"That went well," Francis muttered after everyone helped Melinda stand to her feet and cleaned her up after watching Ja'Marco punch his mother and spit on her face before the teenager stormed out of the house upon learning the truth.

"Like hell it did," Jeremiah spat lowly as he shot a glare at the bruised Melinda, the woman's nose now bandaged up as she looked as if she went through a boxing match. "Melinda, do you see what lying to your own son- keeping  this kind of secret away from him- has done? I don't condone what he did to you, but I really can't blame him. What you have done proves that you are an unfit mother. Momma and Daddy would've beaten your behind black and blue if they were alive today."

"I know, Jeremiah, but it was for the greater good," Melinda said brusquely, giving Ciara a brief yet grateful smile as her stepdaughter handed her a glass of water and some aspirin.

"But as they say, the greater the good the harder the blow," Mrs. Weston remarked snidely. "And your so-called greater good has led to you receiving quite the blow to your nose."

"The main thing to do now is figure out how to get Ja'Marco on our side," Ro'Niah interjected as he stood in the middle of the room. He turned his attention to Orion, the older man now de-aging back to a teenager. "So you say that his birthright is meant to be bestowed upon him when he turns seventeen in October, right?"

Orion nodded. "He'll become one of us by then," the demigod commented.

"But what happens if he wants no part of it?" Felicity asked before  shooting a glare at her younger brother. "I mean, I know I wouldn't if I was in his shoes and wanted to remain normal."

"He is meant to claim what is mentally his, Miss Adamson," Frederich answered. "The ones who are not part of the original lineage- those who know the truth yet are outsiders- have the choice to refuse the gifts. But since Ja'Marco is a Quitman AND a Hedare by blood, he will receive his Triton identity as well as his immortality on October 13th- on a Friday, no less."

"Hey, I just remembered something," Gwen said, eyes full of realization. "Mom, wasn't that on the same day that Steven was set to receive his gift as well?"

Mrs. Freeman nodded. "If it wasn't for the hit that I placed on him, he would've known the truth...and more than likely wanted to refuse since he was very ornery before his initial transformations," she replied.

Kristen shook her head. "And I have a strong hunch that Ja'Marco will want to denounce all of...well this," she said as she gestured around the others. "I mean, he's been kept out of the loop for almost his entire life before this bombshell dropped on him. I dunno, you guys. Maybe it's best that you all let him reject the gift so he can live a normal life."

"That cannot happen," Reichen said tersely. "Since he's now starting to show the signs of being a Triton like us, he won't be able to resist the call of the Nexus and will inevitably have no other choice but to accept his new life here in town."

"But consider this," Candide said. "Give this some thought, if y'all don't mind. What if he decides to make plans to leave town? What if he wants to find a way back to California and try to regain some semblance of normalcy? I mean, some time away from Glenview Valley will likely have him back to his old self. He could put all his focus into finishing high school, going to college, getting a good job, finding someone to be sweet on and...you know, let him be himself."

"My thoughts exactly," Mr. Weston agreed.

"Unfortunately, he won't be able to leave now that he's going to be a part of us as we're now a part of him," Ferguson said. "Like Orion said, Ja'Marco's a Hedare and a Quitman by blood and he'll be set to claim what's his by his birthday. Ro'Niah and his family understands this as well as the Freemans. They too want to be a part of what's going on while the Thades have decided to stay out of the affairs while accepting the inevitable."

"About that," Felicia said, her ire now raised as she turned her attention to her parents, brothers, and relatives. "What the hell are you all thinking?! You do realize that you're basically siding with the enemies and sold out completely, right? And Ro, you ought to be ashamed of yourself for originally planning to kill him before that."

"Call it a bad oversight, Felicia, but you know what they said. You can't fight fate," Ro'Niah defended. "Yeah, I originally wanted Jay to die. If he ended up committing suicide, he would've ended up in heaven. If we went with the original plan, Ja'Marco's body would be dead, but his soul would've been saved from eternal damnation."

"But you're basically letting him be damned to hell by letting him become one of them," Jeremiah shot back, gesturing at the Hedares and Quitmans. You owe my nephew some loyalty after being his friend for many years."

"Well, we can be friends with him when we all join the Tritons and become gay men ourselves," Mrs. Adamson retorted. "Who knows? He might see reason and end up embracing his destiny."

"Or he could end up hating you for the rest of his life," Candide said as she stood to her feet. "I dunno about y'all, but Mom, Dad, and I won't allow this to happen. Adamsons and Turners, you are officially dead to the Weston family. I will be informing our church of what transpired- to an extent- and you will not be welcomed back. Consider yourselves excommunicated from the Church of God in Christ."

"Well said, Candide," Felicia said. "I'm out of here. I'm going to find Ja'Marco and we're going to find out how he can renounce this so he can go back to normal and make plans to leave this town after his junior year."

"We're coming with you," Kristen said, her mom nodding in assent as the duo stood to their feet. Kristen faced Chanel. "I hope you're happy with yourself, Freeman."

"In a way, Yuen, I am. Like they say, you can't fight fate," Chanel replied firmly.

Jeremiah glared at his sister, the woman being nonplussed. "You can do what you want, Melinda," the man spat angrily at his sister, "but know that my nephew will want nothing to do with you after today. As soon as we figure out how to end this hell on Earth, I'm going to make sure he has nothing to do with you again. You mark my words."

"You can try, Jeremiah, but it's all set in stone," Melinda intoned as her family and the Quitmans as well as their friends and Orion joined her. "Ja'Marco will become one of us."

SMACK!

Melinda reeled away from her brother's backhanded slap before her face was covered with saliva once more by her brother, who only motioned the Yuen mother/daughter duo, the Westons, and Felicia out the door. Once the door slammed shut, Melinda turned her attention to Gwen. "Does your boss know what's going on and your plans?" she asked.

"I already called him and confessed everything," the blonde young woman answered. "He cursed me out after I dropped off my waitress uniform early this morning. All the same, I'll be starting work as a busboy at the other diner on Monday."

"Good," Melinda breathed. "Looks like we got ourselves a battle on our hands, folks. And after what's been said and done, we're not going to let Ja'Marco walk away from us."

"But they're not going to back down either," Kimani piped up. "So, what do we all do now?"

"We let Ja'Marco cool off for the afternoon," Francis answered. "But in the meantime, we get down to business. In light of the circumstances, it's time to take drastic action."

******************

At Coral Bay Diner...

"Ja'Marco, I am so sorry that you had to find out after being kept out of the loop," Gregory, the manager of the retro-centric diner said gently as a fresh-faced waitress served the teen a hearty plate of chicken sliders and fries accompanied by a glass of cherry soda and a slice of blueberry pie. After thirty minutes of walking around in the park and feeling sorry for himself, the teenager wandered into the restaurant and found himself explaining everything to the older man and the other patrons of what he knew and what this meant for his future. "And you can be assured that Miss Lancaster will not be welcomed back into this place of establishment since she and her family decided to defect to the other side."

"I'm only surprised that I'm not dead like my late uncle," Ja'Marco commented, pausing to pop a fry into his mouth. "In all fairness, I would've preferred being killed over being lied to. I never even knew that my late grandparents knew what was going on or that my friends- or rather, my former friends- were planning to kill me as well. Could've been for the best, to say the least."

"So, what are you going to do?" one of the mothers asked as her husband fed their son a small chicken nugget. "I mean, this town is known for those...well, them keeping neophytes like yourself into their circle for as long as possible. And with you being descended from one of those families, there's no telling what can happen."

"I really don't know what to do at this point. I only wished that I fought harder to stay in Compton in the first place. If only I wasn't bullied into coming here, I would've love being in a world of normalcy where I was working at the bookstore, hanging out with my church friends and the other Valley Girls and Boys, going to school, and all that." Ja'Marco sighed heavily. "Where did Grandma Lizzadene and Grandpa Jonah go wrong with their daughter, I'd like to know?"

"I wonder the same thing myself."

Ja'Marco's heart nearly leapt out of his chest as he whirled around to see a relieved Jeremiah, Felicia, the Yuens, and the Westons behind him. "God Almighty," the teen breathed, letting his uncle hug him. "I'm so sorry for punching Mom like that, but-"

"You don't need to apologize," Jeremiah cut his nephew off, rubbing the teen's back soothingly. "I would've done the same thing myself."

"Got that right," Felicia remarked. "Jay, are you going to be okay?"

Ja'Marco broke away from the hug as he faced the sister of his ex-friend. "Honestly, I'm not sure if I'll ever be the same after today," he replied morosely.

Don't even think about getting comfortable yet, folks! We're heading back to Jeremiah's apartment as they talk about what's been said before our star gets a look at the reimagined Adamson/Hedare and Freeman families as well as the extended Quitman clan! Don't miss out!

Dedicating this out to bosandaros. Media: "Kill of the Night" by Gin Wigmore.

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