Father And Son Episode Thirty-Two: Heart Of Heat

*   *   *

Latriana and James were sitting in the living room.

"I should have mentioned he wasn't here at the moment, sorry." James shrugged.

"I don't really care. I'm not in any hurry..." Latriana rolled her eyes. "What's he off doing anyway?"

"Erands." James nodded. "As long as he was staying here, he would have to do stuff for me."

"I see..." Latriana nodded. "Seems fair..."

"Sigh....Latriana..." James let out a heavy sigh before continueing. "I'm...sorry if he hurt you...It's not right to leave a woman up in arms like that..."

"Oh please, I'm a grown woman." Latriana scoffed. "Having him thare was just a convinience, I was going to buy the house anyway." Latriana smiled a bit. "Thank you, though..."

"So I'm guessing you won't want him back..." James shrugged a bit.

"We're through as a couple, but I still need his share of the rent..." Latriana rolled her eyes. "I may let him stay until he can find a new place of residence."

"Good." James chuckled. "Because he can't stay here. Poor Lars has been in a shitty mood ever since he showed up."

"Hey, I heard that!" Lars called from his bedroom.

"It still doesn't explain why he would just leave out of the blue..." Latriana thought. "He was a bit secretive during the week before he left, but I didn't think anything of it...

"Well...I would ask him once he gets here..." James nodded, being sure to keep to his brother's request.

"Well whatever it was, I'm sure he'd feel sorry for ever leaving you mom." Lars stepped into the living room, out of his gym clothes and into some fresh clothes.

"Well....I can be intense sometimes..." Latriana thought it over. "Maybe I was just too much for him..."

"That's not true..." Jumeres stepped in. "...I still love you Latriana..."

"Jumeres..." Latriana gave Jumeres a mean look.

"Whelp, that's our cue to exit." James swiftly got up and walked out of the room. "Come on Lars." James grabbed Lars on the way out, nearly clotheslining him.

"Oof, hey! What's the big idea dad?"

"I need you to come with me into the bedroom to...check...something." James dragged Lars down the hall.

"Check what?" Lars gave his father a deadpan look.

James gave Lars a sarcastic look. "My dick."He then opened the door to the bedroom. "Now get in here and let's give them some privacy!" James tossed Lars into his bedroom and followed behind, closing the door behind him.

"Aww, I wanted to see mom tear into him..." Lars sat on the bed, shrugging.

"Lars, I've gained so much in my life-including my relationship with you and dad-by explicitly NOT listening to what comes out of that man's mouth." James sat with Lars, putting a hand on his shoulder. "And I'm not going to break that trend now." James moved his hand to his son's back. "They're going through a serious hardship those two. We've just got to give them the privacy and time to work things out..."

"Meh...you're right dad..." Lars fell back onto the bed. "Sheesh this is boring..."

"I know..." James shrugged. ".....wanna make out?" James fell back onto the bed besides his son and smirked at him.

"Alright!" Lars smiled widely and nodded at his father.

*   *   *

"Latriana..." Jumeres started, stopping when he saw Latriana's angry face.

"Don't even start." Latriana sneered at Jumeres. "When I heard about how you treated my son and his father, I should have known better."

"No Latriana..." Jumeres held out his hand. "I didn't-"

"No Jumeres. You've made it clear that you don't care about me the way I cared about you. I thought we could at least be friends, but no."

"Latriana, I do care about you!" Jumeres pleaded to Latriana.

"Really? Well then maybe I should just disapear without a trace for a while because I care about you so much." Latriana growled.

"Look, Laatriana...The reason why I left was because I didn't want to hurt you-"

"DIDN'T WANT TO HURT ME!? WELL THANK GOD THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN!" Latriana was FURIOUS.

"Latriana please!" Jumeres begged. "Please listen!"

"Fine then, tell me what you were trying to protect me from! What was SO HORRIBLE that you had to LEAVE ME over so abruptly!"

"Latriana...I was....on drugs..." Jumeres gritted his teeth as he spoke. "I left because I was having a relapse..."

"W...what?" Latriana was taken back.

"I...my life has been really difficult...and I would turn to drugs and alcohol to get through it...I was going through an especially hard time when we met and...I didn't want to do those things around you..."

"..." Latriana was blank.

*   *   *

James and Lars were laying in bed, not doing much of anything when suddenly they herd a hard slam against the wall.

"And there's the first blow." James grimmaced at the sound. "He hit that wall hard..." James noticed that Lars was clinging to his arm.

"Remind me not to get on her bad side ever again." Lars shuddered. "God DAMN!"

*   *   *

Latriana growled "DRUGS!? You were ON DRUGS when you met me!? I bet this has something to do with Lars and that father of his, didn't it!?"

"Well..." Jumeres rubbed where Latriana had slapped him and got back to his feet. "Yes. It was after James and Lars showed up...I didn't approve of their lifestile-I still don't. and my father disowned me simply because I was trying to tell that kid what he was doing wro-" Another powerful slap to the face shut him up and he went reeling back into the wall again.

"Are you dumb? Serously, are you mentally defficient!?  You can't CHANGE people like that! They just are!" Latriana checked her hand. "Nothing YOU can do will make any difference." Latriana had had enough. "Listen Jumeres, I cared about you, I really did. But if you can't get past Larson and James then i don't think you're mature enough for me." Latriana shook her head. "And I'm far too high class to be dealing with a drug addict." Latriana dismissively stepped past Jumeres. "It's over Jumeres...I had fun...but you're entirely too dangerous. For me, for my son and for your own family...."

"Latriana please..." Jumeres begged. "I'll get better, I swear!"

"No Jumeres, you can't fix this." Latriana walked up to James' room and opened the door, finding the two at the door evesdropping. "Larson, I'm taking my leave now. I've got work to attend to in Epmire City."

"O-okay mom...Take care." Lars gave his mom a quick hug.

"Don't worry, I'll be back out here to join you for your birthday in a few weeks." Latriana smiled widely. "Can't let my boy turn eighteen without both parents."

"Alright!" Lars nodded excitedly.

"I'm not letting you leave until you take me back!" Jumeres blocked Latriana's way.

"James, Lars, if you would..." Latriana motioned for James and Lars to step forward.

"Step aside Jumeres." Lars stood before his mother, arms crossed and giving Jumeres a cocky smirk as if he were a bouncer.

"You can't win this Jumeres. Just let her go." James shook his head at Jumeres.

"Grr....Fine..." Jumeres stepped aside and James and Lars escorted Latriana to the door.

"Mom...Before you go..." Lars gained a slightly worried look. "Do you...Oppose...the choice I made? ...To be with dad..."

"I...don't like it..." Latriana shook her head. "But still...I'm not going to stop you if it makes you happy..." Latriana ran her hand along her son's cheek. "You could have done a lot worse...And at least...he brought you up right..." Latriana nodded. "Now I have to go." Latriana got to her car and got in. "I'll call later this week!" Latriana drove off.

"Wait! Come back!" Jumeres ran out onto the front lawn, stopping as Latriana's car drove off out of view. "You two..." Jumeres turned back to James and Lars. "If you two hadn't have interfered, NONE of this would have happened!" Jumeres cracked his knuckles.

"Not this again..." James shrugged and was about to step in front of Lars, but Lars motioned for him to stay back.

"It's your own fault Jumeres." Lars stepped forward, at the very end of his tolerance. "You did all of this yourself."

"Well now I'm going to end it!" Jumeres got ready to fight. "I'm going to knock the fa-"

"ENOUGH!" Lars lunged foreward, hitting Jumeres in the jaw with a powerful punch. "Enough of your BULLSHIT!" Lars quickly followed up with a hook to Jumeres' nose. "Enough of your blaming me and my father!" Lars swiftly followed again with a powerful punch to the gut. "Me and dad AND grandaddy are all better off without you!" Lars grapped Jumeres, holding him over his head. "SO LEAVE US ALONE!" Lars finished up his assault by slamming Jumeres into the sidewalk at the end of their yard. "Now I don't want to see your sorry ass set foot on our property again! GOT THAT!?" Lars dusted off his hands and sneered at his uncle as he walked back up the driveway. "I've been wanting to do that for a LONG time..."

"...God damn..." James stood slackjawed as Lars returned to his side. "Kid, that was INCREDIBLE! I didn't know you could hit that hard or move that fast!"

"What can I say?" Lars smirked. "Love can make anything stronger." Lars hugged his father tightly.

*   *   *

A bit later, James and Lars were in the living room cleaning up. "Well kid, I think that may be the last we see of Jumeres."

"I doubt it." Lars shrugged. "Remember the last time we said that?" Lars cracked his knuckles. "We should just be ready to kick his ass again when he pops up."

"Larson, I'm not liking this violent streak in you." James crossed his arms, giving Lars a stern look. "I hope you're remembering the difference between defense and instigating."

"Yeah yeah dad, I've got it in check." Lars shrugged.

"Good. I didn't raise a brawler, and I don't want to see you go down that path." James ruffled Lars' hair. "Besides, you're a much better lover than a fighter."

"Hey, I'm pretty good at fighting!" Lars flexed his muscles. "Especially after training with big bro!"

"Yeah well for however good a fighter you are, you're thousands of times better when it comes to love." James moved his hand to Lars' face, holiding it gently.

"Hehe, dad, you always know exactly what to say..." Lars ran his hand up and down his father's chest. "How about we take this to the bedroom?"

James gave Lars a seductive look. "Hehehe, alright champ. I think you've earned some love today..."

"Sweet!" Lars grabbed his father's hand and started for the bedroom, but noticed his father wasn't moving. "Hey, what's up?"

"We have all day to fuck Lars." James yanked Lars back, handing him a broom. "But I want this living room back to the way it was before your mother messed it up NOW."

"Oh." Lars slouched. "Yes dad..." Lars gave his father a weak salute as he started cleaning.

James let out a chuckle and started cleaning with him. "You know I never say it out loud, but we really got the short stick when it comes to immediate family, didn't we?"

"Well we get the longest stick ever with Grandpa so it balances out, right?" Lars smirked.

"Haha, Lars, I just love the way you think." James patted Lars on the shoulder before going back to cleaning.

*   *   *