Lies

I'm speeding things along, i will add a few more childhood chapters at a later date maybe. Also Skott has more character development. But this is a scene that i wanted to write. I think its okay.

“Osiris! I’m going to need your help in here son, I think you’re going to like the new tools that just arrived.” Mentel called out to his son as he heard the familiar slide of the workshop door. When no answer greeted the mechanic, Mentel turned around only to see his son dart into the next room with his head bowed. “Osiris? What’s wrong?”
“Nothing…” the young boy said in a muffled voice as he busied himself at the table, taking out his books and school work.
Mentel put down his tools and walked up to his son and turned him around, only to gasp in shock as he saw his face. The bruise covered most of the young boy’s right eye, swelling so much that he could barely see. Mentel’s gaze levelled as he looked at his son, “What happened?”
Whimpering slightly, Osiris started to speak, but his voice cut off as he broke down and started to cry. Mentel took his son in his arms and hugged him tightly, cooing in his ear that everything would be okay but after a few minutes he repeated. “I need you to tell me what happened, Osiris, okay?”
The ten year old boy sniffed as he let go of his father only to sit on the cold floor. “He said that mechanics were useless...” Osiris said softly as he tried to turn away from his father’s sad face. “It was the boys that were saying it, I told them to stop… then they started to make fun of me.” Tears started to well up in his emerald green eyes as he continued, “They told me that I was a baby and that I should run back to my mother…”
Mentel smiled warmly at Osiris, “Don’t worry, son, they cant hurt you anymore… you’re here with me now, what happened after they said that?”
Osiris sniffed, “I turned around and walked away, but then he started to shout after me… one of the other boys, he laughed and said something worse…”
Mentel got to his feet and retrieved a first aid kit from a low hanging shelf that was near the door, “What did the boy say?”
Osiris grimaced and tried to find the words, “He said that it would be hard for me to run to my mother… because the graveyard was on the other side of the city.”
The young boy winced as he heard the first aid kit smash to the floor. Osiris never saw the anger cross his father’s face, but he did hear the strain in his father’s voice when he asked the next question. “And what was that boy’s name?”
“No! You’ll tell the teachers… and that will make it worse!” Osiris cried out as the tears welled up in his eyes once more.
Mentel whirled around and was about to argue with his son, but the sight of his only child in pain broke his heart. “Please Osiris, what was his name?”
“Promise you wont say anything to him or the teacher…” Osiris cried softly. “Please…”
The mechanic smiled as he went down on one knee, retrieving a bandage-pack from the case and pressing it against Osiris’ bruised skin. “I promise I wont say anything to your teachers or the boy, but you have to tell me his name.”
The warmth from the bandage caused the young boy’s face to relax as he smiled at his father. “He’s the biggest boy in our class, his name is Arthor Skyth. I tried to hit him, but… I missed, and he hit me in the face.”
“How many times did he hit you?” Mentel asked as he wiped the skin with the bandage, smiling slightly as the blackened skin started to heal and turn pink.
Osiris bowed his head, “Just once, Dad. He hits hard.”
“You take these books upstairs to your room, I’ll be up later with some hot chocolate in a while, that should cheer you up.” Mentel said with a smile as he got to his feet.
Osiris beamed up at his father and tried to put on a brave face as he endured the pain.
Mentel ruffled his hair and watched him pick up the books on the table before running up the stairs.
The mechanic stood silently for a few moments until he heard the click of the door upstairs. Turning around, Mentel stared at the silver box mounted near the ceiling in the corner of the room. Clearing his voice, he asked, “House, I need you to look into the public databases for Skyth, Arthor.”
Mentel stood rigid, his hands clenched at his sides as he waited for the result.
“Match found, Sir. There are three families by that surname in the immediate area, however only one matches with the name, Arthor.”
Mentel grimaced, “What is the father’s name?”
“Ithan, Sir.” The automated voice sounded out into the cold room.
The mechanic strode over to the wall and took his coat from the wall, “I thought so. Put the house in security mode, if Osiris asks questions, tell him that I’m in the shop and I have to work late.”
“Would you like the address of the Skyths to be downloaded for the car, Sir?” House asked.
“No, I know where he lives.” Mentel said as he left the building.

Arthor Skyth was eleven years old, his dirty blonde hair was sticking up at the back as he gazed at the new arrival on his doorstep.
“You must be Arthor, is your father here?” Mentel asked coolly, his blue eyes locked on the child.
“What’s it to you?” the boy asked as his lip upturned into a slight sneer.
“Your father and I went to school together, I just need to talk to him.” Mentel said levelly as he looked past the boy and into the house. By the looks of it, Ithan hadn’t done fantastically in the years since he left Expenditech University. The floor was a mess and there were red lights flashing on numerous utensils that hadn’t been serviced in a long time.
“Dad! There is a guy at the door that wants to speak to you!” Arthor shouted before he gave Mentel a look that asked, ‘You happy now?’
“What does he want?” Ithan called down from the top of the stairs. Mentel however raised his own voice as he leaned on the doorframe, completely blocking the sliding door from closing.
“I’m here to talk about your son, Arthor, hitting my son, Osiris!”
All colour drained from the young boy’s face as he took a step back and mashed his hand against the ‘Close Door’ button repeatedly. His face darted around to see if his father had heard but before he could back away any further, his father was behind him.
“Is this true Arthor?” Ithan asked casually.
The young boy shook his head as he stepped back further, when he was behind his father, he stuck out his tongue at Mentel.
“Well, Arthor says he didn’t hit him, and I believe my son.” Ithan said with an easy smile, “You must be confused.”
The mechanic however just looked at the boy, “Osiris doesn’t lie, your boy hit him. We went to school together Ithan, I would have thought that you’d still have a little common courtesy towards me and my family.
Sighing audibly, Ithan turned to his son again and asked, almost mockingly, “Did you hit Mentel’s son?”
Another furious shake of the head caused Ithan to turn back to the mechanic.
“You saw it yourself, he says he didn’t do it.”
Mentel however just looked from the son to his father, “He’s lying. He gave my son a black eye and he also disrespected the memory of my wife. Are you going to punish him, or will I have to take actions into my own hands?”
Ithan’s eyes widened at the mechanic’s words, “How dare you threaten my son?”
Before another word could be said, Mentel clenched his fist and threw a heavy punch, directly into Ithan’s jaw. “I never said I’d be taking actions against the boy.”
“Kill him dad! Kill him!” Arthor shouted as he ran to the top of the stairs. Mentel shot forward and laced another right hook into the man’s chest, followed quickly by a left jab to his temple. Ithan, caught completely by surprise, couldn’t even raise his hands to fend off the blows. Mentel reached forward and grabbed Ithan’s shirt and pulled him from the doorway and out into the sidewalk. Stumbling to his knees, Ithan kicked out and hit Mentel’s shin, however he was quickly knocked back to the ground just as Mentel’s foot smashed into his chest.
Coughing up blood, Ithan tried to crawl away but Mentel had already picked him up by the scruff of his neck.
“Stay the hell away from my son!” The mechanic said in a low voice, his gaze locked on the Arthor who was crying, looking at his father. “Do you understand?”
After seeing him nod, Mentel turned back to Ithan. “He‘s all I have left, I‘ll never let the likes of you make him feel inferior.”
With that last sentence spoken, Mentel drew his arm back before he slammed his fist into Ithan’s face one last time. The man collapsed unconscious in the middle of the street.
“Give my regards to your mother, Ilene.” Mentel said as he walked to his car.
“She’s not home.” Arthor answered immediately for fear of the mechanic coming back.
“That’s probably for the best.” Mentel said as he closed the car door, looking back only once to the unconscious Ithan.


“Are you angry with me?” Osiris asked as he looked down at the cup of hot chocolate cupped in his hands. The swollen eye had completely died down and there was only a reddish tint to the young boy’s skin from where it had been bruised. Mentel smiled at his son as he lay on the bed beside him. “No, I’m not angry with you at all. I’m actually very proud of you, you tried to walk away when they made fun of you… I wouldn’t have been able to do that at your age.”
“I don’t want to go to school tomorrow, Arthur will be there and I don’t want to see him.” Osiris said as he cautiously took a sip of the hot liquid. “It would be okay if I missed a few days, I already finished the course.”
Looking at the hopeful face on his son, Mentel grinned. “You may be the smartest kid in your school, but you’re not skipping classes… even if its no challenge to you.”
The little prodigy grinned as his father ruffled his hair lovingly. “But it will be really awkward in school, Arthor will just make fun of me again, eventually we’ll run out of bandages.” Osiris said with a faint smile.
“Don’t worry about it, son, it’s all been taken care of.” Mentel said as he took a drink of his own hot chocolate. Turning around, he had to smile again at the horrified look on his son’s face. Osiris spluttered through his drink, “Yo…you… you promised! You promised that you wouldn’t talk to the teacher or Arthor!”
Mentel smirked, “For such a genius, you forgot someone I could have talked to.”
As the realisation dawned on Osiris, Mentel laughed, “Don’t worry, I spoke to his father, its all going to be fine.”
Shaking his head in confusion, Osiris narrowed his gaze at his father, “But Arthor’s dad is as bad as him. He always tries to kiss our teacher at the parent meetings at school. He does it even when Mrs. Skyth is there!”
The young boy took another breath to elaborate, but stopped dead when he saw the look on his father’s face.
“Parent meetings?!” Mentel hissed at his son, causing Osiris’ eyes to widen. “No… what I meant was when the parents collect their kids from class, that’s when he was trying to kiss our teacher… actually, I don’t remember, the hit to the eye is making me talk funny, Dad… maybe I should sleep?”
With that said, Osiris put the cup down and turned over instantly and pretended to be asleep. But he was quickly pulled back by his father, “Parent meetings, explain, now.” Mentel said with a disapproving expression. Osiris frowned as he pulled his blanket up to his chin, “Promise not to be angry?”
Mentel relaxed slightly as he saw the familiar twinkle in his son’s eyes, it was the same look that Osyria would give him when she was keeping something from him.
“We both know that I cant keep my promises very well today, so just tell me.” Mentel said as he pulled a few pillows from behind him and propped them up under his son’s head so that he could see him better.
“I didn’t tell you about the Parent meetings because you were always busy in the shop, and I didn’t want you to be distracted because of me.” Osiris said quickly, pulling the blanket up to his nose instantly in preparation for his father’s anger. Yet to his surprise, Mentel merely frowned. “I really have been neglecting you lately, haven’t I?”
“No! You have things to do here, I was the one that got in trouble.” Osiris protested, causing Mentel to laugh. “Osiris, there are times you remind me of your mother so much… but then you will be so caring and gentle, you’re just the best little boy a father could ask for. Even if you lie to me sometimes.”
Mentel darted forward and started to tickle Osiris’ waist, causing the youth to scream out in laughter. The two Creeks lay there laughing for a while before Mentel looked at his son, “You know that I’m going to talk to all your teachers tomorrow?”
Osiris grinned, “If I tell you which ones are my teachers?”
Mentel laughed again, “And then again, there are times that you’re just like your old man.” Osiris beamed at his dad for a moment before he crawled out from the blankets and embraced his surprised father. “When I grow up, I want to be just like you.”
Mentel coughed back the tears as he held his son, both of them smiling as they drifted off to sleep in each others arms.

Author's Note

Grammatical errors arent the main concern. I want to know what you thought of the story and the general content. That means more to me. Remember, this story is for a person that is very special to me. I want it to be as perfect as possible :D

Reviews

[Ankit Mahar]

This was such an interesting chapter. The way you create your characters. Like Ithan an his son. And the knock out punch by Mentel. It was just awesome.
I have a feeling this will just get better in the later chapters.
Nice novel so far.
Keep writing :-)

[Tracie Skarbo]

This was a great chapter in a story I have fallen in love with. I hope you are writing more as we speak...send me a read request when you have the next part out. Anyways, I like the action you have developed in this part. I see the MC as more of a loving father concerned about his son and the fight bettween the other father and him was quite believable. They obviously have some sort of a history which you could have sketched out more and would have given more as to why he was so quick with his fists. I liked the fact that Osiris lied about the parent teacher meetings, this is something that more kids would like to do...no doubt. It put him in a more human light by doing so. I want to know more about the problems Osiris is having with his abilities. Is he having trouble making friends? Or is he popular? Is he an inventor of sorts? An artist? How does he deal with his abilities? I want to know more about him I suppose...

Tigra

[Scott Free]

Another great chapter.
I thought it was very interesting how Mentel dealt with the threat to his son. Seemed like Mentel was a little hard on Ithan. That's alright with me, but perhaps you could make us more on Mentel's side in the argument?
For one thing, perhaps Mentel should say hello to Ithan first; I thought it was a little abrupt that he went straight into 'your son beat up on my son.' I thought 'Mentel's being kinda rude;' which is okay, just seems like Mentel is the kind that would at least say hello.
Also, Mentel seems like a good fighter, good enough to knock out Ithan (who was probably bigger than him if his son is bigger than Osiris--maybe you want to mention this)--so perhaps he should give his son fighting lessons? Seems like something a good father would do with his son, and it might prepare him for the trials in his life ahead.
Another thing. The school, from Osiris' descriptions, seems old-fashioned. You'd think that in this world the schools would at least have surveillance to protect the kids while on campus. Perhaps after Osiris gets off the air-bus and while he's walking home, these kids (or kid) come up to him and start the whole taunting thing.
Good job, though! I'd like to see a little more of Skott next but I'll be patient and wait. :D