28. Eli
28
ELI
I wished that I could’ve been proven wrong about my dad. When I left Haley at her house to call her aunt and rest with that morning sickness, I told her that I bet my mom would send my dad to throw all my things out of the dorm room. I’d been partly exaggerating. But I wasn’t wrong.
He was there. By the time I left Haley’s and drove Finn’s car back to campus, I found that asshole up on my floor, trying to do exactly what I’d half-heartedly predicted.
“Get out of my way, you little punk,” he threatened Finn.
My best friend stood there, not trembling and defiant as he looked my dad in the eye and didn’t move from the door to our room.
“Don’t talk to him like that,” Davina warned, standing next to him.
“Shut the hell up, you little bitch,” my dad growled.
“Sir, you need to leave the premises now.” The dorm security guard was older than us, but not by much. He still looked so young and na?ve compared to my barrel-chested dad.
“I’m not going anywhere,” he growled as I walked up close to the situation.
“You need to leave before I call for backup,” the guard said.
Dad laughed, mean and rough. “Oh, sure. Call some pansy-ass idiots as your ‘backup’. I want my kid’s crap out of this room now.”
“Tough shit,” Davina snapped. “You’re not getting in here to touch anything.”
“You think you’re going to tell me what to do?” He lifted his hand to shove at her shoulder. “Little girl like you? Huh? You’re nothing but a disrespectful little girl who needs to learn her place.”
Finn’s jaw slid as he clenched his teeth, stepping in front of Davina to block her from him.
“Look out, here’s the hotshot who thinks he can?—”
“Stop.” I walked up, cutting right through the guards and the crowd of onlookers. Finn and Davina noticed me now as I took up the spot next to them, getting right in front of my dad.
“There he is. There’s the worthless piece of shit who used to call himself my son.” He leaned down, shouting so loudly, so angrily, that spittle flew from his mouth.
The act of my defiance was the tipping point to unlock the last level of his monstrous personality. He’d snapped. And I was so done with him that it wasn’t even funny.
“Don’t talk—” Davina’s retort was cut short by my dad reaching out to push her away.
He tried to, at least. I caught his hand and shoved him back, making his arm jerk awkwardly toward the side.
“You’re not here for them. You want to act like a mad dumbass, then take it out on me. That’s why you’re here, right? You want to try to pound in some lame demand for respect?”
“Don’t talk to me like?—”
I struck out at him as he reared up to backhand me. I beat him to the punch—literally—and landed a solid hook to his jaw. Putting all my pent-up anger and frustration into the hit, I heaved out deep, ragged breaths. My knuckles stung. My arm was tight. But damn, did it feel good to see him flounder and fall back on his ass.
“Go on. Try me.” I lowered to my haunches to stare him down as he glared at me. “You should know that I’m done just taking it. I’m not your punching bag anymore. You try me, and I’ll knock you on your ass again.”
“Fucking punk,” he slurred, rubbing his jaw where it seemed I’d wounded him almost to point that he couldn’t speak.
I stood, waiting for him to try again. While he sat there and glared daggers at me, more security guards showed up. A few cops came too.
“Come on,” I told Finn, backing into my room. “Time to go.”
Letting the cops and guards handle my dad out in the hallway, I got into my dorm room with my friends. “Are you okay?” I asked Davina.
“Damn.” She shook her head. “Haley told me a little bit about how much of an asshole he is, but damn .”
I laughed once, mirthlessly. “Yeah. But he’s not my dad anymore.”
“That’s the spirit,” Finn said, clapping me on my back and seeming to try for some comedy relief with that sarcasm.
“No. I mean it. My mom and dad disowned me.”
“What the hell am I missing?” Finn asked. “You leave to go check on Haley, and before I know it, he’s here demanding I let him in and take all your shit.”
“He wanted to throw it outside. To make a point. To try to make my life as hard as possible because I never fell in line.” I paced, running my hands through my hair. “He didn’t hurt you, did he?” I had to check again.
“We’re fine,” Davina said. “But what is going on? Where’s Haley? Is she okay?”
“Haley will be okay,” I said. “She claims the morning sickness will get better in a few months.” I couldn’t help but grin at being able to say that. That she was pregnant. That I would be a father. It was the brightest silver lining to all of this.
They both showed surprise, then congratulations. I brought them up to speed with what had happened. As I told them what I came to find at Haley’s house, then all that my mom had said, I explained that I was no longer going to live here and finish out the semester in this dorm room. They pitched in, helping me pack, and not only that, but they also came with me to my parents’ house to pack up my things there. Finn contacted a couple of football team members, too, and they rode behind us as backup.
Just in case my dad didn’t get the message.
I didn’t have a lot, nothing like furniture or any big items, but with my friends, I had someone watching my back as I gathered my clothes and essentials that I could bring with me to Haley’s house.
Davina was a good fit for Finn, so stern and no-nonsense while Finn was prone to being quiet and nervous. She faced off with my mother while I got my things and left—for good. With one of our teammates driving his SUV, there was more than enough room for me to stash my clothes and other odds and ends that I could take without my parents claiming I took anything they’d given me lately. I bought most of my own things, anyway, using the spare money I made mowing people’s lawns in the summers and whatnot.
Before we could drive back to Haley’s, I checked my phone to see if she’d contacted her aunt. I didn’t want to show up without an explicit okay from the actual owner of the house. As I got my phone out, though, I realized I’d need to get a new one.
“Damn.”
My mom had already removed me from the plan.
“Hey,” Davina said, flagging me over to where she was about to get in the passenger seat. “Haley called me and said your phone is off.”
I nodded. “Just saw that now. They took me off the plan.”
Davina held out her phone to me. “Okay. But it seems that someone wants to talk to you now .”
I furrowed my brow, confused, and took the phone. Walking away, I saw that it was a video call with someone who looked like Haley’s sister.
“Hello?”
“Hi, Eli. This is Natasha, Haley’s older sister.”
“Ah, the Irish twin. Nice to meet you. You two almost could be real twins.”
She smiled, but she didn’t lose that edge of seriousness. “She called me and told me a fair share of what’s been going on.”
“Yep. It’s been…” I ran my hand through my hair and sighed. “It’s been a hell of a day. You’ll be Aunt Natasha soon.”
She smiled and nodded. “Sounds like it. My son will be thrilled to have a cousin. But I’m calling for a little more information before we can stick with congratulations and well wishes.”
“Information about what?”
She went on to ask me about my scholarship. My grades. My plans. She wasn’t asking for small talk, and as I answered her, I felt very much put on the spot, like this was an interrogation.
An interview.
If she was eager to check me out and vet me as someone she’d want in Haley’s life, she was a little too late for that to matter. Haley was mine. We were staying together because we wanted to be together, in love and with a bright future.
My parents wouldn’t dissuade me from being with her. And I bet Haley wouldn’t let Cindy or Natasha talk her out of being with me, either.
Natasha wasn’t asking about anything to do with my intentions for her sister, though. She was more focused on details about my scholarship, like the amounts, the date it was granted, who was on the committee, and for me to forward all my grades to her. And she asked for many details about that night that the car was damaged at that party. When she asked for more about Drake, I got a little suspicious.
“Natasha? I can’t help but get the feeling these questions are for a reason.”
“They are,” she answered bluntly. But she didn’t elaborate. “I’ll let you go with one last one.”
“Shoot.” As much as I wanted to be on Haley’s sister’s good side, I was desperate and impatient to get back to her at the house.
“Do you honestly want to take care of Haley and your child?”
I laughed once. I couldn’t help it. It was that ludicrous. “Yes. Yes, Natasha, I do. It’s ridiculous to assume I wouldn’t.”
She arched a brow. “Why is it ridiculous?”
“Because I love Haley. And I already love our child.”
She slowly smiled. “You sure about that? We’re young. Those are some big promises.”
“Yeah, we are young. And they are big promises. I stand by them.”
She didn’t seem entirely convinced yet. “You spent a long time bullying her.”
“I did. I will regret it forever. And I will spend the rest of my life working for her forgiveness.” I didn’t falter, not looking away. “This did happen fast between us, but that doesn’t make what I feel for her any less true.”
I loved Haley with my whole heart, and I wished I could’ve said that out loud to her first.