Chapter 4

Michael had just arrived home from school when he saw that there were people in the kitchen and he froze. "Mom?" He asked.

"Hi, sweetie," Clara said to her oldest son. "How was school?"

"It was good, but...why are they here?" He asked.

"Hey!" The other lady said. "Have some manners, young man! Didn't your mother teach you better?!"

Clara glared at the woman. "Don't you dare speak to my son that way," she said before looking at Michael. "I'm sorry, honey. They arrived unexpectedly and are insisting on staying for dinner. Your father is on his way home."

Michael groaned. The reason he was upset was because the other people were his aunt, his uncle, and two cousins. His aunt and uncle were rather snobbish and liked to act like they were above everyone while their children were just as bad. Their eldest son was around Michael's age and was a bully.

The youngest cousin, who was age three, threw tantrums a lot to get what she wanted. Michael didn't want to deal with them, but he knew better than to be rude to guests, even if they were uninvited guests. "Please don't tell me I have to hang out with my cousins," he quietly pleaded his mother.

"No," she said quietly, much to his relief. "But please set the table when I call out that dinner is ready."

"Yes, Mom," he said, deciding that he could handle eating dinner with the extended family.

He saw his cousin smile meanly at him, but he ignored him, which surprised his cousin. "Not going to invite me to play, Mikey?" He said snarkily.

"No," Michael said. "And stop calling me that. Only Evan and Liz can call me that."

"Such a rude boy," his uncle said.

Michael glared at him. "At least I don't lie and steal to get what I want," he shot back at him, making his uncle's face turn red in anger.

Clara stepped in. "Stephen. Cassandra, you two are not to speak to my children," she said firmly. "I don't care if they are your niece and nephews. Unless you can learn to speak nicely to them, then keep your words to yourself. Remember, you are guests in my house."

Cassandra sneered at her before turning to her son. "Go play, Kevin," she said. "Ignore your rude cousin. You too, Kelly."

Michael went up to his room and shut the door, sighing. A moment later, he heard Elizabeth call his name and he opened the door to see her and Evan standing there, looking afraid. He motioned them to come in and he shut the door. "I know," he said reassuringly, hugging his siblings.

"Why are they here?" Elizabeth asked. "I don't like them."

"Uncle Stephen and Aunt Cassandra are mean," Evan said. "Kevin's mean too. And I don't like Kelly either."

Michael nodded. "Thankfully, Mom isn't going to make us interact with them outside of having dinner," he said. "She promised."

"Daddy's not going to be happy about this," she said. "He was really upset at Uncle Stephen for stealing his watch last time."

Evan nodded. "Can we wait here with you until Daddy comes home, Mike?" He asked.

"Sure," the elder boy said. "Liz, do you have homework?"

"Just some spelling words," she said.

For the next hour, Mike quizzed Liz on the spelling words and once that was done, she and Evan played quietly with some of their toys while their older brother did his homework. Just as he finished up, the door opened and Kevin came storming in, pouncing on Michael and trying to punch him.

"Hey! Get away from my brother!" Elizabeth yelled at him. "Mom! Dad! Come quick!"

Feet pounded on the stairs as William came in and when he saw what happened, he grabbed his nephew and lifted him off of Michael. "Enough!" He said sternly.

Michael got up and William looked at his children. "Children, come downstairs," he said to them, his tone level while he carried Kevin by the back of his shirt downstairs. The boy struggled, but William's grip was firm. When they reached the kitchen, William placed Kevin down in front of Cassandra. "Your son attacked my son, Cassandra."

The woman gasped. "How dare you accuse my sweet boy of such actions!" She said, fussing over Kevin.

Clara glared at her. "Cassandra, if your son acts out one more time, I will ask you and your family to leave," she said firmly.

Stephen stood up. "Mind your tongue, woman!" He said to Clara.

"Don't you dare talk to my wife that way!" William said.

Before Stephen could say anything, Evan had gotten a cup of water from his mother and walked past his relatives, suddenly tripping, the water spilling all over his aunt, who screamed. "You little brat!" She snarled, but before she could do anything else, the door blew open and a gust of wind kicked up into the kitchen, messing up Cassandra's hair as she screamed again.

Elizabeth quickly came in and shut the door. "Whoa! Did you see that?" She asked.

Michael managed to hide his laughter as he had seen his sister open the door partially before leaving the house from the sliding door in the back. It was a bit windy, so the wind blowing the door open was a bonus.

Just then, Evan noticed something in Kevin's pocket. "Hey! That's Michael's slinky!" He said, pulling it out of his cousin's inner suit pocket.

"NO! It's mine!" Kevin said, grabbing it.

William quickly stepped in, taking the slinky from the boys and looking at it, seeing Michael's name on it. "It is Michael's," he said as he handed it to his eldest son before turning to Kevin. "Kevin, that was wrong of you."

"Stealing is wrong," Clara said. "You are not to leave this kitchen for the rest of the night."

Cassandra stood up. "Don't you dare punish my baby! He did nothing wrong!" She said.

Evan suddenly looked up at his dad. "Daddy, I saw Kevin go into Michael's room earlier, when I was hiding from him," he said.

William nodded and looked at his sister-in-law and brother-in-law. "I'm afraid you two have worn out your stay here," he said. "Please leave at once."

Stephen stood up. "We will stay, William. It's rude not to feed guests," he said. "Or did they not teach you that at the restaurant?"

"They teach Daddy how to deal with rude customers like you!" Elizabeth said.

"And as Dad is the man of the house, he has the right to kick you out, as does Mom," Michael said.

"He's right," Clara said. "Cassandra. Stephen, take your children and leave my house at once."

Cassandra crossed her arms. "What are you going to do? Throw us into the rose bushes?" She asked snarkily.

Evan moved quickly before his siblings could stop him and he slapped the cup of coffee his aunt was holding, making the coffee splash all over her. It thankfully wasn't hot coffee, but his aunt jumped up with a scream all the same.

Kelly started to throw a temper tantrum at her mother's yelling and hit the bowl of whipped cream that Clara had made for the strawberry shortcake the guests had been eating and it landed all over her, Kevin, Cassandra, and Stephen. Elizabeth quickly grabbed a bucket and filled it with water before splashing it all over her uncle. "You have to get the stains out!" She said.

Cassandra screamed again as she worried about her hair. Michael quickly moved and pushed his aunt to the door hurriedly, telling her it was the bathroom. His aunt didn't think twice and ran outside, actually tripping as her shoe caught on the step and she grabbed the railing to keep from falling down. Stephen followed suit and nearly tripped over her while Elizabeth picked up Kelly and carried her to the door, placing her outside the house and Michael pushed Kevin out the door too, shutting the door and locking it before peeking out the window. "And never come back!" He yelled through it. "You aren't welcome here again!"

As the kitchen became quiet, the Afton family looked around and suddenly, William burst out laughing. "Did you see Cassandra's face when the whipped cream landed on her?!" He laughed. "I think Kelly had her temper tantrum at the right time."

Clara smiled. "Well, that's one way to get rid of rude guests, especially thieves," she said. "But kids...don't do that with every rude guest we have, okay?"

"Sorry, Mommy," Evan said.

"Sorry, Mom," Michael said.

"Sorry, Mom," Elizabeth said. "We'll help you clean up."

"Good idea," William said with a nod.

They all got the kitchen clean and Clara smiled. "Well, since I'm not cooking that awful food Cassandra brought, what do you say we go out to eat instead?" She suggested. "Maybe that burger and shake place we all like?"

The kids lit up and William agreed. "I think we've all earned a treat," he said as they headed out, the walls being the only silent witness of what went down just moments before.

I've been listening to a lot of stories on YouTube about rude people getting their just desserts, so that is what largely inspired this chapter. :)

Please leave a review, but no flames!

GoldGuardian2418