Chapter 22 #2
I run down the hall, following the sound to a room at the very end. The door is open, and I run in and see Calvin huddled against the wall, his body curled in a ball as the man in front of him gets ready to strike him.
Racing up behind him, I grab the guy’s arm and whip it back. “Don’t you fucking touch him!”
He turns to me, and when I see his face, I immediately see the resemblance. He’s Calvin’s father.
“Who the hell are you?” he yells.
“I’m a friend of your son’s, and if you touch him again, I’ll punch you so fucking hard you’ll be on the ground.”
“This is a private residence! Get out of here or I’ll call the police!”
“Go ahead. I’d love to tell them what I just saw.”
“You didn’t see anything. I was having a disagreement with my son.”
He sounds just like my father, acting like this is normal, like it’s just a form of discipline. He’s dressed like my father, too, wearing a very expensive suit. His tie is loosened the same way my father loosens his before he hits me.
“How did you even get in here?” he demands.
“I invited him,” Calvin says, his voice quivering. “He goes to my school.”
His father looks back at Calvin. “Why didn’t you tell me you were expecting company?”
Calvin doesn’t answer. He’s shaking, like he’s afraid any answer he gives will make his father hit him again.
“I didn’t tell him when I’d be here,” I say.
Calvin’s father notices Ella standing in the doorway. “Who are you?”
“I’m friends with Calvin,” Ella says.
“You two need to leave,” he says. “My son can’t have guests right now.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” I say, folding my arms over my chest. I’m a good five inches taller than this guy and have a lot more muscle. I could easily overpower him, but Calvin couldn’t. He’s short and skinny with no muscle tone.
“If you think I won’t call the police, you’re wrong.” Calvin’s father gets out his phone. “What’s it going to be? Leave, or be arrested for trespassing?”
“Didn’t you hear your son?” I say. “He invited us. But go ahead and call the cops. You’ve got three witnesses that saw what was going on here.”
“You think the police will believe three teenagers?” he huffs. “I’m a billionaire. A respected leader in the tech world. I own multiple businesses.”
“Yeah, I know who you are,” I say. “Doesn’t mean you get to beat up your kid. I think the cops will agree with me.”
He narrows his eyes at me. “I donate money to the police and the charities they support, and trust me, money speaks louder than any claim made against me.”
“Guess we’ll find out.” I keep my eyes on him. “Calvin, go stand by Ella.”
“He’s not taking orders from you!” his dad yells.
“Calvin,” I say, urging him to move.
He finally does, getting up from the floor and slowly walking around me until he reaches Ella at the door.
“Take him outside,” I say, glancing at Ella.
She nods and takes Calvin away.
When they’re gone, I grab Calvin’s dad by his dress shirt and slam him against the wall.
“How’s it feel to be on the other side?” I smile, seeing the fear in his eyes.
“You think you scare me?” he scoffs. “You’re a child.”
“I’m a man. A man who could beat the living shit out of you and leave you here to die.”
The fear in his eyes spreads to his face. He swallows hard, and sweat’s beading up on his forehead.
“But I’m not going to do it,” I say. “Because then I’d be like you.
And I hate fuckers like you, thinking your power and money gives you the right to beat up your kid and get away with it.
” I keep him held against the wall and lean down to his face.
“You ever lay a hand on him again, I’ll come back here and finish this.
I don’t give a fuck how many connections you have, or how much money you have in the bank, or how many businesses you own. I will end you if you touch him again.”
He clears his throat and looks to the side.
“Do we have a deal?”
He nods and clears his throat again.
I let him go and slowly back away. I walk out of the room and down the hallway to the door. I go outside and see the truck there, the engine running, with Ella and Calvin inside.
“Let’s go!” Ella yells.
Calvin moves over, and I get in next to him. “You okay?”
He nods really fast, and he’s shaking.
“He thinks we just pissed off his dad,” Ella says as she drives off.
“We did,” I tell him. “But he’s not going to hurt you again.”
“He will,” Calvin mutters, a black stare on his face. “He’ll make it worse next time, to punish me.” He looks up at me. “You don’t understand. You don’t know what it’s like.”
I look over at Ella. She’s giving me a look back that’s begging me to tell him. I don’t know if I’m ready for that. I never thought I’d tell anyone, and I’m not sure I would’ve told Ella if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes.
Calvin looks down. “You know it was me. That’s why you came here. You know I sent the texts.”
“I recognized your voice on the recording you sent,” Ella says.
“What are you going to do me?” He cowers like it’s a natural response any time he thinks he’s going to be hit. He’s not worried about Ella. He’s worried about me. He’s almost as scared of me as he is of his father.
It makes me feel like shit, like I’m no better than Calvin’s dad or my own. I’ve made people fear me to get control over them and make myself feel powerful, not realizing I was doing exactly what my father did to me.
“I’m not going to hurt you,” I say to Calvin. “We went to your house to ask if you’d come forward to the police and be a witness so it wasn’t Ella and me against Finn and Parker. Those two will lie and try to put all the blame on Ella and me.”
“I thought those guys were your friends,” Calvin says.
“Yeah, well, I wouldn’t really call them that.”
Ella pulls up to her house and parks. “Are you ready for this?”
“They’re not here yet,” I say. “We still have time.” I turn to Calvin. “Will you help us or not? Either way, we’ll find a way to keep you from having to go back to your house, if that’s what you want.”
“I need to think about it,” he says. “I don’t know where I’d live.”
“We’ll figure it out,” I say, thinking I need to do the same for myself.
“What about coming forward as a witness?” Ella says. “Would you consider it?”
He nods. “I’ll do it.”
“Really?” she says, surprised.
“With one condition.” He looks over at me. “You protect me from Finn and Parker.”
“Done.”
We go inside the house, and I notice my shirt has blood on it. I look at Calvin and see that his arm is bleeding. He must’ve got blood on me when his arm brushed against my shirt when he was next to me in the truck.
“You should clean that up,” I say to Calvin, pointing to his arm.
“You’re bleeding?” Ella races up to him and sees his arm. “I’ll get some bandages.” She goes to the hall bathroom.
“Think I could borrow one of your dad’s shirts?” I yell so she’ll hear me.
She comes out of the bathroom. “Why?”
“I don’t want the cops seeing this.” I point to the blood on my shirt.
She nods and goes into her dad’s room.
I yank my shirt off and go to the kitchen to toss it in the trash. When I turn around, I see Calvin staring at me, his jaw dropped.
“What?” I look down and see the dark bruise on my abs. Shit. I wasn’t thinking.
Ella returns with the shirt. “Why is it so quiet in here?”
“What happened?” Calvin asks, his eyes on my stomach. “That looks like . . .” He pulls his shirt up, and I see a bruise similar to mine, but it’s along his side.
Ella looks between Calvin and me, then back at me. She wants me to tell him. I don’t know if I can.
“Yeah,” I say. “That’s what it is.” I leave it at that and take the shirt from Ella. Calvin watches as I put it on, looking completely shocked. He better not ask me about it because I’m pissed that he saw, and talking about it will just make me angrier.
The front door opens, and Ella’s dad walks in.
“Are you having a party in here?” he jokes, seeing Calvin there.
“Dad, this is Calvin,” Ella says, pointing to him. “He goes to my school.”
“And you’re all doing that assignment?” he says, going to the fridge to get a drink.
“Um, no.” Ella walks up to him. “Dad, there’s some stuff I need to tell you.”
He looks around. “Where’s Susan? She was going to come here to work.”
The doorbell rings.
We all watch as Ella’s dad goes to answer it. He opens the door, and Susan’s standing there.
“There you are,” he says with a laugh. “I was just asking Ella where you went.”
“She didn’t tell you?”
“Tell me what?”
Susan sighs. “I’m sorry, Roy, but I need Ella to come down to the station for questioning.”
“What are you talking about? Is this a joke?”
Ella comes up behind her dad. “It’s not a joke.”
He looks between Susan and Ella. “What’s going on here?”
“Do you want to tell him or should I?” Susan says to Ella.
Ella pauses, then says to her dad, “You know that hit-and-run? The one Susan’s investigating?”
“Yes. What about it?”
“It was me. I was the girl in the SUV with the three guys. The one at the pay phone at the gas station.” She looks down. “It was me.”