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“This is not your business,” Hayes shockingly stated after I tried to defend him.
I spun around in stunned silence and glared at Hayes.
“I have this, Bo, so please leave,” he added.
My eyes widened in disbelief. “Oh? Did I miss something in this pleasant exchange, Hayes?” I asked.
“You heard him, river rat,” Phillip sneered. “Don’t you have a shack to get back to?”
I stepped forward and got in his face. “You sure you want to keep yacking, suit?” I hissed. “Go ahead and give me an excuse to fuck you up.”
Hayes’ father interrupted the love-fest Phillip and I were engaged in. “I don’t advise that Mr. Dawson,” he began. “If we sue you for assault you will not be able to cash in on my son, now will you?”
I turned to Hayes. “You gonna put up with this shit, Hayes?” I asked. I motioned to his father. “He just accused me of wanting your money.”
“Stay out of it, Bo” Hayes cautioned again. “This is a family issue.”
“That’s right,” Phillip agreed. “And you are not a part of that equation, punk.”
“Butyouare?” I asked, turning back and forth between him and Hayes.
“He’s like a son,” Crawford Senior interjected, moving to Phillip’s side. “Him and my son are a couple, Mr. Dawson, and it is time for you to listen to my son and leave this house.”
“Is that what you want, Hayes,” I asked, looking at him directly.
“Just for this meeting, Bo. This is business and all,” he said, standing and walking toward me. “It’ll just be a few more minutes.”
“Hayes does not need you to protect him, boy,” Phillip taunted. “Besides, that has always been my job so you can row back to your little fishing shack and we’ll send you a nice check,” he added, gloating and glancing toward Hayes’ father. “We know that’s what you’re really after, isn’t that right? A bit of a reward of sorts for keeping Hayes as a hostage.”
I’m not sure what was louder, my fist dislodging two or three of his pricey veneers or him dropping to the floor in a heap. “What else you got, asshole,” I asked standing over Phillip while simultaneously hoping Senior wanted a piece of me too.
“You assaulted me,” Phillip cried, feeling around his mouth to see how many teeth were missing. He brought his hand away and saw the blood. “You’re going to pay for this.”
“Take it out of my reward money, asswipe,” I snarled. “You’re one fucked up family,” I added, turning to Hayes. “I came in here to protect you because I was worried for your safety. Thanks for appreciating the gesture.”
I turned and headed for the door, sidestepping the older Mr. Crawford. “Bo, wait,” Hayes said, grabbing my arm. “I just meant this is a family business problem, that’s all. I love that you want to protect me.”
I looked into the eyes of a man who in two short weeks had been beaten down by pressures. Career pressure. Family pressure. Handling vast amounts of money pressure. Pressure from me. He was gaunt and sickly and was more worried about business and his family’s privacy than about my love for him.
“You don’t need to worry about this problem anymore,” I said, pointing to myself. “You’ve got enough on your plate, Hayes.”
“What? What do you mean?” he asked, tugging on my arm. “You can’t leave.”
“Sure he can,” Phillip snarked. “Arrivederci, loser,” he added.
I removed Hayes’ hand from my arm and walked out of the room. I heard the door close so I turned to see if Hayes was behind me, perhaps wanting to thank me or beg me to stay. He wasn’t.
Making my way upstairs and to the bedroom, I heard more shouting and arguing, the raised voices fading when I made my way down the long hallway to the bedroom. I’d arrived with a duffle bag of clothes and little else. I didn’t have much, so packing the few items I had took about three minutes.
Hayes had framed a picture of us on his nightstand so I grabbed that and shoved it in the duffel before zipping the bag closed. I decided to take one thing from his house and the item was going to be a frozen-in-time moment of happiness that would remind me of the love we had so briefly shared.
The voices continued to get louder as I made my way down the stairs and to the front door. I hesitated and listened as they continued arguing about money.
“We could lose everything if you don’t bail us out,” Senior exhorted.
“That is not my fucking problem, Daddy. The pair of you are cheaters so you can figure this out with someone else’s money. It will not be mine.”
It was a shame that Hayes was being bullied by two people who should be supporting him. He was considered dead by these buffoons a few weeks ago, yet here they were adding to his stress. And, here I was walking away from his world, quitting on him when he needed me. But did he? From where I stood by the door, wishing I was the priority in his life, the reality that he actually didn’t need me wasn’t a good feeling.
