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“Because this needs to get sorted out now,” Adam said. “And we didn’t have time to throw a committee together to discuss it.”
They were right. If Seth was in town, it was only a matter of time until we had a face-to-face. Doing it on our home turf with Aubrey and the twins safe and sound over at her place was about as good of a time to do it as any.
“Alright,” I said. “I guess Idohave a few choice words for him.”
“We all do,” Adam stated. “But we need to keep cool heads about all of this. If one of us flies off the handle and touches him for no reason, that could be all the advantage he’d need in court to prove us unfit.”
It was another good point. “You’re right.”
“You know that asshole’s going to be recording all of this,” Tyler said. “He’s a sketchy-ass loser, but he’s not completely stupid. He’s going to be looking for anything he can find that might make us look bad.”
“Message received,” I said. “Now, can we get this over with?”
The boys and I formed up, heading out onto the front porch just in time to greet Seth. He was driving a beat-up old Bronco that had to be more than twenty years old, the gray and red colors more rust than anything else. The plates were from Maryland, letting me know that he hadn’t even bothered to switch them over to California – if he was even still living there.
We stood side-by-side on the porch, our eyes fixed on the Bronco as it came to a stop. The day was mild, a little bit of warmth from the sun in the blue sky above melting the snow by the second, drops falling from the porch’s awning here and there.
The driver’s side door opened, a blue-jean clad leg sticking out.
Seth stepped out of the vehicle. He was tall and gangly as ever, his face gaunt and his hair messy. He was in such a state that you didn’t even need to hear him talk to know that hard drugs and cheap booze were a mainstay in his life.
He stood with his hands on his hips, shaking his head.
“Wow, I get the whole squad, huh?”
“Seth,” Mac bellowed, his voice low and deep. “You’re a long way from home, and you’re on property that sure as hell isn’t yours. Say what you came here to say and then turn your ass around.”
“Is that a threat?” he asked. “Tell me, are you threatening me?”
On his dashboard I spotted a small camera pointed ahead. I elbowed Tyler, getting his and the rest of the guys’ attention, making sure they saw it. They did.
“No threats here,” Adam said, raising his palms and bringing a touch of calm to the situation, as he was good at doing. “You came here to talk, right? Well, let’s talk. Tell us what’s on your mind.”
Adam might’ve been able to be calm, but I sure as shit wasn’t. All I could think about was rushing over, ripping him apart limb-from-limb, ending this little problem of ours once and for all.
I kept my anger in check, however.
Seth waited a moment, as if wanting to make sure that Adam’s calm demeanor wasn’t some trick. When he felt satisfied that it wasn’t, he began.
“I came here to tell you that I want the kids back. I’m their daddy, and I have a right to them.”
“Aright?” Tyler spat out the words. “Buddy, you weren’t so much a dad as you were a sperm donor. You didn’t even wait for those kids to come out before you abandoned our sister.”
“Doesn’t matter. None of that matters.” He spoke with the confidence of someone who felt he had the law on his side. “Whatdoesmatter is whether or not you guys are going to play ball.”
I let out a mockingooohhhas if he were trying to be some kind of Billy badass. I couldn’t help it.
“You’re the one dictating terms now?” I asked. “Try us.”
He narrowed his beady little eyes, the circles under them looking worse than ever.
“First of all, I want to see them.”
“Not going to happen,” Mac said. “We’ve got custody, and besides, they’re not even here.”
“But they’remine!”
“Seth, we’ve been over this,” Adam said. “We’ve got custody. It was in the will.”
