Elena gave me her best mother’s look like that shit was gonna sway me. Since I knew the two of them wouldn’t stop until they got something outta me, and truth be known, I wasn’t as worried about the little shit as I was before seeing my baby in that damn book, I was feeling a bit magnanimous.
“Tell me something, what is it with you two and this kid?” I left my post on the wall and pulled up a chair next to them. Kat got all nervous and shit and Elena studied me like I was in the interrogation room. There was a lot of throat clearing before either one of them decided to talk.
“Well Colton, since Caitie knows that you go into an epileptic fit when it comes to her and boys, she tells me things.”
“Things, what kinda things?” My growl had them both sitting back hard.
“You see, there you go, I’m trying to explain something to you and already you’re ready to jump. Just listen okay, and don’t get all bent out of shape before you hear the whole story.”
“Okay, keep talking.” Like I don’t have shit else to do around here.
“Okay, so do you remember that first time when Todd stood up to the bullies? Well there’ve been other things since then. Colton…” My face must’ve looked like a thundercloud. “What other things and why am I only now hearing about them?”
“Well Colton, son, the fact that you’re gripping that chair arm hard enough to break it should give you an idea.” Elena gave me a stern look like I was five and she was two seconds from sending me to time out. I give a fuck. I’ve had about all I’m gonna take when it comes to my kid. They couldn’t know that I’d decided that the next motherfucker to even look at my little girl cross-eyed was gonna get fucked.
“Tell me Katarina.” She wasn’t looking too sure now but the bull was out the pen and there was no putting him back in. “Okay um, you know a couple months ago Todd went away for the school trip, they were gone for two weeks?” Yeah I remember-I remember having to run my kid off the phone at all hours of the damn night because of the time difference where he was or some shit.
So what the little fuck was smart and got to go off somewhere or the other to show off his brain skills, he still wasn’t good enough for my kid.
“Well while he was gone something happened.” I could feel the red haze covering my eyes. Not because something had happened, but because my wife hadn’t told me about it.
My stare got her to pick up the story again. “These boys sorta kinda cornered her, not really it wasn’t like that COLT…” I was out my damn chair like a shot, my heart was beating the fuck outta my chest. I hit the stairs running and headed for Caitie’s room.
She was sitting on her bed with headphones on listening to music while leafing through a book. Why is this shit happening to me? Why can’t these fucks leave my family alone? I started to go in and ask her to tell me what had happened, but she looked so young, so happy, I didn’t wanna spoil that.
She’s so damn beautiful, is that why? It had taken days before I stopped seeing that flesh rag every time I looked at my little girl. Now everything that involved her was magnified in my mind. I can’t forget what happened to her mother when she was just a little older than she was now herself, and though I don’t hold anything against Drake, I’ll be fucked if anything like that is gonna happen to my kid. Not on my fucking watch.
By the time I turned around Kat was upstairs. “Where’s ma?”
“She had to go what did you say to Caitlin?” She tried looking around me into the room but I backed her up until we reached our room. “Nothing yet, I’m waiting for you to tell me the rest.”
She started that hand wringing shit and bit into her lip. Usually the lip biting thing would make my dick hard as fuck in no time, and I wasn’t sure she wasn’t doing it to distract me. “Stop that.” I pulled her lip out from between her teeth.
“The boys thought it would be funny to tease her you know, they um, took her book bag and wouldn’t give it back, things like that, and one of them asked her out and when she said no he said some ugly things to her.”
“I’m gonna fucking level that school, who was it?”
“Colton I took care of it, the kid said he was sorry that he hadn’t meant to scare her. He was embarrassed Colt that she turned him down in front of his friends.”
Is she out her fucking mind? “I don’t give two wet fucks Kat.”
“Colton shh; Caitlin doesn’t want you to do anything, don’t embarrass her.” She grabbed my shirttail to hold me back from leaving the room.
“What the fuck are you on Kat? They fuck with my kid and you expect me to do what?”
“But Colt they’re just kids…”
“Who waited until the boy left to start their shit with her again, fuck that.”
“Colt…”
“Kat, grab the baby and stay up here.”
“Why, what’re you gonna do?”
“Nothing for you to worry about peacemaker. Catalina come here.” I yelled out for her not knowing where the little spook was.
“Yes daddy?” She came bounding into the room three seconds later, which meant she’d been listening at doors again and shit. I walked out of the room with her on my heels.
“I need you to make me up a batch of some shit.” Her eyes grew big and there was a light in them that I hadn’t seen since I’d seen it in my own when I was a wayward youth. Well fuck; while I’m saving a college fund for the others I’ll be starting a bail fund for this one; I can just see it now. Plus she has some of Kat in her; this whole neighborhood is fucked.
“What do you want it to do daddy?”
“What do you mean pumpkin?” she took my hand and started leading me down the hallway.
“We…l…l do you want a hair remover, a rash, or something more permanet?” She couldn’t even say the word but she sure as fuck knew what it meant.
“Permanent like how?” I stopped and looked down at her.
“Tell me first daddy.” What the fuck did I get myself into now?
“Uh, I don’t want it permanent.”
“Then you don’t need to know.”
“What the… KAT.”
“What is it now?” she came out the room and glared at me.
“You been watching after this kid?”
“Of course I have what kinda question is that?”
“How does she know about making potions and shit that can do permanent damage?”
“I don’t know, she gets that from you.”
Everything’s my fucking fault around here; except when they’re dong the right thing, then they’re mommy’s little darlings.
“Daddy you want me to help or not? I was busy.”
“Busy doing what, listening in at keyholes? Didn’t I tell you about that shit?”
“Daddy, I don’t do that, you were yelling. Now you want me to do it or not?”
“Do what; Colt what are you two up to?”
“None ya.”
“Catalina?”
“Nothing mommy, I’m just showing daddy my new trick.” Damn she was good; if I didn’t know what we were just talking about I would believe her. She had the innocent little angel act down.
“Kat, you sure they gave us the right one at the hospital?” I had to say that shit out the side of my mouth because she hears everything with her nosy ass.
“Colton.”
“Just checking. Come on Mengele let’s go show daddy your new trick.” They have to be a boot camp or some shit that would take this kid.
I don’t care what Kat and her mother in law says, I’m not letting these little punks get away with fucking with my kid. I followed Hitler’s youth to her little science corner in my basement and listened as she told me about all the different products she had in neat little rows.
I’m thinking it’s a good thing I did that because some of the most innocent shit you’d find in any household apparently could be used to destroy shit. “Catalina where did you learn all this stuff?”
“I read it in grandpa’s book.” She was busy
mixing shit in a beaker with her little tongue caught between her teeth in concentration. “So what are you making there?” I was beginning to rethink this shit; maybe it wasn’t such a good idea. What the fuck was I thinking getting my kid involved in this shit?
“Oh this, it will make you sick if you eat it in your food, not bad sick just make you go to the bathroom a lot-lot-lot.” What the fuck! How the fuck do I get outta this? “Listen kid I changed my mind.” She really scares me no joke. She gave me a put upon look and walked over to the sink to pour out her concoction. I watched to make sure it was all gone but what was the point? She’d whipped up her little batch like a pro.
I headed back upstairs to her mother. “Kat don’t keep things from me again, anything happens to my kids I wanna know immediately. Did you talk to the principal?”
“Of course and the boys were reprimanded but I didn’t want to make a big deal because these days they kick kids outta school for the littlest thing.”
“Their asses need to be kicked out. I’m surprised that you of all people are taking this shit so lightly. They cornered her Kat.”
“ Colton I know what you’re saying, but the way Caitie described it, it didn’t sound like anything more than high school horsing around. The kids are gonna face those things babe, it’s just a part of life.” She can keep that shit. I don’t trust these little teenage fucks.
I decided to snoop around and get the names of the kids who’d messed with my kid. I wasn’t gonna do much more than put fear in them and warn them to stay the fuck away from her, but if my wife knew she’d raise hell. She still wears rose tinted glasses and thinks people are redeemable. I say they’re all fucked in the head young and old.
Chapter 11
Lyon
***
When I wasn’t dealing with Kat and her kids, or killing myself at the shop trying to meet quota, I was thinking up ways to fuck the Porters. It wasn’t my style to let things wait this long and it was killing me, but things were finally moving thank fuck.
Old man Mallory had come through with some shit this afternoon that I felt I needed to share with the guys from the meet, but I had to wait until the coast was clear before I could start that conference call. The people in my house, especially the ones that were missing a chromosome are nosy as fuck, there’s no telling who’s listening at the door and shit.
“Hey Caitie Bear.” I caught her at a rare moment when her damn shadow wasn’t around, and barely stopped myself from asking where he was. That’s some dangerous shit in itself. I’ve grown so accustomed to seeing those two together, that although I wouldn’t dare mention it to my wife, it feels off when I don’t see him sitting in the little alcove off my kitchen doing homework with her.
“Hi daddy.” She smiled bright and closed her book, patting the seat next to her for me to sit. I’m a grown man, some might say a hard ass, but when my little girl smiles at me like that, and wants my company, I’m putty. “What you doing there baby?” I sat and put my arm around behind her.
When I look at her I see the best of me, and Kat. I see that first year of loving and fighting and getting to know each other. I see me panicking the day she came into this world, scared the fuck outta my mind. Never knew it was possible to love this damn much, doesn’t seem like a body could hold that much emotion.
“I’m studying for the SATs.” What the fuck? Isn’t that what you do when you’re leaving high school to go off to college? She still had two more years. “Come again.” I didn’t want to freak out because around here that’s grounds for hilarity. Fucking Kat and her kids always find something to laugh at my ass about.
“Why are you doing that now? I thought that was next year or the year after.”
“No daddy, remember? I told you and mom weeks ago that I had to take a test and if I did really well they would let me take them early. I passed daddy isn’t that great?” What the fuck is going on in these schools? I went to school with motherfuckers that didn’t graduate until they were staring nineteen in the ass. Granted they were dumb as a stump but what the fuck? Because my kid was smart I had to lose her a couple years early? We’ll just see about this shit.
“That’s real good baby daddy’s proud of his smart girl.” I kissed her hair and hugged her shoulder; still no awkwardness. I was waiting for the day, dreading it more like, when she wouldn’t want her old man’s hugs. She prattled on about some shit some girl at school had said and what some other one had done, and then of course I had to hear about Todd and some funny thing he’d done or said and my eyes started to cross.
I sat with her for a little while and did the dad thing. My sons were upstairs somewhere. I knew this because the little fucks were trying to jump through the flooring up there with their shit. I hadn’t seen hide nor hair of Kat the sneak. “You finish your homework baby, I’m gonna go look for your mother.”
“Okay daddy.” Her head was back in her book and I stood in the doorway and watched her for a few seconds more, wishing like fuck that these moments weren’t coming to an end anytime soon. Fucking kid owns my ass.
I found her mother, my wife walking around the living room with the baby in her arms trying to put him to sleep. My boy smelt me and picked his head up. “Oh good you’re home, here.” She passed the kid off, pecked me on the lips and tried to escape.
“Not so fast you. You tell my kid she could graduate early?” She rolled her eyes. “It’s an option Colton.”
“I opt no.”
“Seriously Colton, you’d really keep her back? She’s worked really hard for this, you can’t…”
“She’ll be sixteen, that’s too young for her to be going off away from us.” I wasn’t even thinking about the assholes that were after her, them I can handle. But once a kid heads off to college that’s it, they never come back. I was not ready for my little princess to fly the coop.
“You do know that that’s what school is for right? And that it’s a good thing that ‘Our’ kid is doing so well. I spoke to her teacher and she’s way ahead. If we keep her back now it might do more damage than good.”
Fucking woman always has an answer for everything.
“I gotta sign anything to make that shit happen?”
“Colt…” Uh-huh, I ain’t signing shit. I rubbed my face against the baby’s head and held him close. “How was he today, still colicky?” She’s so good with the kids sometimes it seems I’m just ballast. I don’t know how she does it either what with running her company from home and keeping the house in order. I help there of course, but somehow my little contributions never seem to be as much as hers. She does it all, my little wonder woman; pain in the ass.
“He’s doing better aren’t you baby? She made cooing noises at Cody and he giggled and rutted around in my arms. “Fuck Kat, what’re you feeding this kid? He weighs a ton.” The lil freak hefted her tits at me and grinned. I smirked at her because we both knew I got about just as much of that shit as he does. “I can vouch for that, I think I put on a coupla pounds myself.”
We both had a good laugh at that one before we talked about our day. She’d stopped pestering me about my visit to Law’s days ago and although she hadn’t told me what it was that was bothering her she seemed fine and at night when I watched her sleep, she wasn’t restless so I’m thinking we’re good.
Things have been smooth sailing on the home front thank fuck, none of the drama that is usually running rampant around here with a houseful of hardheaded fucks who took after their mother. No one had broken any bones lately and the school wasn’t calling us to complain about some shit that had nothing to do with me.
I don’t know how many times I have to tell them whatever these kids do on their time is their headache. As long as they don’t put hands on my kids, we’re straight. But every other week at least there’s a call for a parent teacher’s meet. The fuck, I live there?
Chapter 12
Lyon
***
Later that night, when the house was quiet and I knew Kat’s ass
was down for the count because I’d fucked her into the springboard, I snuck into my office to make the call I’d been waiting all day to make.
“Hey Law, it’s me, you’re gonna need to call Creed and them military boys in on this one.”
“Why what’s going on? No Dana Sue go back to sleep. Hang on Colt let me get to where we can talk.”
I heard ruffling and kissing noises and then he was back.
“Tell me.”
“I got some Intel from old man Mallory today about our little situation.”
“Hang on let me conference.”
Shit went dead for a second and then I heard ringing on the other end. “Yo.”
“Logan it’s Law, I got Colt on the other line says we need a conference hang on I gotta call Creed.” What the fuck! more dead air and then another hello. Sounded like we interrupted Creed.
“This had better be good or some fuck’s gonna get it.”
“Creed we gotta talk Colt has something.” There was some mumbling in the background and another grown man had to explain to his owner why he was leaving her in bed. Fucking saps, the only ones that seemed up and ready were the military fucks and who knows what the fuck they’d been up to before we called.
“Okay everybody here, or you boys need some more time to placate your women? Fucking leashed.”
“Shut the fuck up Lyon, I’ve seen you with your woman you don’t fare much better.” Creed laughed and the rest of them joined in. We shot some shit with each other before getting down to business because I was pretty sure that they knew whatever was coming wouldn’t be good.
“What did you hear?” That was Logan, fucker’s always serious, can’t say that I blame him, dealing with this fuckery.
“Right, this Stockton guy was in bed with the Porters we knew that already, but did you know that one of the Porters has the ear of one of our past presidents, anyone wanna take a guess as to which one?”
“Fuck, the fuck up?”
“You guessed it Law. Apparently while the rest of the world is under the impression that these fucks were after oil and other natural resources they had something more lucrative on the side. I’m guessing from all the silence that you already knew all this as well. I guess the big news then is that this desert guy whoever the fuck is headed stateside.”
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