. You guys are just standing on unsteady ground, and you'll break up sooner or later. Trust me." Elias sniffed.

"God forbid that, Elyssia." Peater whispered as he hugged me.

Through the corner of my eye, I saw Elias giving me a look that said GO DIE. I gave him a look that said, No offence, but you'll see that you're not always right. I then closed my eyes as I tightened my embrace around the boy who had done so much for me.