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“Dads,no,” Nick moaned.
“Dads,yes,” the men said.
Good people, all.
The Dad Squad had plans to go get a beer or two to celebrate a somewhat successful training session. They left Nick and Seth outside the building, everyone promising they wouldn’t stay out too late. Miles reminded them that they were expected promptly at six the following afternoon at the Kensington house for Jazz’s seventeenth birthday party. “Don’t be late,” Miles warned Nick and Seth. “You think Burke is scary? He pales in comparison to my daughter when something doesn’t go her way.”
Nick shuddered, the image of Jazz wielding her high heels shooting across his brain. No one was as terrifying as Jazz. “We’ll be there,” he promised. “Probably early to help her get ready, even though she says I shouldn’t be allowed to dress anyone, even myself.”
Miles looked him up and down, taking in Nick’s ripped shorts, a tank top, and his beat-up black Chucks. “Yes, well.At least you’re… trying.” He winked at Nick before leaving them to catch up with Bob and Trey, who waited at the corner down the street.
Nick hoped Dad would follow without saying anything they’d both regret, but since he was Nick’s father, he apparently couldn’t help himself. “Be good. What did we talk about?”
“We talked about many things,” Nick said, trying to buy time to figure out how to make his father incapable of speech without harming him. “Nothing that needs to be rehashed here, of course, given that I listen to—”
“Public indecency laws exist,” Dad said, as if Nick hadn’t spoken at all. “I don’t want to get a call that you and Seth are grinding up on each other because you can’t wait until you’re behind closed doors.”
“Oh, no,” Seth whispered. “I’m standing right here and I wish I wasn’t.”
“Dad,” Nick spat, face on fire. “You’re doing this on purpose.”
“And you’ll never be able to prove it,” Dad said. “See you at home? Don’t stay out too late. You know she worries.”
He ruffled Nick’s hair before turning to catch up with the others. Miles and Bob led the way across the intersection, Trey and Dad walking a couple of feet behind them, heads close together as they talked.
Trey and Nick’s father had a somewhat complicated relationship, what with Dad having done things while carrying a badge that he never should have. Nick didn’t begrudge Trey his anger. He’d been right about the police’s role in violence against the Black community, and ever since Dad had quit the force, Trey had softened, especially when Dad had started going to therapy. When it’d all come out into the open, it’d caused Nick to question everything he’d thought cops stood for, the idea of good versus evil, a clear delineation that allowed no room for shades of gray. Dad was trying, but Nick was, too. He still had a way to go before he could completely dismantle the idea that police deserved hero worship, an unearned idea that existed onlybecause his father had worn a uniform. They both owed it to their friends.
“Does Dad…” He looked at Seth. “Does he seem different to you? Ignore him embarrassing me for the fun of it. I’m not talking about that.”
Though the temperatures had lowered slightly, it was still disgustingly humid. Nick felt sorry for Seth, who wore a hoodie with the hood pulled up over his head, giving him a bit of anonymity. Ever since he’d removed his helmet and revealed himself to the world on prom night, Seth had a hard time going out in public, seeing as how his face had been plastered over every newspaper in the country, along with a never-ending cycle of coverage on 24/7 news channels. Nick had tried watching, at least at first, but it soon grew tiresome, what with certain pundits screaming that Seth was dangerous, that he could destroy the very fabric of society if he chose to. This was darkly hysterical, seeing as how Seth, while strong, was a marshmallow who always tried to avoid hurting others.
“Different how?” Seth asked as he started down the sidewalk, taking Nick’s hand in his and pulling him along.
“I don’t know,” Nick admitted. “He seems… happier.”
Seth arched an eyebrow, squeezing Nick’s hand. “That’s a good thing.”
“I know.” He struggled to find the right words to make Seth understand. “It’s weird, though. I have this… memory.” He scrunched up his face, thinking hard. “But that doesn’t seem quite right because I don’t have any context for it. Itfeelsreal, and not, all at the same time. You know how you’re having a vivid dream right before you wake up, and when you do, it still feels like the dream is happening?”
“Sure,” Seth said. “A waking dream.”
“Right,” Nick said. “Maybe that’s it. Because I think I’d remember if I found my father crying in his room.”
Seth frowned. “Crying? About what?”
Frustrated, Nick huffed out a breath. “I don’t know. All Iremember is him sitting on the edge of his bed, and he didn’t know I was there. But I was. And I wanted to go to him. I didn’t. It felt… personal.”
“It was just a dream, Nicky. You’re probably overtired from working as hard as you have.”
“Right,” Nick said slowly. That had to be it. “Still, he smiles more.”
Seth grinned. “Yeah, I saw that. It looks good on him. How’s it going with him and Cap?”
“Good,” Nick said as they stopped at an intersection, cars backed up across the crosswalk. He bumped the call button, waiting for the light to change so they could continue on. He did his best to ignore an old, ripped poster hanging just above the call button that readSAVE OUR CHILDREN. “It’s still early days, but they got their license and are ready to start building their client list. Dad thinks Cap is having the time of his life. Said they should’ve opened their own private investigative agency years ago.”
Rodney Caplan, the former chief of police, had resigned from his job a few months before. It was either that or be forced out, and Cap wouldn’t give those in power the satisfaction.
“Sounds like things are going well, then.”
