Burn After Reading Pt. 3

CHAPTER 5

The Battalion Family Household

“Dinner’s ready,” Father Batt yells towards the second floor of the very mournful Battalion family household. Batista’s death has knocked the wind completely out the sails of their fight against Pres. Banks, and left a gigantic space in the lives of so many that may never completely fill again. Batista, the oldest brother and successor to the family business is truly gone for good and that realization is a feeling each family member is struggling to come to terms with.

“It’s all my fault,” Father Batt whispers as he wipes a tear from his cheek, “I should have never asked him to go back to the office that day.” Mama Batt looked at him with concern as if she was trying to embrace him with her facial expression, but she was too defeated to carry the look on her face for too long. A member of the anti-Battalion brigade had poisoned Batista on his way back from the Battalion office after picking up documents Father Batt assured would show that Pres. Banks was in overreach of her powers. Batista had stopped to get a tofu sandwich at a restaurant that the Battalion previously exposed as having bad labor laws, and in revenge, the store owner replaced his tofu with real meat. Batista, whose body was not built for eating meat, pulled over to the side of the road, and within a few minutes was dead. Eating meat was in fact lowkey suspicious.

The Battalion family dinner was completely silent except for the repeated tapping of Lil Battie’s foot, the death of his brother revealed to him that he didn’t want to live a life of hiding and generational beef with the Mugdown family anymore. He wanted to let go of the weight that had been crushing his spirit. “Is something on your mind Lil Battie?” Mama Batt questions as she directs her line of vision to his foot.

Lil Battie: I am alright, well actually…I think that…
Father Batt: What’s wrong son?
Lil Battie: Actually, I don’t think, I know that I have found someone
Mama Batt: That’s sweet, who is it?
Lil Battie: As I say this, please don’t freak out, just hear what I have to say.
Mama and Father Batt: Sure, what is the hold up.
Lil Battie: The person I love is Lil Muggie of the Mugdown family. I know we are sworn enemies and all that, but I have never understood why and I think that life is too precious to keep this whole thing going. I told Batista and he was very supportive, and his death…his death has made me realize that I want to live my life for me and not for anyone else.

Father Batt slams his tablecloth down as if he had just tasted the worst dish of his life and storms out of the room with Mama Batt following him to calm the fury of her husband. At the dinner table, Bethany and Bates reach out their hands to support the weeping Lil Battie who sat with his head down and rubbed the back of his sisters’ hands as a sign of recognition for their support. The emotional weight he was carrying is now free, but his body still needed time to acclimate to this new life.

The Mugdown Family Household

The days following Lil Battie’s visit were an uneventful blur. Lil Muggie emerged from his bedroom only to meet an equally non-confrontational family, despite the lingering and loaded looks from Mama Batt at the silent meals that now occupied their family time, the sound of chewing the only thing breaking the tension in the room. Despite the conversations not had between him and his family, he stayed in touch with Lil Battie. Late night phone calls with whispered voices, and an ever growing chain of text messages sent between them, kept the ever-growing bead of hope for their relationship in a Lil Muggie’s heart alive. The Battalion family was mourning, making it difficult for the two to have met since the last encounter. However, Lil Muggie knew deep in his heart, the more he talked to Lil Battie, that this was more than a minor crush. These feelings and thoughts that he had were real and true and deep. He was in love. He wanted a future with Lil Battie, or at least a chance at a happy ending or even maybe just acceptance from his family to even give it a shot at all. And the only way to do that was to talk to them about it no matter how painful it was going to be.

Lil Muggie took a deep breath in anticipation as he went down the stairs once again to meet his family for breakfast. Today was the day he was going to finally tell his family about his intentions. Walking through the door frame, he saw his mom and dad already seated at the table next to the window, the former holding the latest print edition of The Mugdown. Lil Muggie cleared his throat to announce his presence, “Good morning everyone.” Surprised faces peered up at him and the rare greeting.
“Good Morning, Lil Muggie,” Papa Mug said as he folded his newspaper and set it aside, “How are you doing this morning, any plans for the day?”
Lil Muggie swallowed his nerves, “I actually wanted to talk to you all about something important today,” he started. His family all looked at him expectantly.
“I wanted to talk about Lil Battie and I-” his sentence left unfinished at the look of rage currently creating a look not unlike that of a pufferfish on Mike’s face. Mike spat out, “Don’t EVER utter that filthy boy’s name in this house again Lil Muggie, it is already bad enough that he managed to corner you and delude you with their Battalion propaganda at the protest-” Lil Muggie cut him off, “Mike, I was there with him by CHOICE! And anything you all say against Lil Battie or his family, you are now saying against me because I love him!” he said fiercely, his heart beating out of his chest.
Silence once again filled the room, his family staring back at him like fish, their mouths all hanging slightly open in shock, terror, fury, a combination of all. Papa Mug was the first to break the silence, “Where is this coming from, son? They are our sworn enemies and they are clever. They probably used Lil Battie to bait you into revealing Mugdown secrets, and you are too innocent to know better.”
“Lil Battie isn’t like that, and the Battalions are suffering right now already, why would they waste time trying to escalate this stupid feud between us when they have bigger problems to worry about?”
“What do you see in Lil Battie anyways? You’ve only met him once and you claim to love him?”
“Well, what can I say,” Lil Muggie said with a daydreamy look, “Lil Battie is a baddie fr, and he gets me. I feel like I can talk to him and be myself and he understands, I don’t get that luxury with anyone else.”
Mama Mug finally stepped in, “Lil Muggie, you can talk to us and we will understand as well! If you need people to talk to, we are here for you, we are your family.”
Lil Muggie shook his head, “No, here I am trying to talk to you right now and you are not even TRYING to understand me. I really need you to accept this, because this is what will make me happy.”
Mama Mug came closer to Lil Muggie and grasped his hand, “If this is truly what you want, how can I say no? I cannot say the same for the rest of that wretched family, but as long as you are happy, Lil Battie is welcome here, okay?” Mike Mugdown sat up abruptly and left the room with an almost visible spot of steam gushing from his ears. “Don’t worry about him, and I will speak with your father on this matter as well later, alright?” Lil Muggie looked up to only now notice that his father had left sometime during the conversation as well. Sure, it wasn’t the most successful of conversations, but it was much better than what the situation was before. He got up and gave his mother a tight embrace and thanked her. That kernel of hope in his heart grew ever so slightly larger. He grabbed his phone to text Lil Battie about the conversation.

Lil Muggie: Finally confessed to my parents about us…
Lil Battie: OMG what did they say??? You okay?
Lil Muggie: My dad and a few others yelled at me and left the room but my mom was pretty understanding. She said she is gonna talk to my father abt it later
Lil Battie: Oh wow..better than nothing tho
Lil Muggie: Yeah that’s what I was thinking. There may be a future for us yet
Lil Battie: I was thinking you should come to my brother’s funeral tomorrow, I could really use your support
Lil Muggie: WIth all your family there? I would be a dead man walking
Lil Battie: You would be with me, don’t worry. I have to go now, I hope I see you tomorrow, gtg -luv baddie xx

Batista Funeral

The cathedral for Batista’s funeral is engulfed with friends and family of the Battalion family. Mr. Opinion, Ms. Life-Arts, Mr. Sports, Batista’s college friends, and supporters of the Battalion movement filled every seat possible. It was the celebration of a life that accomplished so much in such a short amount of time. Here is where Batista will be laid to rest and everyone in attendance has come to say their goodbyes.

Father Batt and Lil Battie had not spoken since the dinner, but called a truce in honor of Batista and at the request of Mama Batt. Each family member said their respective eulogies and there was not a dry eye in the cathedral for each respective speech. The funeral went as well as anyone could have imagined, but the surprise was waiting for them back home right before the wake was set to start.

“This man has a lot of nerve to be here today,” Father Batt states as he pulls into his driveway to see Lil Muggie on the doorsteps. Father Batt hurriedly takes off his seatbelt and rushes to Lil Muggie when Lil Battie gets in front of him to prevent him from doing any harm to his shawty.

Lil Battie weakly says, “Father, stop, let’s not do this today.”
Father Batt angrily responds, “Did you invite him? Did he come here to rub my son’s death in our faces?”
“Yes, father, I invited him. Batista’s death has been hard for all of us, but it doesn’t help when you refuse to talk to me or even look me in the eyes,” his eyes starting to well up.
Father Batt doesn’t seem to care, “So you invite a member of the Mugdown family to the wake of your brother.”
Lil Battie says confidently in defense, “Yes, Lil Muggie has been there for me and has been a shoulder to cry on.” Father Batt takes a deep breath coming to a conclusion and giving Lil Battie a hard stare responds, “If you love him so much, then leave, join the mugdown family. Any child who won’t see the clear threat to society that the mugdown family is, is no child of mine.”

The rest of the Battalion family finally reach the turmoil that is Lil Muggie, Lil Battie, and Father Batt. Mama Batt and Bethany rush to Lil Battie, who is reeling in shock because of the words Father Batt had aimed directly at him. Bates charges towards her father aiming to put an end to all of this madness.
Bates explodes, “FATHER, what is wrong with you? Why would you say any of this to your own child?”
Father Batt looks away from her, hoping by ignoring her she would stop talking.
“I just lost a brother, you just lost a son, don’t let your anger make you lose another one over some stupid generational beef. I don’t get it, Lil Battie doesn’t get it, and even mom doesn’t get it either.”

Father Batt looks at his wife who is still consoling her now only son, and suddenly realizes the harm he has caused. He leans over to Lil Battie, hugs him, and now they are both weeping in each other’s arms.
Father Batt says remorsefully, overcome with emotion, “I am so sorry Lil Battie, I never want to lose another family member again. I am sorry for what I said. You mean the world to me and I don’t want anything to ever come between us again.”
Father Batt looks over to Lil Muggie and motions him to join in the embrace that he and Lil Battie are in.
“Lil Muggie, I want you to call your dad, this whole thing needs to end now.”

Lil Muggie calls his dad and hands the phone to Father Batt who takes it and heads in the distance to privately talk to Papa Mug. There suddenly is a ring on the phones of the family members there and celebration breaks out in the air. Father Batt couldn’t understand why there was so much jubilee upon his return, not until Mr. Opinion tells him that Pres. Banks has plans to step down from her role. This also means that the publication of the Battalion will continue to go into production.

Father Batt falls on his knees and weeps uncontrollably. Pres. Banks had to step down because of Batista’s final expose revealing that she had used funds to buy all the good parking spots and sold it back to students for a higher price. Batista never got to be the editor-in-chief of the Battalion, but he did save it.
Father Batt says with a thick voice, “Your brother’s dream was to be the editor-in-chief of the Battalion, and with this act, he has saved our future.”
Father Batt looks at Lil Muggie, and reaches out his hand for him to hold.
“Your dad and I don’t see eye to eye, and it will take a long while to get used to being kind to your family. However, if you two love each other, who are we to get in the way of love?”

Every member of the family embraces for a big hug as guests arrive to attend the wake of Batista and congratulate the Battalion family on their success. In the back, Lil Muggie and Lil Baddie passionately make out.