Page 75 of Elemasters

“Ying Zixuan!” Charlotte gasped, but it was like she couldn’t find the words to continue. She was always prepared to scold Chris for his language or lack of respect for authority, but she’d clearly never foreseen this scenario.

“Y-you little shit. Who do you think you’re talking to?!” Elliot shook off his surprise and marched over to Dustin, his massive bulk looming over his son like an anvil, “I could give a fuck what you’re going through. You will NOT speak to me that way in my house!”

Dustin had to bite back the most bitter laugh of his 18 years.

“The house mom pays for?”

He couldn’t even finish his insolence before Elliot’s fist was colliding with his mouth. The taste of blood on his tongue was immediate as he stumbled backwards, falling into the China cabinet and shattering the glass.

“DO NOT PUT ANOTHER HAND ON MY SON!” Charlotte shrieked, throwing herself between Dustin and Elliot with her arms wide, creating a physical barrier the best she could with her much smaller body, “just get the fuck out of here! Now!”

Elliot lingered for a moment longer, his eyes going back and forth between Charlotte, Dustin, and the mess of broken glass… and then he stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind him with enough force to rattle the frame.

The second he was gone, Charlotte broke down, sobbing and weeping ugly tears. Dustin’s upper lip was throbbing, rapidly swelling… but there wasn’t enough pain in the world to stop him from grabbing his mother and holding her tight.

“What on earth has gotten into you?” she said, forcing her voice through choked breaths as she let herself collapse in his arms, “I expected this to affect you deeply. It’s why I’ve given you space to process but I… I never expected this,”

“Okaasan, I didn’t need space. I needed support. That’s all I’ve ever needed from you,” tears were streaming down Dustin’s face now too, “I can’t believe you defended me like that,”

Charlotte was clearly taken aback.

“Why wouldn’t I? I love you, my Haruki,”

Dustin’s walls absolutely crumbled. She hadn’t called him or Chris by the Japanese names their grandpa gave them since they were children.

“It doesn’t always feel like that,” he admitted, his body quivering against his will, “it just feels like I’m always disappointing you, no matter what I do. It’s never good enough. I’m always wrong. Why am I always wrong?”

Now it was Charlotte’s turn to hold Dustin as the tears racked his body.

“Did I ever tell you how my parents reacted when they found out I was pregnant?”

Dustin’s tears slowed as he cocked an eyebrow, wondering where this was coming from all of a sudden.

“It was my senior year, and I’d just met your father. We went to the bonfire out on Tripoint and had a few too many… you don’t need the gory details. But when I finally couldn’t hide it from my parents anymore, I expected the worst. For them to yell or scream or force me to leave home before I was ready. But instead, I got… nothing. Silence. They just looked at me like I was the most disappointing thing in their lives. And I think that might’ve broken something in me,”

As she spoke, her grip on Dustin’s shirt tightened, like the words were physically harmful for her to speak aloud.

“I needed to prove to them that I was still worthy of their love. Of their pride. I threw myself into my studies. Got into a good school, became the successful daughter that they wanted. You know I threw away decades worth of comics I’d collected? I wanted to keep them all and give them to you and Christian as gifts but…” she chuckled, but there was no humor in it, “it was a part of the past I needed to drown if I wanted to become someone they could respect again,”

“Okaasan… I had no idea,”

She shook her head before he could finish.

“I don’t want your pity, Haruki. I just… I’m sorry. All this time and I never realized that I’ve been forcing you into the same mold that defined me. Your band, your fashion… who you love. All of that is what makes you, you. And I should’ve never made you feel like that wasn’t enough for me. No matter who you are, you will always be enough for me,”

The two of them hugged each other tightly once more, before Charlotte stood, brushed off her skirt and pulled Dustin up after her.

“Thank you mom, seriously,” Dustin said, his swollen lip starting to make it difficult to speak, “I gotta say, I never thought I’d ever hear you apologize,”

“Don’t get too used to it,” she teased, sniffling, “though I must say… I hope that Christian and I have a chance to clear the air as well. That it’s not too late,”

“It’s not,” Dustin immediately assured her, placing his hand on her shoulder, “we’re going to find him, I promise. He’ll be home soon, making bad jokes and blasting 2PAC way too loud,”

Charlotte laughed.

“I can hear him now. ‘Present and accounted for, babe’,” she replied, in her best impression of Chris’s voice, “thank you for helping your old mother keep her head on straight through all this,”

“What are ‘responsible sons’ for?” Dustin replied, already moving for the broom to sweep up the broken glass, but Charlotte stopped him.