The Failure of a Father

Ch 11: Parental Reassurance

The cars drove past Michael as he walked by the houses shining bright at night. He liked the sight of Royal Woods at this time of day, as various bright lights of different colors shined on the road. He kept walking on the sidewalks, as he came across Lincoln's parents.

"Mr. and Mrs. Loud?" Michael asked, shocked. "What are you doing here?"

"Nothing, lad." Lynn Sr. said. "We just want to see you, and hopefully, get things sorted out between you and your dad."

They looked at the sunset sky, and Rita asked Michael. "Why did you lash out at your dad that Tuesday?"

"I have my own reasons, Mrs. Loud, and it's a secret." Michael replied to Lincoln's mother.

"He mistreated you?" Lynn Sr. asked. "Isn't it?" His eyes narrowed down at the boy, giving him a contemptible look.

"Yeah, but that's only the tip of the iceberg…" Michael said, Lincoln's father was right, William did neglect and treat him like shit. However, it went even deeper than that, and there are more reasons as to why Michael lashed out at his father William that one day.

Silence formed between them, until Rita breathed through her nose and spoke.

"Listen, I know you hate your dad at this point…but you will forgive him, right?" Rita said, smiling a little.

Michael nodded in response. "I will, just not this time…"

Lynn Sr. turned his eyes to see Michael. "Well, I think it's time you open up to us." His glare lightened a bit, as he gave the teen a light pat on his shoulder. "Hiding your real emotions can have a significant effect on your mental health, including your social standing."

Michael turned away from Lynn Sr., as he covered his face with one hand. Tears gushed from his hand as he cried silently to himself, mirroring the pain of getting into a conflict with his family. Rita gave the poor teenager back rubs, as she kept comforting him with a solemn look on her face. The Loud parents knew the boy had been through a lot of bullshit in the past, so they helped him with his struggles.

The Loud father sighed deeply, as he looked at the Afton teenager. He spoke.

"Michael?"

The teen stopped crying as he turned to look at the man. Sniffling, he asked. "W-What?"

"Do you like the thought of your dad going to jail for a decade or two?" Lynn Sr. asked.

Michael shook his head, as tears kept rolling down his cheeks and falling on the sidewalks. He wiped his face with his shirt, as Rita gave him a tissue to blow his nose.

Michael blew his nose, and cleaned his eyes of any tears coming out. Lynn Sr. then gave him a pat on his head, as he spoke.

"Look, I know you don't like the thing of your family being split into pieces…" Lynn Sr. replied. "I respect that, you're…a pure-hearted lad, Mike, even though you hate your dad at the moment right now, you still love him…" The man looked at the watch under his long-sleeved shirt with buttons. "We got to go now, it's dinner time for us and the kids."

The two adults walked away, as Michael sulked on the bench. Minutes later, Ronalda came into the scene and greeted him happily.

"Ey Michael!" Ronalda smiled.

"Hey Ronalda." Michael replied, the sadness in his voice was clear as day.

"Feeling blue, eh?" Ronalda said, as she sat on the bench near Michael. "Did you also know that I am Roberto's sister?"

"You're his sister?" The teen asked. "I didn't know about that."

"Suuure…" The Latina replied. "…and you found out just now." She smiled.

He sighed as he wiped his eyes of tears. "Yeah…" The boy said.

"Ey…can't you just, you know, talk things out with your papa?" The Hispanic girl asked in her native language. "Maybe you guys can hopefully reconcile, and get things back in good terms..." Ronalda smiled.

"I know, Ronnie, but that is not going to work." Michael frowned at Roberto's sister. "Words can't express how I feel right now, or describe me and Father's relationship. That old man did so much worse things to me…" His irritation went down drastically. "Just…why? Why the hell do I have to go through a significant portion of my life being treated like trash and getting belittled by everyone around me? Is it because I am not worthy to do anything on this world? Or it's just because I deserved it all for nothing?"

Ronnie Anne understood the weight of the world on Michael's shoulders. She replied. "Michael…listen, everyone here in this world is not perfect. We all make mistakes, and so do I."

"Really?" Michael stood up from his seat, and went away, keeping what Ronalda said in his mind.

The teenager walked off to the Williamses' house, and Ronnie Anne walked back to her own home.

The next day…

It was Monday, and everyone woke up from their beds, went downstairs for breakfast, and went to school. Irritated, they got off the bus and went into the hallways that welcomed them with the sound of children chattering and playing, the sound of laughing and lockers opening and closing.

Meanwhile, Robert was blushing as his crush Jennilyn came into the scene. The girl's hair was as gold as the sun, her eyes were shining bright like stars in the sky, and her voice was music to his ears. Since the two first met, the boy started having a crush on her.

"Oh man…" Robert thought as Michael approached him.

"Yo Robert, you OK?" Michael asked.

"My crush Jennilyn is here…" Robert said, twiddling his index fingers. "I have a crush on her, and I don't know what to tell her…"

Lincoln came into the scene. "Straighten yourself up, and be confident!" He smiled.

Robert sighed and straightened himself up as he went up to Jennilyn. "H-Hi there Jennilyn!"

"Oh hey Robert!" Jennilyn greeted him. "What's up?"

"You're looking fine today…" He said, moving his foot in a circular motion.

"Thanks for the compliment!" She giggled.

"I have to ask you something…"

"What is it? Tell me!"

Robert asked. "Do you want to be my girlfriend?"

Jennilyn blushed hard at what Robert asked her, she then smiled and shouted. "OH MY GOD, YES! I WOULD LIKE TO BE YOUR GIRLFRIEND!"

The girl hugged him, and he blushed even harder as he thought. "This is the first time I was ever hugged by a girl…"

Later in class…

Mrs. White was explaining their lessons for today, to which the whole class groaned in annoyance. As the sound of her voice filled the air, two of the students fell asleep, as they pulled out a pair of earmuffs and a blindfold. The sound of their snoring became audible to the teacher, to which she yelled at them in response.

"Wake up! School is not a place to sleep!" She yelled to the two.

The two students then put their sleep accessories away, as the teacher kept explaining the lessons for today, and of course, homework.

They started writing down their notes for the day, completing the pupil's activity, and soon after, they finished doing the school work and cleaned up their tools for writing. Later, home time arrived and each one of them got on the bus to go home.

To be continued in Ch 12…

A/N: Hey it's FNAFLHFaN2006 here, my apologies if chapter eleven took a lot of time to publish. I've been busy with school, and personal stuff. This is Ronalda's first appearance, same goes for Jennilyn, who is Robert's crush. I was listening to a Spanish song for this one, that's all I will tell you for today, and thank you.

[NOTE: I edited this again to add more detail. Sorry for the typo, I meant to be continued in chapter twelve, not to be continued in chapter eleven.]