by Susan Stoker
Nathan nodded.
“Me and Blake were all pissed about it, but not you. You brought her a beer from the fridge as soon as we got home Friday night and kept bringing them to her one after another. Even though you knew she’d get meaner with every drink and knock you around, you still did it. What was it . . . around the eighteenth one when she finally passed out?”
“Something like that,” Nathan murmured, remembering the incident as if it was yesterday.
“Dad told us he’d leave the back door open and told us to have a good time. We went to homecoming, and it was lame as hell, but dammit, we went. You had a black eye, I had a bruised wrist from blocking one of her blows with the bat, but we were there. We would’ve missed it if it hadn’t been for you. Underhanded, but smart.”
“Well, you guys always took blows for me. I figured none of us would get to go if we were all black and blue.”
“True,” his brother told him, then clapped him on the back before heading back to check on Grace and make sure she was comfortable.
Nathan thought about Logan’s words for a long moment. He was right. He’d studied judo and had learned that by keeping things simple and understanding the forces of balance, power, and movement, even a man a hundred pounds lighter than his opponent could still win in a hand-to-hand fight. But Nathan had a feeling Donovan wouldn’t play fair. He was the kind of man who would bring a gun to a knife fight just so he could have the upper hand. So, regardless of his brother’s confidence in his ability to physically subdue Donovan, Nathan had a feeling he’d be better off outsmarting him from the get-go. If he played his cards right, Donovan could be taken down before he’d even know he was being outplayed. Nathan’s mind whirled with scenarios and possibilities.
Before today he’d been ready to step aside. To leave Bailey and Joel alone. To watch over them from afar. But now that he’d seen how little it took to make both Hamptons happy? He realized that he wasn’t giving up without a fight. It wouldn’t be easy, and it would take a lot of work on his part, but he was willing to do it.
Bailey was worth it.
Joel was worth it.
Starting today, Operation “Woo Bailey” would commence.
Chapter Twelve
Nathan sat next to Joel on a hill overlooking the shelter in the park. They watched as Felicity and Bailey scurried around cleaning up the mess that had been left behind.
“You have a good day?” Nathan asked.
“Sure did,” Joel told him, smiling.
“Good. Did you thank everyone for coming?”
“I think so.”
“You did?” Nathan asked, looking at the little boy with his eyebrows raised.
Joel giggled. “Everyone but you. Thanks, Nathan. I liked all my stuff.”
“That was from everyone.”
Joel shook his head. “No, it wasn’t. I heard Blake telling Alexis that you got it all, and you wouldn’t let them pay for any of it. They was kinda pissed.”
“They were kind of pissed,” Nathan corrected, then shrugged a little self-consciously, not knowing what to say.
“You know my sister will fuck you if you ask.” He shrugged. “She fucks everyone. You don’t have to butter her up by getting me presents.”
Joel said it with the same inflection as if he were telling Nathan what he’d eaten for breakfast that morning. Nathan sucked in a breath as if he’d been punched. The words were not only offensive, but disrespectful as hell.
His voice ringing with reprimand, Nathan said in a low, harsh voice, “That was extremely offensive not only to your sister who isn’t here to defend herself, but to me as well. Apologize.”
Joel looked over at Nathan, surprise in his eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said immediately. Then quieter, he said, “I didn’t mean it in a bad way.”
Nathan was confused. How in the hell could he not mean it in a bad way? “Explain,” he ordered.
Joel hugged his knees and looked back down at the shelter. “Donovan says that women are only good for fucking. That when you have a woman and you train her right, like by hitting and yelling at her, she’ll do whatever you tell her to do in the bedroom and out. And I saw him do it, and he was right. The women did what he wanted after he hit them. And every time he gave me something, all he’d do was look at Bailey and she’d go into his room with him. All the girls did that. Donovan said that the more guys a woman fucks, the more she’s worth.”
Nathan thought he was going to be sick. He knew Donovan was a bastard, but to tell a nine-year-old boy that, about his sister no less, was reprehensible.
“You met Grace and Alexis today, yeah?”
Joel nodded.
“You think either of them is going into a bedroom with anyone except my brothers? You think Logan or Blake want anyone else to touch them?”
The little boy looked up at him in confusion and shook his head slowly.
“You think they’re hitting them?”
Again, Joel shook his head.
“Exactly. They treasure them. They wouldn’t harm a hair on their heads, and they, and I, won’t stand by and let anyone else hurt any woman either. Joel, a woman’s worth is not because of how many people she’s going into a bedroom with. It’s in her heart. And how she treats others. It’s in the way she looks at you as if you’re the only person in her life. It’s how she treats her family,” Nathan emphasized.
Nathan nodded his head toward where Grace had been sitting all morning. “Grace is going to have Logan’s children. He loves her so much, he’d kill anyone who hurt her, or his kids. The real measure of a man, Joel, is how well he treats those he loves. Be that his woman, his brother, his sister, or his friends. I hesitate to say this, because I know you hung out with Donovan and his friends a lot, but they are not good men, and you shouldn’t take anything they told you to heart.” Nathan pinned the little boy with his gaze. “You’re ten now. Not a kid anymore. You have to know deep in your heart what Donovan said and did was wrong.”
Joel looked down and picked at the grass with his fingers. “Right before we moved, we watched movies together.”
“Who did, buddy?”
“Me and Donovan. He said he wanted to teach me how women were supposed to be treated.”
Nathan’s stomach rolled. “What movies?”
Joel shrugged but didn’t look up. “I don’t think they had titles. They were real short too. The acting was bad. Everyone was naked, and they did gross things to each other.”
“Porn?” Nathan really hoped he was wrong, but in his heart knew he wasn’t.
“That’s what Donovan said the movies were called. I didn’t really like them,” Joel admitted in a small voice. “They were disgusting, and all the women did was cry when the men fucked them.”
Nathan didn’t think Joel really even understood exactly what the word fuck meant. His mind spun trying to think of the right thing to say. He felt out of his depth, but was happy Joel was talking to him about it. “Did you tell Donovan you didn’t like watching?”
Joel shook his head. “No, ’cause I knew he’d get mad. He also made me smoke a weird cigarette. It made my head spin.”
“Look at me, buddy,” Nathan ordered.
It took a second, but Joel finally looked up and into Nathan’s eyes.
“Donovan is not a good man, and he’s wrong. Your sister, all women, should be treated with love and respect. What you saw is not normal. When two people make love, both should want to do it. If a man forces a woman to do anything, he’s not a good man. The fact that Donovan forced you to watch those movies and to smoke the funny cigarette when you’re not old enough to do either shows that he is not a good man.”
Joel’s lip started quivering, but Nathan forged on.
“Your sister loves you more than anything. She’s scared of Donovan—did you know that? She did what he wanted her to because she was scared of what he’d do to her if she said no. Just like you didn’t want to tell him you didn’t like the movies, she felt the same way. Now she’s
scared Donovan will find her and hurt her and make her do more stuff she doesn’t want to do. But more than that, she’s scared he’ll find you. Do you know why you moved away from Denver?”
Joel shook his head, his eyes wide as he took in what Nathan was saying.
“Because she was protecting you from Donovan.” Nathan took hold of Joel’s chin and held it gently. “Men who hurt women should be in jail, buddy. Locked away. That’s where Donovan was because he hurt Grace. Beautiful, pretty, gentle Grace. And his friends hurt Alexis. I know you just met them today, but those women are two of the most wonderful people I’ve ever met. If you hear nothing else that I say, hear this.”
Nathan paused and leaned down into Joel.
“Are you listening?”
Joel nodded quickly.
“A real man doesn’t talk down to a woman. Not his sister, not his girlfriend, not his wife. If he’s upset, he talks to her calmly and rationally. He doesn’t call her a bitch, like you did today when all Bailey did was try to give you the phone to talk to me. He doesn’t yell at her, and he never, ever hits her. I know you’ve been confused because of what Donovan told you and what you’ve seen. But you should be thanking your sister every night for getting you out of Denver and away from that sleazeball Donovan and his friends.”
“I don’t understand. Donovan was nice to me,” Joel whispered, his little face scrunched up with confusion.
“Was he?” Nathan returned, letting go of his chin. “Think about today. About how much fun you had. How Blake helped you learn how to skateboard. How Logan got up and got you another cupcake when you dropped yours. Then think about the time you spent with Donovan and answer me honestly. Would he have done any of that for you today? Would he have let you run around with your light saber? Would he have made sure you had presents to open and kids to play with?”
Nathan could see Joel thinking. Finally, he licked his lips and said in a small voice, “No. He once told me he wanted to take me shooting. But, guns kinda scare me, and I didn’t want to shoot one. He smacked me when I told him and said that I was a pussy and if I wanted to be an Inca Boy, I needed to toughen up. He also said women were weak. That if I wanted to be in his gang when I grew up that I had to make sure my sister knew I was better than her.”
“Can you change a tire?” Not giving Joel a chance to respond, Nathan then asked, “Can you change the oil in your car? Can you drive a car? Do you earn money for groceries or rent? Would you leave all your friends and belongings if it meant your sister would be safe? Would you jump in front of a moving car for your sister? Joel, you are not better than your sister. I’m not better than her, and she’s not better than Grace or Alexis. Generally, no one is ‘better’ than anyone else. Not because of their age, not because of the color of their skin, not because of who they love. That’s not the way it works.
“With that being said, I do know without a doubt that Bailey is better than Donovan and his friends. She wouldn’t hurt anyone the way he’s hurt people. In my eyes, that’s what makes one person better than another. Every time you say mean things to your sister, you make her sad. And that tells me that right now, until you see Bailey’s worth, she is better than you. She would do anything for you. Anything. Don’t you understand? Don’t you get that Donovan hurt her? And she let him because it meant he’d leave you alone. Everything she’s done in the last few years has been because of you. And you treat her like crap. Yell at her. Make her feel bad. But she doesn’t stop, does she? She buys you food, gets you video games and clothes, and you continue to disrespect her. You want to be tough? Be a man and not a boy? Then open your eyes and see the love Bailey has for you. See that Donovan is nothing but a bully.”
The tears in Joel’s eyes spilled over and ran down his cheeks. “I—”
Nathan didn’t let him continue. In a gentle tone, much different from his earlier words, he said, “If your sister looked at me with half the love she has in her eyes when she looks at you, I’d cherish her. I’d let her know every day how proud I was of her and how much I admired her. Women aren’t weak, Joel. Women have to be stronger than men simply to deal with the shit they get dealt on a daily basis by men who wrongly think, like Donovan, that they’re ‘better’ than they are. Simply because they’re a man. If Bailey was mine, I’d move heaven and earth to make sure nothing ever hurt her again. In fact, even though she’s not mine, I’ll still do just that.”
“I’m sorry, Nathan,” Joel said, still sniffling. “I was just saying what Donovan did.”
“I know. And I’m sorry too.”
“For what?”
“I was pretty harsh with you. I shouldn’t have been so blunt.”
“What’s blunt?”
“Straightforward. I should’ve gone easier on you when I explained it all.”
“Did Donovan really hurt Bail?”
“Yeah, buddy. He did.”
“She didn’t want to fu—er . . . go into his room with him?”
“No.”
“And the other girls?”
“What about them?”
“Did they want to go in the room with Donovan?”
Hating that Donovan openly cheated on Bailey, but honestly not surprised, Nathan said, “I don’t know. Some probably yes, others, no.”
“I’m sorry,” Joel repeated, the remorse in his voice easy to hear. It was obvious this was a genuine apology. “I love Bailey. I just get so mad sometimes. I miss my friends at my old school, and I don’t like being the new kid.”
“Don’t be sorry for something someone else did,” Nathan said. “What Donovan did is on him. The best thing you can do is move on. Be friendly with the kids in your class. They just don’t know you. If you act around them like you did around the kids you met today, I’m sure they’ll be begging to be your friend. Think about your actions from here on out. Take responsibility for what you do. It sucks. You should be allowed to be a kid, but you need to help take care of Bailey, instead of letting her take on all the burdens. Do you help out around the house?”
Joel shook his head. “Donovan always said that it was women’s work.”
Nathan merely looked at him and raised his eyebrows.
“But Donovan was mean, so he was probably wrong,” Joel allowed in a small voice.
“I live by myself. Who do you think cooks, cleans, does the laundry, shops, takes the trash out, dusts, and cleans the toilet?” Nathan asked.
“You,” Joel stated without question.
“Exactly. You want to live with Bailey for the rest of your life?”
Joel shook his head.
“Then it’s about time you started to learn how to do some of that stuff, yeah?”
“Yeah.”
“And one more thing. Well, two,” Nathan said gently.
Joel looked at him expectantly, his tears having dried up.
“If you ever see Donovan here in town, you need to tell Bailey or me and my brothers immediately.”
“Why would he be here?”
“For no good reason. He’s mad at Bailey for leaving him. He thinks he owns her. That she should do whatever he says. He’s not happy she left.”
Nathan could see Joel mulling over his words. “People can’t own other people. I learned that in school. Slavery is bad. But, Nathan, even though Bailey doesn’t want to, Donovan wants to take her back to his house and do . . . the things I saw in the movies . . . doesn’t he?”
“Yeah. He does. And he’ll hurt her, buddy. But not only that. He wants you back.”
“He likes me that much?”
Nathan put his hand on the little boy’s shoulder. “He wants to make you as bad as he is.”
Joel sucked in a breath.
Nathan continued. “He wants to make you hate your sister. Wants to turn you against her. Then he’ll throw that in her face to hurt her more.”
“I couldn’t hate Bailey,” Joel protested.
“You said some pretty mean things to her today,” Nathan said. “I heard you call her a bit
ch when she wanted you to talk to me on the phone. You telling me you weren’t mad at her? That you didn’t want her to hurt as much as you were hurting?”
Joel didn’t respond.
“I like you, buddy. You’re an amazing kid. I know all this is confusing, so this is the second thing. If you ever have any questions, I want you to ask me. You can talk to me about anything. I’m sure your sister wouldn’t mind if you talked to her either, but sometimes it might be easier to ask another guy certain questions. You can ask me about those movies you watched, your feelings, if you’re sad, your math homework, if you’re missing Donovan . . . whatever it is. I won’t get mad. I won’t yell. The only thing I ask is that you treat your sister with respect. That’s it.”
“I like you too, Nathan. And thanks . . . there are some things I wouldn’t mind talking to you about. Not that I don’t like Bailey, but it’d be less embarrassing to talk to a guy, like you said.”
“Good. Then we’re friends. We had a man-to-man talk today. It wasn’t easy, for you or me. We didn’t yell. We didn’t hit each other. And we still like each other. Right?”
“Right.” Joel smiled tentatively.
Nathan reached into his back pocket and pulled out a pay-as-you-go phone and handed it to Joel as he said, “One last present.”
“A phone? For me?” Joel breathed, running his hands over it.
“Yeah. And my number is programmed in. Not only that, but my brothers’, Grace’s, Alexis’s, even Felicity’s and all the guys at Clayson’s. I’ll warn you, though, it’s not fancy. It doesn’t text or play games. It’s only for emergencies, or when you need to talk to me.”
“Can I tell Bailey?”
Nathan hesitated. He didn’t know how Bailey would take him giving her brother a phone, but he wouldn’t keep from her what he’d done. “I’ll tell her. You won’t get in trouble for having it.”
“Cool. This has been the best birthday ever,” Joel said with a huge smile.