LOTF: Before and After

Phase 3: Chapter 56

Angry couldn't begin to cover the extreme wave of emotions that were pursing through Ralph Langley's body. The anniversary ceremony at Bainbridge Military Academy was a mere two weeks away, but Ralph (who only found out about it last night), could only focus on one typically dire thing; Jack Merridew.

His parents reported back to him the night before with a declaration that Ralph wouldn't be allowed to call Jack that night after all. They insisted their son sleep on the anniversary ceremony stuff, as it was an awful lot to think about, and they'd consider letting him call Jack in the morning.

"Consider it?" Ralph stressed the word, appalled by what treacherous meaning it held in the mouth of his mother right here, right now.

"Yes, Ralph, we will consider it" Laurie firmly repeated. "You need to make this decision on your own, not with Jack. I get that the two of you are inseparable and would do everything together if you could, but this is something the both of you have to decide for yourselves."

"So you won't even let me talk to him?" Ralph shouted in an outrage.

"Not right now, no" his father chimed in to solidify.

"This is such bullshit!" Ralph yelled, his face painted in a bright red hue of anger.

"Hey!" Jeffery immediately shouted back, matching Ralph's heinous volume and tone. "Don't you talk like that in this house!"

"I don't care!" Ralph shouted back, ignoring the tears that were forming behind his eyes. "If you don't care what I want, why should I care what you want!" he added before storming off down the hallway, slamming his bedroom door shut behind him.

"Christ" Jeffery mumbled under his breath as he brought a frustrated hand up to his forehead.

"Let it go for now" Laurie laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. "He needs time to cool off, and so do you" she calmly observed.

"What the hell made him think it's okay for him to talk to me like that under my roof?" Jeffery asked in a low but still vexed tone.

"Jeff, hon—"

"I'll tell you one thing for certain is that he never dared talk like that before he started hanging around with Jack" he frustratedly declared.

"That isn't fair and you know it" Laurie firmly stepped in to say. "He's just lashing out because he feels like we're keeping him from Jack. We've never had to forcibly separate them before, Jeff. He wasn't expecting it, he just wants to talk to him. You have to at least understand that much."

Jeffery took a deep breath in a semi-successful effort to clear his head. "Of course I understand that, but it doesn't make it okay for him to behave like that."

"I agree with you completely. And when you're both calm and ready to have a respectful conversation about it, he'll have to answer for that" Laurie assured her exasperated husband.

Jeffery shrugged and nodded slightly as he considered the truth of her claim. He hadn't seen Ralph lash out like that since he was much younger; young enough to throw a tantrum over something mundane like being told no ice cream after supper or no TV on school nights.

The following morning, Ralph woke up still in a distressing state of rage. He couldn't remember a time he'd been this angry with his parents before. He was somewhat startled by how little he calmed down overnight. He didn't understand why he was so upset about one missed phone call with Jack. Perhaps it was his dire need to talk to him about the anniversary ceremony. Or perhaps it was just the fact that he couldn't talk to Jack whether he needed to or not, that his parents would purposely stand in the way of that.