Me
And you know there’s not one fucking chance I’m giving him back to you.
My teeth ground as I sent it, the oath I made slashing through my consciousness with the same depth as a five-inch blade.
PJ
Then you’re gonna pay for him.
Scumbag was always the same. Wondering how he was going to benefit from every situation. How he’d spin it so it landed in his favor. Like that little boy was a bartering chip.
Me
You can fuck off to whatever hole you crawled out of because you aren’t getting anything from me.
PJ
We’ll see about that.
Me
Try it, old man, and find out just how serious I am.
Because I might have been weak then.
Unable to stop it.
But I would never allow him to hurt the innocent again.
SEVEN
SILAS
SEVEN YEARS OLD
“Come on,Silas, baby! Knock it out of the park.”
With the bat cocked over his shoulder, he peeked in the direction of the voice and caught sight of his momma at the fence. Her face was pressed to the metal and her fingers were curled into the chain links.
Her smile was as big as the sun.
At least that’s what it felt like, the way his whole chest felt fuzzy and warm.
He barely tweaked a smile and focused on the pitcher at the mound.
The boy threw it, kind of wobbly and off to the side, but Silas swung for it, anyway.
It cracked when it made contact. Vibrating up his arms as surprise took him over. He watched it hit the ground just past the pitcher and go rolling toward the outfield.
“Run, baby, run!” his momma shouted, the same as his coach, and Silas jumped into action. Pumping his legs just as fast as they would take him, running for first base.
He stomped on it, and his momma yelled, “Keep going!”
He turned and headed for second, his breaths hard pants.
He didn’t know if he was going to make it because a kid on the other team finally snatched the ball from the ground and cocked it over his shoulder to throw it to second.
Instead of it going sailing, he fumbled and dropped it.
