Chapter 28: Family Over Everything

Originally, Melanie had planned for Tommy Hawk to accompany her to the bank that morning, since Tommy Hawk didn't need to attend school every day now, and walking to the bank with her would be good exercise.

Tommy Hawk didn't decline the invitation, even though he felt that reading in his bedroom was a better option. However, Melanie was still somewhat apprehensive about her future. Strictly speaking, she needed to wait for Hugh Spade to be convicted by the judge in a three-month trial before she could be hired by Sinclair Elementary School to replace Hugh Spade.

However, to Tommy, this anxiety was completely unnecessary, since he had already coached Melanie on writing a thank you letter to the principal of Sinclair Elementary School. In the letter, she talked about her situation and experiences, and thanked Sinclair Elementary for their cooperation with the police in getting rid of her nightmare, Hugh Spade. She also mentioned considering writing a letter of commendation to the Clair Elementary School parent committee, commending Sinclair Elementary for their great help in the matter.

As long as the principal wasn't an idiot, they should understand that they didn't want Melanie to bring up this issue to the parent committee. The demand in the letter was clear, and satisfying that demand was all that was needed. Otherwise, if the parent committee found out that a teacher at their children's school was selling pills, the principal could expect complaints.

The simplest thing for the principal to do was to give Melanie the job that belonged to Hugh Spade, moving her under his command and getting her to dismiss the idea of publicly thanking him in front of the parent committee.

As Melanie was preparing breakfast, there was a knock at the door. Tommy Hawk, with a toothbrush in his mouth, walked out of the bathroom and opened the door to the apartment. His brother Tony was standing outside, smiling at him: "Good morning."

"Don't you have to work today?" Tommy Hawk stepped aside, removing the toothbrush from his mouth to ask.

"Wipe that white stuff off your mouth before you talk to me, fag~" Tony teased his brother, then made himself comfortable at the dining table, greeting Melanie, who was toasting bread in the kitchen, and began enjoying the breakfast meant for Tommy Hawk. Seeing Tony pick up Tommy's cup of coffee, Melanie intervened:

"Tony, this one is yours."

Efficiently, she poured out another cup from the coffee pot and placed it in front of Tony, then put Tommy Hawk's cup of coffee back where it was.

Tony looked at Melanie quizzically, then at Tommy Hawk who went back to the bathroom to continue brushing his teeth, and said, "What's the problem? It's just a cup of coffee. When he was little, he not only drank my juice, coffee, but also secretly wore my Mickey boxers."

"If you insist, you can give it a try," Tommy Hawk said with a smile, having wiped the water from his face and walking out of the bathroom.

Grabbing Tommy's coffee cup, Tony took a sip and immediately stood up, rushed to the bathroom, and vomited the coffee into the toilet before saying with a grimace, "Aunt Melanie, did you forget to add sugar to this espresso?"

"Tommy firmly believes that bitterness sharpens his mind," Melanie said with a laugh after seeing Tony, who didn't believe it and insisted on trying it, face the consequences.

Tony sat back down at the table, took a sip of the coffee Melanie poured for him, and after neutralizing the bitterness in his mouth, said, "Tommy, I could personally sponsor you seventy-five cents to see a doctor and have them check your stomach with that umbrella-like thing. I suspect your stomach is close to becoming like those cats that excrete coffee beans. Maybe Marvel will include you in their comics as a member of the X-Men if they hear about your mutation, and your job would be to prepare coffee beans for Professor X in the toilet every day, using that bitter taste that made me swear to help him focus."

"Not a bad idea, Tony. You could also come up with a cool nickname for me after I become an X-Men," Tommy said with a smile, sitting down next to Tony and taking a sip of his coffee.

"I've got one: CatAss!" Tony immediately responded.

"Hahahaha~~" Tommy also laughed loudly along with Tony, but abruptly stopped laughing at the peak, his gaze turning deep as he looked at Tony, his voice returning to calm: "What mess has the old man gotten into this time?"

Tony's smile faded too, but his expression wasn't severe. He simply drank his coffee and said, "Today is Bessie's visitation day, and the old man hopes we can join him for the visit."

"Hasn't it always been the old man going to visit Bessie alone, for fear that the two of us would split his precious visitation time? We've suggested going with him numerous times before, only to be unanimously rejected. What's different today?" Tommy asked, puzzled upon hearing that it was just a visitation with Bessie.

Although Bessie had been taken to a foster family, biological family members could visit once a week, generally for two to four hours, depending on the foster parents' schedule.

Tommy Hawk felt that the weekly visitations were Child Protection Services' most cruel punishment for the poor, not being able to take their own children home yet having to meet them every week, witnessing their growth but unable to be a part of it.

Tony took a bite of bread and said, "Maybe Dad finally remembered that, besides a daughter, he has two sons. By the way, Dad wants you to wear that grass-green jacket with 'Diaper Gang' printed on it. Bessie said she likes seeing you in that jacket."

"I'm definitely not wearing that jacket. I'm already eighteen, wearing a jacket with cartoon characters on it? And it has 'Diaper Gang' printed on it? I'd be labeled a fag by everyone, and not just any fag—a cute, effeminate one. The kind that would bloom like a sunflower on the first day in prison!" Tommy Hawk immediately refused Tony's words with a decisive tone.

At this moment, Melanie came over holding the toasted bread: "I didn't hear a thing."

"I'm afraid I can't go with you to the bank," Tommy Hawk told Melanie.

Melanie nodded, a flicker of disappointment passing through her eyes, but then she seriously said to Tommy, "No problem at all. I'll take care of it. Family always comes first, Tommy. Give my regards to Bessie."

...

On Interstate 95, a Ford Raptor with an American bald eagle printed on it sped along the highway.

Colin Hawk, dressed in clean casual clothes for a change, was now sprawled in the back seat of the car, his mouth wide open in deep sleep. To visit his daughter and not lose earnings by taking a day off, he had completed that day's work the night before.

Tony tried to maintain an indifferent expression on his face, his hands firmly on the steering wheel as he drove. In the passenger seat, Tommy Hawk wore the jacket with 'Diaper Gang' on it, looking relaxed, a far cry from his earlier reluctance. He gazed out at the rapidly retreating greenery, saying, "You know? I now feel that wearing this jacket isn't really that embarrassing."

"Shut up, Tommy!" Tony said with a stern face: "Don't make me beg you."

At this moment, Tony Leon was wearing a pink jacket decorated with images from 'Betty Boop,' and his head was adorned with a cute hair clip with dog ears.

"Actually, you should have been clear from the start that you were going to wear 'Betty Boop' to this family gathering. Then I wouldn't have had any resistance to wearing 'Diaper Gang.'" Tommy Hawk took out two cigarettes from the pack, lit them both, and then handed one to Tony with a laugh.

Tony took the cigarette and put it in his mouth, his voice filled with despair, "For some reason, I'm not looking forward to this visitation at all."

"Sons, listen to that heartless talk of yours. Oh, I am shamed by you. You have the blood of family-minded Italians running through your veins, and when your closest family members have just a little expectation of you, you push back in every way. You should learn from your father. Any request from a family member, he'd do his utmost to fulfill. Remember, family first." Maybe woken up by their banter, Colin Hawk mumbled drowsily from the back seat.

Tony nodded knowingly: "You know, Dad, if you're willing to trade jackets with us..."

"Huh..." Before Tony could finish, Colin Hawk's snoring continued.

Tommy Hawk, with a cigarette in his hand, looked out the window, finally holding back any sarcastic remarks about Dad, and just chuckled to himself, "Family first, huh?"

Tony Leon turned to look at his younger brother, patted the grass-green jacket, then patted his own pink jacket, and said earnestly,

"Without a doubt, Family Over Everything."