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As I turn to walk out, I hear the clown beg a little more. “Please, Morgan, just don’t say anything. Let us get through this season before you ruin everything.”
Hm. He thinks I hold a lot of power. At least he’s clued into reality. Glancing over my shoulder, I give him a wink. “No problem. As long as you understand that I’ll need a favor sooner or later, and the only thing you’re gonna remember is the wordnoisn’t in your vocabulary.”
He looks like he’s about to shit his pants, but he quickly nods in agreement. I don’t plan to use him, but it never hurts to keep some tricks in my pocket. Especially with how Dad’s been lately. Football has always been front and center, but this feels different. He’s treating this stupid state title like it’s life-and-death.
When I step into the kitchen, I see Ryder has assumed the task of chafing on Dad’s last nerve because they’re both throwing insults back and forth. It’s not anything new, but this time, instead of walking away, Ryder turns to Dad and says, “I’m not going. You’ll have to find someone else.”
Before I can process, Dad flies across the room, snatching Ryder’s shirt, and shoves him into the wall. “You will attend the workshop and pretend that you’re happy to be there. People don’t need to know you fucking suck at the game. ”
“Make me.”
I rush beside Dad and tug at his arm to pull him off Ryder, but he’s too strong. His right arm only releases long enough to shove me back, then he swings it around to connect with Ryder’s stomach.
My brother lurches forward, a gut-wrenching sound leaving him. I was ready to scream and freak out, but Dad storms off, hollering slurs that echo throughout the house. I’ve never seen Dad like this. Yeah. I’ve seen him fuming. But never to the level where he’d manhandle his kids.
“Are you okay?” When I reach for Ryder, he cowers and shoves my hands away. “Don’t fucking touch me.” He staggers back with a groan, his arm still pinned to his gut where Dad’s fist connected with his body.
“Ryder, please. Are you okay? We have to do something.”
“No, Morgan!” Ryder shouts in my face. “Doing something makes it worse. The only fix for this is to get out of this motherfucking house and never see that piece of shit again.”
Do nothing? That seems harder than anything else. Because I’m watching the only person on the face of this earth that I truly love walk away from me with tears streaming down his face.
It won’t be today but doing nothing isnotan option. Dad can treat me like a whore, but he won’t punch my brother in the stomach and walk away unscathed. I just have to make sure the penalty doesn’t connect back to Ryder. Right now, I’m truly terrified about what Dad could be capable of. Because I have a feeling that was only a preview to what rage truly lurks beneath the surface. After all, I wasn’t taught to be wicked. It comes naturally for a reason.
30
CADE
“You’re here late,” Otis calls from behind me.
“Just wanted to get some hours in while I could.” Yeah. I’m here past quitting time, but the work hours have very little to do with it. I don’t want to go anywhere else. Neil hasn’t spoken to me since yesterday and refuses to even be in the same room with me. And Dad is still at Dustin’s. So this place is the most appealing option.
“Don’t overwork yourself, Cade. There will be plenty of physical labor waiting when you’re done securing that title for Saint Juliet.” He says it with such proudness that it makes me want to hurl my body off the dock.
I find plenty of busywork around to keep me occupied long after I clock out. There’s no way I want to explain to Otis why I stayed all night. Because before I realize it, my eyes are opening to the sunlight as I look around the water. If I were here for any other reason, this would be the best view to wake up to. Involuntarily, the memory of waking up next to Morgan flashes across my recall and the only thing it does is make my stomach turn.
Once I get control of my brain, I head to my truck and drive to school. I have two clean uniforms in my truck so I’ll either be visiting a laundromat or going to my brother’s soon. Until then, I’m going to avoid it as long as possible. So it’s a good thing the showers in the locker room are open early, more than sufficient, and don’t involve sharing air with my father.
But when I enter the locker room, someone has beat me here. Coach is standing in his office speaking with Thatcher. They look like they’re in a casual conversation until Coach spots me and immediately halts Thatcher from speaking. When my principal spots me, he tells Coach, “We’ll discuss it more later” and coolly walks past me, cheerfully asking, “Excited for the game this week? Oakwood shouldn’t be a problem for you at all.”
Shouldn’t be. But everything that shouldn’t be a problem lately has turned into a heaping pile of shit.
“Crawford, what can I do for you?” Coach glances at his watch.
Shit. I don’t want even more questions since his spawn is partly the reason for me showering here. “Just had a workout and figured it’d be smarter to shower here so I’m not late for class.”
“Good thinking. And I’m proud of you for taking the initiative to put in the work.” He gives me a proud pat on the back then heads out of his office in the same direction my principal hurried off in.
Once I’m in the showers, I keep an eye out, waiting for an evil troll to pop her head out at any moment. Can’t say it’s an irrational fear because I’d expect nothing but further torture from her. But what I really want to do is find out exactly what she did to Neil. So I make it a point to shower and dress in record time then head to the bio lab. If I know my best friend at all, I know he’ll be there hiding away from everyone. Just like I’d hid in here three years ago, he used it as an oasis too.
Yep. I know my best friend, because Neil enters the classroom about five minutes before class is set to start. He doesn’t see me, luckily, so I’m able to close the classroom door once he’s inside. Trapping him isn’t a good choice, but I feel like it’s the only way he’ll talk to me.
“I didn’t know someone was in here.”
Someone? Ouch. Apparentlybest friendisn’t the first thing on his mind. “I want to know what she did.”
“Savannah didn’t do anything.”
