Arabella Academy: Perfectly Imperfect

28. Like Father Like Son

My father had a profound influence on me. He was a lunatic.

~Spike Milligan

***

Marcus descended the stairs to find his mother curled up at the couch by the corner, sipping her tea while her mind wandering away. He sat at the dining table, unfazed, and began taking his breakfast humming a happy tune.

"Good morning mom," he accosted her. Jane remained silent. Marcus looked at her. Of course, she was still mad about the previous day's incident.

"So that's it then," Marcus scolded her. "We argue every evening and you give me the silent treatment the next morning?" He sighed and went back to his breakfast. That morning was far too bright and cheerful to be spoilt by an angry mother.

The doorbell rang, and Marcus leapt up from his seat to open the door before they realised that the knocker was his father and his mother kicked him out again. He flung the door open and was glad to see that he was not disappointed. His father was there, a bouquet of flowers in his hands. He lit up on seeing Marcus and gave him a high-five.

"Happy Fathers' Day kiddo!" He saluted. Marcus smiled as he ushered his father inside, but then Jane blocked their way.

"What are you doing here?" She asked, her face straight. She wasn't going to have this nonsense, not today.

Stewart extended the bouquet of flowers to her and smiled. "Happy Fathers' Day Jane." She looked at him, down at the flowers, and shot her eyes back up at him.

"I asked what you were doing here, not what day today is. And in case your ghosting brain forgot, Fathers' Day was last Sunday," she fired.

"Relax, lollipop—"

"I told you not to call me lollipop—"

"Relax then Miss Jane. I just came to take our child to school. And besides, any day can be Fathers' Day."

"You mean my child. And that is the work of the school bus, which will be here soon. Now leave!"

"But mom," Marcus chimed in. "I want to go with him."

"Listen here, Marcus Smith. I did not ask for your opinion on how you are going to school. As long as you are under my roof, you will do as I say. If you feel that you cannot respect your mother, then you better—"

Her smartphone rang, cutting short her statement.

"I have to pick this. It's my boss," She rushed to the kitchen and answered her phone, where she began talking in low tones, giving yes or no answers.

Stewart and his son were left all alone in the living room. They both looked at the door and then at each other, and smiled for they knew they were both thinking of the same thing. They stealthily ambled out of the house, and once they were outside they made a run for it to Stewart's car.

"Is this an Acura NSX?" Marcus shrieked as Stewart unlocked the cars. He was a huge fan of cars, spending his free time scrolling through the Instagram posts of various luxury car brands.

"I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it," Stewart replied, and jumped into the car.

"Sweet!" Marcus exclaimed to himself and hopped in.

Jane was still talking to her manager when she had the sound of a car driving away. She instantly remembered she had left two immature males back at her living room and rushed back to check on them. The fury on her face was discernible when she found the room empty. Forgetting she was still on a call, she rushed outside only to see Stewart's car driving away.

"Fucking bitch, I will castrate his dick," she muttered to herself.

"Jane, I hope you are not talking about me," the voice on the other end of the call commented, bringing Jane back to her senses. She hurriedly disconnected the call, mortified that she had just used crude language before her boss. She went back inside and dialled her boss' number, ready with an apology and explanation, knowing fully she had just wasted her chance at being employee of the month.

It was not a normal occurrence to see a flashy car inside the gates of Arabella Academy. Therefore, when the Acura NSX made its way into the parking lot of the school, it declared itself the centre of attention that morning. Students stopped in their tracks and gazed in awe as the car circled the parking lot twice and parked near Williams rickety Volkswagen Beetle. They were treated to more surprise when they witnessed Marcus alighting from the car alongside their Managing Director. Soon there were murmurs and as usual, gossip rocketed its way past the school community; others impressed by Marcus' sheer luck, while majority envious of his chance inside the obviously expensive car.

Marcus was on cloud nine that morning. Heck, he even felt like he was above William's level! Wait till they found out that the Managing Director was his father. His eyes glowed with mischief as he imagined his privileges, his favourite one being receiving special treatment from teachers who were afraid of him reporting them to his father. He held his head up high and proceeded to walk side by side with his father.

His short moment of glory was sadly outlived when William stopped in front of them, his eyes showing his apparent dislike for the two.

"Mr Branwen, I'll have to let you know that this is not a racecourse where you can go around swinging your car however you like," he scolded Stewart.

"Relax old man," Stewart replied, causing William to frown even more. "I was just showing my son here how to handle that baby. After all, it is Father's Day."

William's reaction was shown by his right eyebrow being raised slightly higher than normal. It was not the kind of reaction that Marcus expected, but at least it showed on the principal's face. The man never let out his emotions. William glanced back and forth the two for a while.

"Father's Day was last Sunday Mr Branwen, in case you forgot," he spit out.

"I know. It's my own special Fathers' Day. Between me and my son here," Stewart replied, patting his son.

"I guess then that the apple does not fall far from the tree. Your son here has quite the knack of getting into trouble," he said, his voice deeper.

"I know, right? It is generic though. Passed from father to son," he winked at William, who rolled his eyes in return.

The bell rang, indicating the end of their conversation. Marcus excused himself to go fetch his books before the lessons began. William went away too, realising he had two people to put up with— one who simply couldn't mind his own business and another one who acted too immature for his age. He walked away, wondering whether he had had children if they would have taken up his habits.