49

Jeffy's mind was so pre-occupied with being mad at his father, that he didn't even have a dream that night. Not one that he remembered, anyway. He fell asleep without any dinner at a time he couldn't remember, still locked in his room. When his father knocked on his door to wake him up the next morning, he wasn't pleased at all.

"Jeffy! Wake up, it's time for school. You have to go today." Marvin called.

Jeffy grumbled and groaned loudly before reluctantly sitting up. His father once again told him to wake up. "I am bitch! The boy shouted. Marvin took the hint that Jeffy still wasn't happy with him and left him alone to get ready.

He threw his signature yellow shirt on, along with his shorts and diaper, straightened his helmet, brushed his two front teeth, and contemplated going downstairs for breakfast or only going at the last minute to catch the bus and eat the biohazard that is school breakfast. Maybe the breakfast pizza wouldn't be burnt. He decided he'd just check if Junior was down there first.

Junior woke up to pounding on his door once again. He hadn't locked it, but he didn't think his father knew that. He sat up, and let Bowser know he was awake. Bowser ended up trying the doorknob, and the door opened. He raised an eyebrow at Junior, which confused the boy at first until he realized he was still on Chef PeePee's bed.

"Wow, how pathetic. You really miss that dumb chef that much?" Bowser scoffed, laughing to himself. Junior only rolled his eyes. "Whatever. Get ready for school. It's Friday today, and that trial's tomorrow." He shut the door, leaving the child to process that information.

Junior hadn't truly, truly, realized how close the trial was until Bowser had said that. He knew he was beyond prepared for it. He nearly started to break down even thinking of being at the trial, seeing Chef PeePee in his jail uniform being accused of things that he didn't do. And even worse, nobody would believe anything Junior said, especially not anything about Chef PeePee being innocent. Great...

He forced himself to brush the thoughts off and got himself ready. He got his clothes on, brushed his teeth, combed his hair, and scrolled on his phone to pass the time. Once all the interesting posts on Instagram were over, he decided to text Cody.

Junebug: Trial is tomorrow. Ur mom still gonna help?

Cody: Yep, hasn't changed her mind yet. U nervous?

Junebug: Obviously. What's gonna happen if it goes wrong?

Cody: We got this, Junior. I'll talk to you more about it on the bus, I gotta keep getting ready.

Junior closed out the messaging app and flopped back on the bottom bunk. He felt like he hadn't slept at all, even though he fell asleep before dinnertime. He once heard Cody talking about how oversleeping still left you tired, so that was probably why. While fighting the demons that were trying to drag him back into slumber, he heard a knock at his door. He mumbled a short "Come in," hoping it wasn't Bowser again.

Thankfully, it wasn't Bowser. It was Jeffy. The yellow-clad boy came into the room and sat next to Junior on the bed, looking equally as tired. "I'm not ready for school..."

"I'm not ready for tomorrow... That trial's in the morning, so this is the last free day I have." Junior mumbled, still lying on his back. "What happened yesterday? You left with some plan, and I never heard you return."

Jeffy sighed. "I tried to tell my daddy and mommy the truth one last time. Daddy was still being a bitch and not listening, and we got into a screaming match. Mommy believed me though."

Junior sat up. "At least we have her support. Cody's mom is gonna be there as well. With them, they'll be... 7 if Jackie Chu says yes."

Jeffy went to respond, but a voice from downstairs shouted loud enough to interrupt him. "JEFFY!!! THE BUS IS GOING TO BE HERE IN A FEW MINUTES!!!!! HURRY UP!!!"

The two boys sighed, before dragging their things down the stairs, along with themselves. Both of them weren't very excited for the future.

Marvin had been spacing out heavily while at the dining table. He had gone to sleep later than he usually had, Jeffy's rant still fresh on his mind. The more he thought about it, the more it made sense to him. Maybe Jeffy did have a point like Rose said, but he really didn't want to admit it. He was only snapped out of his trance when Bowser had tapped him on the shoulder to tell him it was about time for the school bus to swing by.

He hadn't told Bowser about what Jeffy had said. The only thing he had told the horned-man was that Rose had left for a few days since they had gotten into an argument, and he didn't question it.

He watched both Jeffy and Junior come down the stairs, though they stayed by the door and watched outside. Marvin wanted to say something to Jeffy, but he didn't know how, and also was iffy about it since both Junior and Bowser were in earshot. He instead stared at the boy, lost in thought and only stopping when eye contact was made.

The bus arrived at the end of the driveway, and the two boys walked out without saying a word. Marvin watched them get onto the bus, and then it drove off. Bowser came up from behind him and offered some coffee. Marvin gladly took a cup, blowing on it so it cools down faster.

"Your son and you get into a fight or somethin'?" Bowser asked, somehow sipping his scorching hot coffee without flinching. "I heard some yelling yesterday, but I didn't pay too much attention to it since I was watching Charleyyy. You know how I am with him."

Marvin sighed, thinking of a way to bend the truth in a way that makes sense, and that also doesn't let Bowser know that Jeffy was fully against him even though he probably already knew from Wednesday. "Yeah... he was just being dumb and wanting to be un-grounded. That's why Rose left too, she thought I was being too harsh."

Bowser chuckled a little. "Please, grounding is the least harsh you can be in my opinion. If I heard my kid yell at me like that, I'd be getting my diamond studded belt out of my closet. If that didn't work, I'd just use a shoe." Marvin didn't have a clue how to respond to that. "There's a lot about discipline you don't know, Marvin. How do you think I raised my Junior to be such a stand-up kid? All we need to work on is his grades, but I'm sure it won't be too hard."

Marvin listened to the man talk and absorbed his words like a sponge did water. He started to realize that Bowser's parenting skills were... questionable. Jeffy's explanation started to slowly make sense to him now. He still wasn't fully sure, but he did have a not-so-good feeling about what Bowser was saying. Bowser looked at Marvin and saw he was zoning out again.

"Jeez, man, you must be really tired. I think your coffee has cooled down enough now." Bowser said playfully.

Marvin chuckled awkwardly with the man. "Yeah... I am pretty tired." He took a sip of his drink, Bowser and Jeffy's words still circulating in his mind.