Chapter 5 #2
The man stood but didn’t attempt to smile. He was attractive with a pronounced long jaw, but his cheeks were gaunt, like he hadn’t eaten enough in a long time. Shock slammed into me.
“Dad?”
He dipped his chin and his lips thinned. “Hey, boy.”
My mouth fell open.
“Nothing to say?” Dad chuckled, a raspy low sound, but there was something about it that felt forced.
“What the hell is happening?”
Mom was all smiles. “They let your dad go! And, well, he couldn’t go to your grandparents, you know—”
“I-I don’t.” A bizarre buzzing started in my head as pure rage streaked through me.
“I don’t fucking know, since I’ve never met them.
” Old pain stabbed my heart. When I was younger and other kids in my class had talked about grandparents, I’d had nothing to say.
Trips. Presents. Nights out. Popping over to read good-night stories.
Holidays together, like on TV. It had always been me and Mom scrabbling alone because Dad didn’t want to be a dad. Didn’t want a family.
Dad—my fucking dad, in the flesh—grunted.
“They’re fucks. Never supported me. If it weren’t for Darla and my club brothers, I wouldn’t have been able to buy a bar of soap in prison.
” He shifted from foot to foot. It was wild seeing him here, in my bedroom, next to my art desk and dresser. The furniture was so ordinary.
I felt drunk.
Then, his words clicked together in my brain. I stared at Mom while fury banked higher in my stomach. My face burned.
She laughed and touched her hair, sending a guilty glance at Dad.
She’d been ready to go to work after the visit that must’ve become a ride home from prison because she was wearing a green skirt suit.
And the fabric was rumpled in a way that happened when clothes were tossed off, then pulled back on.
I swallowed hard. What the fuck is happening?
“You sent him money? There were weeks while you were working those shitty retail jobs when we were eating rice, beans, and hot dogs every night.”
She puffed out her cheeks. “And I ate it every lunchtime, too, and skipped breakfast. At least you got fed in school. Someone had to send him money.” She tugged at the bottom of her suit coat and her cheeks glowed a rosy pink.
“You said he wanted nothing to do with us!” I yanked on my curls until they stung where I was gripping them.
Mom glanced at Dad, bottom lip pouting. She never acted like this. Ever. This man had rolled in here and replaced my mother with an alien. If she suddenly sprouted tentacles, I would only be a teensy bit surprised.
“It was better this way,” Dad said gruffly.
“Better for who?” I shouted. “You? Because you got cash with no strings? You wouldn’t even talk to me!”
He loomed toward me and his lip raised in one corner, reminding me of a low-rent Elvis impersonator. “I don’t like what you’re implying.”
“Oh, that’s fine.” I slapped my hands to my sides. “I thought I wanted to know you, but now I’m not sure. Are you here to mooch off Mom now that she’s doing fine and doesn’t need a babysitter?”
Mom patted the air near me as if she was trying to put out flames. “Honey, I thought you’d love it if he was staying here. You always wanted to know him better.” She glanced between us and her chin wobbled.
This wasn’t my mom. She was strong. Never looked to anyone else for answers. My stomach plummeted. Oh my God, was she going to listen to what this stranger said?
The sensation of being separated from the people deciding things about my life clamped around me, digging in and injecting venom. Rage sparked in my belly. I wanted to rip this fucker’s face off.
“I did want to know him,” I said, throat aching. Maybe I was yelling. “But he’s not here because he wants to know me or get back together with you.”
Mom’s smile vanished completely and tears trickled down her cheeks.
“He’s here because he doesn’t have anywhere else to go.” I couldn’t catch my breath, I was so furious.
Mom sobbed. “I thought you would be happy. Your dad is here.”
“Me too, but I didn’t expect you to go brain dead the second you saw him. I didn’t know you’d been lying to me.” My head spun.
Dad poked my chest, and I yelped.
“You don’t talk to her that way, you spoiled brat.”
The fucking nerve. “Like you give a shit,” I snapped, then spun on my heel to stomp out to the living room.
I flinched when I spotted Ren because, with all the insanity, I’d genuinely forgotten he was here.
His arms were crossed and he was scowling.
He was fucking magnificent, and I felt better standing in his don’t fuck with me aura.
I was almost at his side when the back of KC’s jersey was yanked hard.
I tripped and gagged as the collar bit into my neck.
I shifted to the side to relieve the pressure on my airway as I found my footing.
Dad raised his fist.
Ren shoved Dad.
Dad stumbled back against the corner of the living room and hallway, landing heavily. The drywall crumbled.
“Don’t you fucking dare touch him,” Ren snarled.
Dad shoved off the wall with a grin that was pure evil. He shook himself. “That kid doesn’t get to talk to me that way. I’m his dad.” I noticed he wasn’t quite so fast to raise his dukes to someone taller and wider than him.
Ren laughed, and Dad’s eyebrows dove.
“I don’t care who you are.” Ren flipped him off with so much gusto I wanted to do it, too. “I will dent your fucking skull if you touch him again.” He dragged me behind his solid body and warmth chased off some of the ugly feelings tumbling inside me.