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an you take Apollo and Dilbert in while I talk to Casey?”
Liam grabbed Apollo’s leash and took off as fast as his long legs would carry him. The puppy kept trying to look over his shoulder at his young master while Dilbert lumbered behind.
When Dean took a few steps toward Casey, he saw the flash of fear cross Casey’s face, but before he could tell the kid he just wanted to talk, that mulish expression was back in place.
With a frustrated sigh, Dean just dove in. “Look, you want to be pissed off at the world, that’s on you, but I don’t want to hear you ever disrespect any of the instructors here, including me. Most of the kids who come through are grateful to be here instead of juvie, but if you aren’t enjoying your stay, you’ve got one week left that you can finish there.”
Casey’s face started to tremble, and Dean noticed a definite sheen in his eyes, but the kid didn’t back down. “I’ll pack my stuff then.”
Casey tried to escape, but Dean was done messing around. Grabbing Casey by the shoulders gently but firmly, he held the struggling kid in place while he bent his knees until he was eye level with Casey.
“Enough. I was just bluffing, damn it. You’re not packing anything, but you are going to stop fighting me and realize that treating everyone who cares about you like the enemy isn’t helping. Don’t you think I’ve noticed that you haven’t seen your sisters? They keep showing up here to visit you, and you don’t even bother to come out.”
“It’s none of your fucking business!” Casey cried.
“You’re my business whether you like it or not, and I want to make sure that you don’t push away the only family you have—”
“I don’t care! If she hadn’t signed me up for fucking art classes, I’d have been fine! It’s her fault! Her fault!”
Dean reeled back, surprised by the pure rage in Casey’s molten red face and high-pitched scream. Dean wasn’t even sure he knew what he was saying, but when one of Casey’s fists swung out and caught Dean in the stomach, the air whooshed out.
And then it was as if Casey had eight arms swinging all at the same time.
Dean heard a shout but ignored it, wrapping his arms around Casey’s thin body and pinning his arms to his side. Casey started to use his feet, but Dean dropped to the ground speaking in low, calm tones. Nonsense, really, but he’d seen Kline do it with one of the boys who had autism. The tight embrace had eventually calmed him, and Dean just hoped it would do the same thing for Casey.
Best was suddenly standing over them, bending down to intervene, and Dean shouted to be heard over Casey’s yelling. “No, I’ve got him.”
Best backed off as Casey’s voice grew softer and hoarser. “Let me go. I hate you. I hate yo-ou.” He choked on the last word, his body shaking as he began to cry, and Dean noticed that a crowd of kids had gathered at the edge of the field.
“Get them back inside,” Dean said loudly to Best.
Best took off, and Dean realized he was burning up, slick with sweat from the heat and fight, but he held on as Casey started to relax, sucking in breath after breath between sobs.
“You’re okay. No one is going to hurt you. You’re okay.”
Dean didn’t release him for the longest time, wanting to make sure that the storm had passed. “If I let you go, are you going to turn into Rocky Balboa again?”
“No.” The word was quiet and weak, but Dean took him at it as he released him. Sitting up, he waited until Casey joined him before he started talking.
“It is not my job to tell you how you should feel. I’ve never been where you are, and every time I try to think about it, it honestly makes me want to find whoever hurt you and pummel him to death.”
“Because you like my sister?” The question had a bitter edge, and Dean shook his head.
“Because you are one of my men, a part of my squad. We’re brothers, and nobody fucks with my brothers. I would want to kill the son of a bitch with my bare hands just on principle. I don’t know what happened, and I would never press you on it, but what he did was wrong. It had nothing to do with you or your sister. The only one who deserves any of the blame is the person who you wanted to hurt today.”
Casey didn’t respond, so Dean kept talking.
“Look, I’m not going to lie, I may like your sister, but she’s got nothing to do with you and me. I’ve got your back long after you leave Alpha Dog, because that is what we do here. We are there for each other and want to make sure that when you leave here, you have all the skills you need to make better choices. Do you get that?”
“People always want something,” Casey said.
Dean wished that Casey and his sisters hadn’t learned such a lesson, but the only thing he could do was try to prove them wrong. “My only angle is to make sure you get what you need so that you succeed once you’re back out there. I don’t want you to end up back in here or worse, but I can’t tell you what is going to make things better. You have to decide what you can live with and what is going to help you heal.”
“Thanks, Dr. Phil.”
Dean grinned, glad he hadn’t broken his spirits. “Hey, I am your elder by a few years. I know stuff.”
“Can you teach me how to fight?”
