Silver / |

Confrontation

The 17 year old sighed quietly as he walked through the massive backyard, the sheer size of it just added to how lonely he already felt, almost everything in his life seemed far too large.
He loved being so wealthy that his family name was thrown on practically everything, so wealthy that people at school would beg to be his friends, but truly, James had no friends. No acquaintances either, he was all alone by choice, because after a paranoid grandfather and anxious father telling you that everyone's out to get you your whole life, the idea of friends is more of a challenge than a fun thing.

James needed human interaction, away from his distant and very much delusional older brother, his depressed father, and depressed mother who pretended she was completely fine all the time, not to mention his two drug making minions.
It truly was a sad life he led, but at least there was room for change, he'd been able to successfully avoid the biggest challenge his father faced, which is having sex without protection. His loneliness wasn't something to be proud of, it truly was miserable, but at least he wasn't a massive baby his father had to take care of, unlike Zachary.

The closer the house got, the more he could see, and the more concerned he grew, as he could see a more clear outline of his dad sitting on the front porch, with a bunch of - what he assumed were - empty cans of cheap beer, ones that he had very distant memories of seeing when he was a child. He wasn't worried about his fathers drinking habits, he was worried about the price range of the drinks he had, his father wasn't the type to settle for anything cheap.

James sped up his pace until he was finally standing in front of his father, who now looked up at his son.

"Your graduation's in June, James." he stated, "Why'd you lie?"

This question completely caught James off guard, he stared at his father blankly, at a complete loss for words. What was he supposed to say? He's been making drugs because he desperately wanted his father to know that he could run a proper and successful business? He wasn't even the one to come up with the idea, he'd ran into Julio in a sketchy alleyway, and made the deal with him that he'd provide any supplies he needed, this was only a few months ago, and now here he was, lying about graduating to go order around the two inferior imbeciles. The hotel he'd told them about was just a trap to get them caught, then his father would be informed of what had happened in one of his hotels, and James would confidently swoop in and tell his father about how he'd done all of this from right under his nose.

It was a stupid plan, but it'd get him attention and prove he was more worthy to run Sparrows and Finches than Zachary was. Getting attention and validation in this family was never about how nice and kind you are, it was about how sneaky and successful you are, and it technically was a sneaky and almost successful plan. No, it could still be successful depending on how he played his cards right now.

"You're not answering, huh?" his father asked before sighing, he pat an empty spot next to him, and James quickly sat down on the spot, and watched his father intently.

He then moved his hand and put it on James' shoulder, rubbing it gently, "Just say it, I don't understand why you're afraid."

James frowned and glared at his father, not even attempting to hide his anger, as he usually did, "Why I'm afraid? As if I'm not constantly walking on egg shells around you, unlike Zachary." he spat.

His father scoffed, "You really think Zachary has it better than you?" he asked.

"He does. At least he doesn't have to work to gain your attention." James sassed.

"So you think constantly having my attention would make your life any better?" he sighed, "Here's what I realized, James, is that in every aspect, I'm a bad person. See, I tried so hard to not be like my father, that I ended up forgetting how to be a decent human, and the funniest part is that in the end, I am very much my father's son."

James scoffed and looked away, "And why are you telling me this? For some pity points?"

"No," he stated, "Just to make sure you don't repeat my mistakes."

"What mistakes, dad? You don't want me neglecting my kids? I don't want kids anyway. Oh, maybe you don't want me facing any issues with my wife, don't worry about that- I don't wanna get married thanks to you, what other mistakes are there to avoid." James rambled.

"Do you think it's just you and Agnes I have to deal with?" Leonardo began, but James didn't give him a chance to continue.

"Can't forget about your favorite son, Zachary." he snapped.

"I don't have favorites, James, it's a family tradition that the oldest gets-"

"I don't care! It's a stupid tradition! If you were sane you'd see that I'm much more capable than Zachary- but oh no, keep sticking to tradition, what did that get you? A misrable wife and two kids who can't tolerate you!" James yelled, before jerking upwards, "What was all of this for anyway, huh? Want me to feel bad for you? How terrible that you had a chance to be happy long ago and you just ruined it!"

Leonardo was unphased by his son's sudden rage, he simply looked up at him, "How did I ruin it?"

James' right eye twitched, he opened his mouth to speak but nothing came out, he truly had no clue how his father had ruined everything for himself, he just knew that it happened. He quickly closed his mouth and chose to stay completely silent.

"I wasn't prepared, James, for everything that was thrown at me. Two kids and a wife before I was even twenty was a part of it, but there's more to it- so much that I haven't told you." he said, "So take a seat, like I asked you to."

James crossed his arms and sat down once again, uninterested in what his father had to say.