The Failure of a Father
Ch 3: No More Lies, Father…
After Michael walked out of the cafeteria, Roberto, Lori, and Lincoln chase after him, and thankfully, after thirty long minutes of running, they finally catched up to him.
"Michael…" Lincoln said, panting. "…your father loves you, he's just bad at showing it…"
"No, Lincoln…and Roberto's right…Father hates me…and the abuse is becoming too much for me to handle." Michael said as he balled his hands into fists, and made his way to his classroom.
And the bell rang.
"Guess we need to go back to class." Lori said as she held a somber look on her face.
The trio went to their respective classes, with sad looks on their faces.
As the students crammed information into their brains, Michael was writing his notes faster than ever, making the pencil break at times. Annoyed, Michael fished for his sharpener and sharpens his writing tool, then got back to cramming information into his brain.
Later, he finished copying his notes in Mathematics, then proceeded to Social Studies, writing at a rate of 100 words per minute.
Once home-time arrived, Michael was pacing around in the school lawn. "Roberto's right…my father is an abusive asshole and a pathetic—" He was pulled from his thoughts when he heard the sound of buses pulling out of the parking lot.
Michael chased after one of the buses. "Hey! Wait!"
The driver was too focused on the road, pretending as if he was darn deaf or something.
"I'm still here, wait up!" The bus then drove off to the students' respective houses. "FINE! JUST LEAVE! I EVEN WANTED TO WALK HOME ANYWAYS!" Michael yelled as he took his backpack, and walked home.
However, five minutes into the streets, a dog was chasing up to him. Michael ran and ran, the dog bit him in his leg when he grabbed a trash lid and smacked the dog with it.
Meanwhile at the Afton residence…
Elizabeth and CC were talking with each other, and they have one particular person in their minds. It is Michael.
"Kids! We're home!" Came the cheery voice of William Afton.
CC turned to Elizabeth and asked her. "Do you think we should tell Mum and Dad about this?"
"Hmm…I think not…" Elizabeth said.
"I think…" CC replied. "…we should tell Mum and Dad about this…"
"No, Joseph!" Elizabeth shouted. "What if Mikey gets mad at us?"
However, what they didn't know was that what Elizabeth said, will come true sooner or later.
With Michael, after being bitten by a dog on his leg, and being laughed at, he reached the Afton residence. Panting and seething, he walked up to the porch and flung open the door.
Meanwhile…
Inside, when the family heard the door flung open, they were shocked.
"Is that Michael?"
"Quick! Let's go downstairs! Now!"
CC and Elizabeth ran downstairs to see what the ruckus was all about, William and Olivia poked their heads out to see what happened. "Michael, dear, are you OK?" The mother of the Afton family asked.
"No, Mother…I'm not OK…" Michael said as he stomped upstairs.
CC called out to him. "Mikey?"
"Yes, CC?" Michael calmly asked him.
"Are you OK?" CC asked him.
Michael just turned away from his little brother and went to his room.
William then went upstairs and called out to him. "Michael?"
"What?"
"Why did you just ignore your little brother and walk past him?"
Michael scoffed. "Like you would ever give a shit…" Michael said as he turned away from his father.
"MICHAEL TERRENCE AFTON!" William said as he yelled at Michael. "YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SPEAK TO ME LIKE THAT AND USE BAD WORDS, I AM YOUR FATHER, MICHAEL, AND YOU KNOW THAT!'
"Hmph…" Michael hummed, as he turned to his father, and laughed darkly.
"MICHAEL TERRENCE AFTON! LISTEN TO ME WHEN I TALK TO YOU!"
"You think that you're my father…" Michael chuckled and yelled. "…AFTER ALL OF THE BULLSHIT YOU PUT ME THROUGH IN THE PAST THREE WEEKS?!"
Everyone had their mouths agape at Michael's use of colorful language, until William yelled. "MICHAEL, YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO USE BAD LANGUAGE IN THIS HOUSE!"
"Zip it, Father! Do you want to know why I came home late?!" He came downstairs, and William followed him. "The bus left with out me and I got bitten by a dog! I was teased on the way home!" He pulled the sleeve of his pants.
"Oh my God…" Olivia said as she went upstairs to examine Michael's bite wounds. "…are you OK?"
"None of your concerns, Mother…" Michael said as he pulled back the sleeve of his pants. He turned back to William. "Now…what was that we're talking about?"
"Your use of foul language in this residence!" William said as he slapped Michael. The slap echoed throughout the whole house, shocking Olivia, Elizabeth, and CC.
"Oh…you slap me…" Michael said as he stood a millimeter away from his father.
"So?" William said, raising an eyebrow.
"I have something to remind you of…" Michael said as he slapped William's cheek, even harder than that of William. "…HOW ABOUT THE TIME YOU HIT ME JUST BECAUSE I BROKE YOUR FAVORITE MUG? HUH? DID YOU EVEN SHOW ANY FUCKING REMORSE FOR WHAT YOU DID?!"
"William! You hit Michael?!" Olivia said, shocked and angered.
"M-Michael-" William said but he was interrupted.
"OH, AND REMEMBER THE TIME YOU CALLED ME A MISTAKE JUST BECAUSE YOUR COFFEE 'TASTED BAD'? I TRIED MY BEST ON THAT SINGLE CUP OF COFFEE, AND YOU SAY THAT IT TASTED BAD?!"
"M-Michael, listen, I-" William was interrupted again.
"AND THERE WAS THE TIME WHEN YOU HIT ME JUST BECAUSE 'I' MADE YOU SPILL YOUR COFFEE ON YOUR SHIRT! I DIDN'T MEAN TO, OLD MAN!" Michael yelled.
"Michael! Listen, I-I'm sorry, OK? Please…" William said as he took Michael's wrist.
"Sorry? Huh?" Michael chuckled. "You think a simple sorry will heal my PHYSICAL AND EMOTIONAL WOUNDS I WAS GIVEN IN THE PAST THREE WEEKS?!"
"Michael-"
"Shut up, besides, you're just a heartless bitch anyways…" Michael said.
William's heart shattered into pieces, when he heard that from Michael. Hot tears ran down his cheeks, and he implored, now realizing the gravity of his mistakes. "Michael…I-I'm sorry that I wasn't the best father to you lately…"
"I do not need your stupid apology, William…" William's eyes shrunk when he heard Michael refer to him by his first name instead of 'Father'.
"M-Michael…listen, I-"
"SHUT UP, OLD MAN!" Michael said as he took their family picture, and threw it on the ground.
Olivia covered her mouth in shock and sadness.
"M-Michael, please…" William said, with tears rolling down his cheeks.
"SHUT UP!" Michael said as he yelled at William, the tears of frustration evident on his face.
William then fell to his knees, realizing about how bad he screwed things up as a father.
In the Loud residence…
They were eating dinner, when they heard yelling and swearing from another house.
"Hm?" Lynn Sr. said as he put his utensils on his plate. "What's that noise?"
Lynn Sr. then listened clearly to what was happening back in the Afton house. "Did I just hear Michael swear and call William by his first name?"
"Michael did what?" Lincoln said, confused.
"His so-called 'father' abused him and treated him like a slave, that's why he finally snapped at him." Lori said.
"Poor lil' dude…" Luna said, feeling sympathy for Michael. "I really hope things get sorted out between him and his dad…"
Rita finished eating. "What was going on back there?" She said, confused.
"Things aren't doing well between William and Michael." Lynn Sr. said, putting a hand under his chin in worry.
"Oh no…" Rita said, shocked.
Lincoln then put a hand over his forehead in despair.
Back in the Afton residence…
William fell to his knees, and held Michael's wrist. "Michael, p-please! Just give me a second chance! I'll make it up to you, I swear! Please!"
Michael pulled his wrist away from his father. "No, what if you repeat the same thing again?"
William's irises turned purple, as he stood up and pulled Michael into a bear hug. "Michael, just give me a second chance…" The Afton father said as he hugged his son even tighter.
Michael pushed himself away from the hug, and ran out of the front door.
"MICHAEL!" Olivia said as she chased after her first child, but to no avail.
William then had a river of tears streaming down his face, realizing how much he had fucked up as Michael's father, he was supposed to take care of him…but no…he didn't, he abused him emotionally and physically, and even called him bad nicknames.
With Michael…
He ran as fast as he could into the darkened streets, and stopped under a lit lamp post. Michael had been fighting back tears for a tiring amount of time.
As such, he let the flood gates open up to their maximum potential. Michael cried and cried, and thought. "What have I done…I told off my own father…"
He silently sobbed to himself.
Back at the Loud house…
Lincoln gets up from his seat, and cracks his knuckles. "Time to see what the FUCK is going in that house." The 11-year-old Loud said, as he approached the front door, opened it, and slammed the door shut.
Lynn Loud Sr. and Rita Loud looked at each other with confusion and shock on their faces.
In the Afton residence…
William and Olivia were busy arguing and yelling at each other.
"IT'S YOUR OWN FAULT, WILLIAM, THANKS TO YOU ABUSING HIM, HE RAN AWAY!" Olivia yelled. "I FEEL LIKE A COMPLETE ASSHOLE INSTEAD OF A MOTHER RIGHT NOW!"
"SHUT UP, OLIVIA, YOU KNOW THAT I REGRET IT ALREADY, AND YOU SURE ARE A TOTAL ASSHOLE FOR NOT STANDING UP FOR MICHAEL WHEN I WAS ABUSING HIM!"
William and Olivia kept arguing with each other, until a familiar 11-year-old with white hair slammed the door open. "MR. AND MRS. AFTON, CAN YOU PLEASE JUST SHUT UP AND TELL ME WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TWO FIGHTING ABOUT?!"
"MR. AFTON OVER HERE, ABUSED OUR OWN SON PHYSICALLY AND EMOTIONALLY, AND TREATED HIM LIKE SOME SORT OF SLAVE!" Olivia yelled, hot tears running down her cheeks.
Lincoln then went up to William. "Is what Mrs. Afton said true?"
"Yeah…" William said as his anger went down drastically, regret flooding in. "…I abused him and treated him like some sort of slave." The man sat on the ground, tugging his knees to his chest.
Lincoln felt sympathetic for the poor man, and turned to look at the mother of the Afton family. "Poor Mr. Afton, I guess being a father is hard at times."
Olivia then explained the situation to Lincoln. "…M-Michael then ran off, I tried to chase after him but…" The mother's lips started quivering. "…but…" Olivia fell to her knees and cried, finally letting all of the tears out of her eyes. "…I lost him." She yelled while sobbing. "I JUST WANT MY BABY BOY BACK!"
Olivia then sobbed into her hands, as the 11-year-old Loud turned to look at the two younger members of the Afton household. He made a decision in his mind, and it was…finding Michael.
Lincoln Loud took a deep breath, and said, "Guys, stop crying, say, why don't we find Michael?" The white-haired Loud smiled.
"That's a good idea!" William said as he got up, and pulled Lincoln's arm. "Come on, guys, let's find Michael!"
All the other three members of the Afton family got up, with hope running through their veins. They went out of the front door to find their missing son and brother.
To be continued in Ch 4…
A/N: Hey guys, it's me, the author of this story. Sorry that I have to end it here, but I promise that the next chapter will be longer than the other. Well, after scrambling through Gacha Afton family videos, where William was a bad father to Michael, I decided to combine them all into one fanfic. I also read 'What is a Person Worth' in a few months ago. Will William and the others find Michael? We'll see in the next chapter.
[NOTE: I edited this chapter again to correct the errors I've made.]