Mr. Calhoun maintained eye contact with his eldest son for a moment longer before taking a deep breath and turning to face Mr. Hale and Roni, smiling jovially as if the heated conversation had never happened.
“Jeff! Pleasure to see you! It’s been a few months hasn’t it” spoke Mr. Calhoun as he stuck out his hand out to Mr. Hale with the same practiced charm he reserved for his clients and colleagues
“Leonard” replied Mr. Hale, reciprocating the hand shake. Mr. Hale was doing a great job at keeping his rage in check, wanting to pull the larger man over the table and return the slap that he gave Joey tenfold, but knew better than that; all that the argument between Mr. Calhoun and Joey had done was add more ammo to use against Leonard and Margaret when he finally pressed them for letting him and Kat adopt Joey.
Joey grumbled angrily as he walked around the table and sat down next to Roni, rubbing his face from where his father slapped him. Roni leaned over to check on him, having been worried throughout the entire confrontation. Roni rarely ever saw Joey get that enthralled, and even more seldom did she see his temper directed at an adult. While Joey had in the past discussed the events of his fights with his mother and father, seeing them first hand was something else entirely.
“I’m so sorry Joey…You always talked about this but…seeing it first hand, god…he’s a monster…they both are” whispered Roni as she made sure Joey’s face didn’t have any residual swelling.
Joey’s lips twitched into a bitter smile. “Yeah, well… perfect picture of parental affection, huh?” He glanced sideways at Roni, his eyes gleaming with a strange satisfaction. “Still, all things considered… that went better than expected.”
Roni’s eyebrows furrowed in confusion, not fully understanding what Joey meant. Looking into his eyes, he almost seemed happy to have been hit by his dad. “Joey…you aren’t concussed are you? Cause you aren’t making any sense…” Roni quietly asked in concern while her father and the Calhoun’s exchanged pleasantries about current events, which she herself found unsettling considering what had just happened.
“Look…any time I could push that fucker over the edge I took as a win…having done it for what might be the last time…despite how much it hurt getting hit…well.,..it tells me I still was able to get to the bastard some how…and that was all I wanted” smiled Joey as he watch his mom and dad exchange nothings with Roni’s father, “I just wanted to know I could push him to the point where he had no choice to act how he really wanted to…that’s all that mattered to me”
Roni looked at Joey, still a bit confused but at least having a slight bit of clarity cross her mind. Joey knew he’d never be able to change either his fathers or his mothers mind, but he also knew that he could get his father to drop his false bravado and honor for a more primal reaction. Joey being an underbred and not stooping to the same lever must have helped him realize that he was, on some level, more of a human than his father is; at the very least, he was able to win a posturing competition with his father.
“So….Jeff…” Mr. Calhoun asked, keeping Joey in his peripheral vision with minimal interest, “What brings you and Veronica to our side of the city?”
“Yes…I’m wondering this as well Jeff” echoed Mrs. Calhoun as she twirls her freshly dyed blonde hair, studying not only Mr. Hale but his daughter as well as she pursed her lips. “Did you believe that this animal was lost and needed to be returned to its owners? Because, as you may had gathered, we’re sending it away as soon as possible”
Joey wanted to stand up and yell at his mother, as a challenging grin formed on her face seeing the reaction she wanted starting to form, but stopped when Roni squeezed his hand. He looked at her to see Roni’s calming expression, and just decided to sit there quietly, stewing in his anger.
“Interesting! It would seem Veronica has been able to tame the beast” Mrs. Calhoun quipped, eliciting a giggle at her own joke and a cold stare from Roni, who was doing her best to keep her emotions in check.
Finally, Roni let out a sigh and managed to calm down a little. “He’s not a beast, ma’am. He’s my best friend, and I would politely ask that you not refer to Joey as anything other than Joey.”
Mrs. Calhoun’s eye twitched a little when she heard Roni reply, but she managed to maintain her composure for the most part. Mr. Hale, meanwhile, let out a sigh and rolled his eyes. He was proud of his daughter, but Mr. Hale knew that her stubborn, head strong nature would make this much more difficult to handle.
Joey looked down at his lap to better hide his smirk at Roni’s comment. He could feel his mother’s temper boil beneath her skin at Roni’s seemingly innocent comment. However, it set a precedent that his mother wasn’t used to, that Joey wasn’t to be messed with or talked down to anymore.
“Veronica, you can’t actually believe that, dear” Mrs. Calhoun said with an exasperated tone that bordered on annoyance. “This…this thing” she gestured vaguely in Joey’s direction, “is just a…simple minded animal prone to violence. I mean…look at how it acted with my husband. Uncivilized and with no control over it’s emotions. It’s been like this for years now. The fact that it is a lesser being explains all of the attitude issues it’s had, especially when you consider our pure bred son’s attitude. It’s a wonder it hasn’t ran into the woods and gone feral.”
Joey’s fist slammed onto the table hearing this. “Johnny is a good and caring kid because I made sure to take the brunt of your and dad’s shit! You really think he would be okay with everything if I pulled out my phone and called him, right now?!”
Mrs. Calhoun’s nostrils flared and her brows furrowed. “You will do no such thing. Our son doesn’t deserve to be burdened by the fact that he shared blood with a insignificant being that will end up being so small it an fit in a jar.”
This time, Roni chimed in for Joey. “No. Johnny won’t be burdened by the fact that he’s being taken care of by such vile people! I want to tell Johnny. I want Joey to be with his brother when he changes. I want to know that he is safe and taken care of.” Roni stood up from her seat, her eyes boring holes inot Mrs. Calhoun. “If Joey didn’t love Johnny so much and want to make sure he and you two have a good relationship, I’d have called him and told him everything!”
Joey grabbed Roni’s hand as Mrs. Calhouns face went flush with rage, and he gave it a squeeze a light pull, trying to get Roni to sit back down. He was grateful that she was standing up for him, but this wasn’t helping the situation. They needed to get down to the business at hand and wouldn’t make much progress if it went back to an emotional shouting match.
“You know…it might be more productive if we let the kids leave the office while we talk”, cooly suggested Mr. Hale, not wanting his daughter’s emotions to either impact his own or the conversation that he is about to have with Joey’s parents.
Mr. Calhoun shot a look at his wife for trying to start more drama after she had finally got him to calm down, who in return smiled apologetically. With a frustrated sigh, Mr. Calhoun walked to the doors of the office and stuck his head out into the foyer “Santiago! Can you please come here and escort Veronica and the animal throughout the house!” called out Mr. Calhoun.
Moments later, Santiago arrived at the office to see the remnants of a tense situation, with Joey’s face still red from where his father hit him just moments ago. Shooting him a subtle sympathetic look, Santiago stepped to the side of the door and waved his hand for the two teens to follow him.
“Please, right this way Miss Veronica and Master Joey” calmly spoke Santiago, adding more emphasis to “master” as he shot his bosses a subtle, angry glare that neither seemed to care too much about.
The two follow behind Santiago, Joey never once looking away from his father and mother. Despite everything that had just happened, he wanted to make sure that, despite everything, they knew that he never broke. Joey entered the home as a human, and as far as he was concerned, he was leaving his parents’ presence as one, and that was all that he needed them to see.
Mr. Calhoun briefly followed them to the door, breathing through the anger and, though buried deep, deep down inside, pride, that was welling up inside of him as he saw his son eyeballing him as he left the room. Quickly shaking off both feelings, he menacingly whispered to Santiago as he began to follow Roni and Joey “We’re going to discuss how he got in here…”
“Very well, Senior Calhoun…I’ll bring the head of security to ensure all possibilities are discussed” stated Santiago matter-of-factly, with a hint of sarcasm as to once again reiterate the point of not leaving a spare key in an obvious hiding spot.
Once the doors close, Mr. Calhoun stands up straight, adjusting his tie and suit jacket before letting out a sigh. “Let’s see what this is really about” he thought as he turned around to see Jeff’s eyes boring into his own.
1) A polite Greeting for their guests is fucking cold.
2) “Roni rarely ever saw Joey get that enthralled” Do you mean enraged? Enthralled is a synonym of enslaved.
3) “Seeing it first hand, god…he’s a monster…they both are” Has Roni never seen it in person before?
4) “while her father and the Calhoun’s exchanged pleasantries about current events, which she herself found unsettling considering what had just happened.” unsettling yes, but a necessary part of this dance, Jeff needs their guards lowered.
5.1) “I still was able to get to the bastard some how…and that was all I wanted” poor boy.
5.2) “underbred and not stooping to the same lever must have helped him realize that he was, on some level, more of a human than his father is” Fuck yeah, point for Joey.
6) “Did you believe that this animal was lost and needed to be returned to its owners? Because, as you may had gathered, we’re sending it away as soon as possible” Fuck I want Jeff to hit them, almost as much as Jeff wants to hit them.
7) Mrs Calhoun trying to discourage Roni from valueing Joey is pretty horrific, though getting caught
8 “. “This…this thing” she gestured vaguely in Joey’s direction, “is just a…simple minded animal prone to violence. I mean…look at how it acted with my husband. Uncivilized and with no control over it’s emotions” he was better that Leonard on both counts you vile waste of women’s rights.
9) Good move calling Johny, I hope he finds out,
10) “Our son doesn’t deserve to be burdened by the fact that he shared blood with an insignificant being that will end up being so small it can fit in a jar.” I mean so can she and her husband, after I grind their corpses to a fucking paste.
11) “He was grateful that she was standing up for him, but this wasn’t helping the situation” Good Gratitude, but logical assumption on potential consequences.
12) I’m glad Santiago is checking in on Joey as he can.
13) Leonard feeling pride for Joey was a surprise.
14) Real negotiations coming up.
1) extremely. really shows you how much more controlled Mr. Calhoun can be when his buttons aren’t being pushed
2) good catch. I’ll fix it today. unsure why I had picked that word
3) No. Joey’s parents never spoke to him like this in public or when Roni was at the house. They never wanted to have public arguments with Joey. Plus Joey would make sure to avoid his parents if possible when Roni was around so she wouldn’t see what was happening directly. I know of a few people that had relationships with their parents and step parents that were in similar situations. like I never saw the bad stuff and the parents were usually calm when I was around, but they would be pretty nasty when it was just them
4) exactly
5) yeah. Joey’s dad is usually just as reserved as Joey is emotionally speaking, so getting the reaction that he did really helped show that Mr. Calhoun isn’t some extremely civilized person that he tries to be and that he still has a wide range of emotions.
6) lol you can see where Roni gets her spirit.
7)It’s pretty messed up for sure. encoruaging isolations of someone and trying to tell someone that they shouldn’t care about another being just because they are different happens a lot in the real world and I wanted to add that into the story. feels more realistic
8) writing that was another thing that made me laugh. like perspective is such a weird thing. Mr. Calhoun’s remark towards Joey was the catalyst, but Mrs. Calhoun twisted it to meet her own POV of what happened
9) I’m sure he will eventually find out that Joey’s a little. It’s just how and what he’s told that will dictate his reaction.
10) lmao
11) Mr. Hale and Roni are so similar in some ways. He would probably react the same way as Roni but he’s doing his best to remain calm and focus on the task at hand. I think Roni would agree that she wasn’t helping things if she wasn’t so emotionally attached to Joey and had more life experience.
12) Santiago’s a cool dude
13) I think it was a good thing to point out. They were close once, and he taught Joey a lot about negotiation and standing up for himself when he needed to. Seeing his lessons hold up, even against him, would be enough to stir a little bit of those old feelings.
14) it’s going to be a fun time
Congratulations, this was without a doubt the best chapter of your story, in my opinion. Joey showed a “blood in his eyes”, a personality that makes it impossible not to identify with the character. I hope he doesn’t lose that when he shrinks, even considering everything he’s going to go through. I hope he doesn’t become a completely resigned, passive character like Jordan became, ruining the relationship between him and Sarah and preventing them from growing as people. Your character, who is still an unknown to me, is Roni. I know that when Joey gets small, the power relationship between the two will change. She has a strong and domineering temperament and Joey will have difficulty dealing with that, but I hope that the feeling of friendship and mutual respect will ease things a little for him, even if not completely.
Nice final uppercut Jeff!!!!!!!!