by Nicole Fox
“I’m telling you,” said Xander, “you gotta give it a try, first.”
Daphne listened to the two of them have their little back-and-forth. Despite everything, she couldn’t help but love how Xander got along with Jack. She’d found herself wondering if his gruff, rough-around-the-edges personality was going to result in him not having the skill to interact with kids, but watching the two of them, seeing the ease with which Xander joked around with the boy, she was happy to be proven wrong.
Maybe this isn’t such a bad idea, she thought to herself as they pulled into the parking lot of the pizza place.
A half-hour later, a pair of pizzas was placed in front of the three of them, one extra pepperoni, one Hawaiian-style. Jack watched with shock as Xander grabbed the biggest slice of Hawaiian-style, folded it in half, and shoved nearly the entire thing into his mouth.
“That’s so gross,” said Jack. “I’m gonna barf.”
“Jack, no fluid-talk at the table,” chided Daphne.
Xander gave her a quizzical expression.
“That’s an actual rule?” he asked.
“Trust me,” said Daphne. “Kids his age somehow find the grossest topics in the world to discuss right when you’re eating.”
“It’s a stupid rule,” said Jack, picking pepperoni off of his slice and popping it into his mouth.
“Jack …” said Daphne. “Don’t be a brat.”
“Wait until it’s just the two of us, little man,” said Xander. “Then we can talk about that stuff all you want.”
“Yes!” said Jack, pumping his fist.
The three of them ate their meals, and despite just how pleased she was that Xander and Jack were getting along so well, Daphne found herself looking out onto the street constantly, as if the biker who’d been pursuing her would be standing there, staring at her with a murderous glare.
“Just try it, man,” said Xander. “You’re gonna like it more than you think.”
He pushed a slice of the Hawaiian pizza towards Jack, who regarded it with a twisted-up expression on his face.
“No way,” said Jack.
“Here’s the deal,” said Xander. “You try one bite, and I’ll let you rev the engine of the bike as loud as you want tomorrow.”
Jack responded by looking up at Daphne, as though hoping for some advice.
“Your call, Jack,” said Daphne. “Personally, I think fruit and pizza shouldn’t be anywhere near each other.”
Jack hesitantly lifted the slice and took a bite. He chewed it slowly, and eventually his expression turned into one of surprise.
“It’s … good,” he said.
His next bite was more eager, and soon, he was half done with the slice.
“See?” said Xander, giving the kid a pat on the back. “Told you you’d like it.”
They finished up their dinner, Daphne spending most of the time watching Xander and Jack interact, goofing off and having fun with one another.
The carrying-on continued through the drive back, and Daphne was content to simply listen to the two boys talk and joke around.
He seems so good with him, thought Daphne. Was I wrong for keeping Jack out of his life for so long?
Once back at the apartment, Jack put on one of his favorite movies. He and Xander settled onto the couch with some ice cream while Daphne poured herself a glass of wine.
“Why do you have such a big beard?” asked Jack.
“Because it’s cool; why else?” said Xander.
“Can I grow a beard like that?”
“Maybe when you’re older,” said Xander. “You gotta eat a lot of steak, though. It’ll put hair on your chest, too.”
Daphne watched the two of them sit together, and eventually, the stress of the day caught up to her at about the time the movie ended. Jack had long fallen asleep on the couch, his head resting on Xander’s shoulder. Once the movie ended, Xander hoisted Jack off of the couch and carried him to the bedroom.
“Make sure he’s up long enough to brush his teeth and get into his PJs,” she said.
Xander nodded and got Jack awake for the time it took to do his pre-bedtime business. Once Jack was back in bed, Xander came into the kitchen, poured himself a glass of wine, and sat down with Daphne.
“You’re going to have him tomorrow,” said Daphne. “Hope you’re ready for it.”
“I was born ready for it,” he said. “Never thought I’d want a kid, but once they’re there … your mind changes real quick, you know?”
“I know,” said Daphne. “I know.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Xander
Xander was up bright and early the next morning. Bounding up off of the couch, he was surprised with just how much energy he had.
Guess that’s what happens when you keep it to one drink the night before, he thought to himself as he strolled into the bathroom and did his morning business.
Once he was showered and dressed, he set to work on breakfast. He knew that he wasn’t much of a cook, but he’d put simple stuff together for the boys every now and then when they were too hungover to even think about going out for grub.
As he prepared his breakfast special, he thought about the day ahead, excitement taking hold of him.
Okay, he thought, first, I gotta show the kid the ins and outs of the bike. Then we can head down to the park, then maybe grab a couple of burgers after that. He’s probably gonna want to take a nap after that. Wait, do kids like that nap? He napped yesterday, but not for long. Shit, I have no idea what kids even do. I mean, he’s not a baby, but he’s still pretty young. Jesus—just calm down; you’ll figure it out.
His mind raced with thoughts such as those all throughout his cooking. And as he realized what he’d been doing, he shook his head and smiled. This little kid was the first thing in a long while to get him thinking like this. Normally, he was totally confident in his ability to take care of any situation that came his way. But something about a kid—a kid who was his, no less—had brought out a worrier that he hadn’t even known was in him.
Just as he put the finishing touches on his breakfast, both Jack and Daphne came out of their rooms.
“Is breakfast ready?” asked Jack.
“Smells good,” said Daphne.
Xander smirked and dumped the contents of the skillet onto a large plate. It was a big mess of eggs and meat, topped with cheese and tobacco sauce.
“Now, that’s a work of art,” Daphne said with a smirk.
“Everything you need to start your day off right,” said Xander. “Protein, protein, and, uh, cheese.”
A few slices of toast popped out of the toaster, and Xander set everything onto the table. Xander watched as Jack looked over the food with something like awe.
“You wanna get big and strong like me,” said Xander. “Not to mention grow a bigass beard, then that’s the kind of stuff you gotta eat.”
Jack took in that information eagerly. And as soon as Xander stuck a big serving spoon into the eggs, Jack grabbed it and began piling the food onto his plate.
“Jack,” said Daphne, “you know the rule.”
“I know,” said Jack. “‘Take what you want but eat what you take’.”
Xander chuckled.
“Kid’s got an appetite like me,” he said.
Daphne responded with a cutting look that made it clear to Xander that he was getting close to revealing to Jack just the thing that they wanted to keep from him. Xander raised his hands, letting her know he got the message.
“Okay,” said Daphne. “So, I’m going to head off to work soon. You guys hold down the fort while I’m gone.”
“You got it,” said Xander, sitting down and piling his own plate high.
“And I’m going to be there from open until the evening, so I’m trusting you to stay out of trouble.”
“Fine,” said Jack.
“I was talking to both of you,” she said.
Xander and Jack flashed each other a knowing look.
“Wil
l do,” said Xander.
They ate their breakfast and once done, Jack and Xander cleaned up while Daphne got ready.
“Okay,” said Daphne, emerging from her room dressed in sleek, stylish clothing. “You two be good.”
“You don’t have to worry about a thing,” said Xander.
Daphne gave Jack a kiss on the forehead and soon, she was gone.
“What do you think, buddy,” said Xander. “You wanna take that bike for a spin?”
“Yeah!” said Jack, his eyes lighting up with excitement.
Minutes later, they were out in front of the apartment and on the bike, Jack seated right on Xander’s lap. Xander walked Jack through the process of starting the bike, and in the reflection of the rearview mirrors, he could see the expression of wild excitement on his son’s face. Xander helped Jack gun the engine, and the bike roared to life.
“Okay, now we’re gonna just go around the block real slow-like,” said Xander.
“Then fast!” said Jack.
“Maybe later,” said Xander. “Don’t need your mom to kill me, you know?”
They took the bike for a quick spin around the block, and when they arrived back in front of the apartment, Xander could feel Jack’s heart pound with excitement.
“That was so awesome!” said Jack. “We have to go again!”
“Here’s the deal, kid,” said Xander. “You clean up your room like your mom said, and we can ride this thing to the park. Deal?”
“Deal!” said Jack, bounding off of Xander’s lap and running back up to the apartment.
Yep, thought Xander. That kid’s mine, all right.
Once back inside, Jack ran as fast as he could into his room to start cleaning up.
“Do a good job,” said Xander. “Not a fast one.”
“Okay!” shouted Jack.
As the boy cleaned his room, Xander thought about the plan to take him to the park.
Is this a bad idea? he thought. I mean, Scar’s still out there. And the park’s an easy place to lose a kid.
He shook his head; the last thing he wanted was to be cooped up in the apartment all day.
Nah, he thought. I’ll keep an eye on him. And if that fucker shows up, I’ll just hurry Jack out of there.
Xander poured himself a cup of coffee and let the events of the last day play through his mind. He couldn’t believe just how much fun he was having with Jack, and how close he felt to the boy after as little time.
“Fun” isn’t even the right word, he thought. This is … something deeper. Knowing I have a boy … I don’t know what it is I even feel.
The more he considered it, the more it seemed to him to be a sort of profound contentment that he’d never known before. He could even picture himself living a more domesticated kind of life, the more stable kind that he’d never considered before, that he’d always thought just wasn’t who he was.
Jack rushed out of his room, breaking Xander’s train of thought.
“Done!” he announced triumphantly.
“All right,” said Xander, heaving himself out of his seat. “Let me get a look at this.”
Xander popped his head into the room and, sure enough, it looked pretty clean.
“Works for me,” said Xander. “You ready to get a move on, dude?”
“Yeah!” said Jack.
The two boys headed back outside and climbed onto the motorcycle. By this point, Jack knew just how to sit in order to be safe and secure, so Xander felt a little more comfortable opening up the bike on the larger roads and picking up some speed. Jack cheered and hollered as they drove, and Xander could already tell that he had a future road hog on his hands.
After taking the long way to the park, the two of them arrived. They went for a stroll through the park first, stopping for a couple of hot dogs as they walked. Eventually, they ended up at a playground where Jack wasted no time rushing in with the other kids and playing. Xander took a seat on one of the benches around the playground, and couldn’t help but chuckle to himself as all of the soccer moms around shot him suspicious glances, as though a man who looked like him couldn’t possibly be up to any good.
Maybe they’re right, thought Xander. I mean, I am a criminal. But I’m not here to start any shit. Right now, I’m just a dad here with his boy, no different than any other normal person.
Xander had never thought “normal” would be a word he used to describe himself, but there he was. He chuckled to himself again as he turned his attention back to Jack.
But as he watched the boy play, off in in the distance he spotted a familiar shape.
Oh no, he thought. It better fucking not be.
He slowly stood up and squinted his eyes.
It was Scar.
Off in the distance, in one of the further away parking lots, was the man who’d been targeting him. This was the first time Xander had seen him since he’d learned the truth about Jack, and now, as Scar stared at them from the seat of his bike, Xander felt himself fill with a kind of rage that he’d never known before, the kind of protective anger that one can only feel for a child.
Goddamn it, he thought, this was a fucking mistake. I should’ve never brought Jack to someplace this public when Scar’s out looking for us. Stupid, stupid fucking Xander.
“Jack,” shouted Xander. “We gotta go, my man.”
“Aw, seriously?” he said. “We just got here!”
“No screwing around,” he said. “We gotta go, now!”
Jack was clearly disappointed, but Xander could tell that he knew that Xander wasn’t screwing around. Jack arrived at Xander’s side and the two of them hurried out of the park. Looking over his shoulder, Xander watched as Scar gunned the engine on his bike and sped out of the parking lot.
Shit, thought Xander.
Soon, the two of them arrived at the bike and quickly climbed on. Xander revved the engine and soon they were off.
Any other time and I’d chase down that little fucker and stomp him into jelly. But I can’t risk it with Jack here.
Xander pulled onto a large four-lane road, hoping that Scar would be less likely to try anything with plenty of other cars around. Weaving through traffic, Xander did his best to drive in a manner that kept Scar off his tail while driving safely enough for Jack.
But despite his efforts, Scar remained in close pursuit.
Fuck, fuck, thought Xander.
He eyed an exit, and pulled off as soon as he could. He knew his best bet was to hurry home, get Jack locked up, and try to turn the tables on Scar while he was still nearby. After making the turn-off, Xander found himself on a two-lane road that was more secluded and sparse than he’d hoped. In the rearview mirror, he watched as Scar followed him off of the exit and cut the distance between the two of them.
Gotta haul ass, he thought, gunning the engine.
“Yeah!” said Jack. “This is awesome!”
“Don’t tell your mom we did this,” said Xander, his eyes flicking back and forth between the rearview mirror and road ahead.
Scar kept gaining on them, and soon he was only a few dozen feet from Xander and Jack, close enough to where Xander could see Scar’s ugly mug.
He’s gaining fast, Xander thought. And unless I want to get into triple-digits here, I gotta slow this shit down.
Xander cut his speed, and as he slowed, the car moved to pass him. Xander kept a careful eye on Scar, watching to see if he was going to pull out some kind of weapon. Then, as the two bikes moved to each other’s side, Scar reached out to grab Xander. Xander pitched to the side and avoided Scar’s grasp.
“What’s happening?” shouted Jack. “Who is that?”
“Just stay quiet, buddy,” said Xander.
Then, before Xander could say another word, Scar swerved into Xander’s lane, coming close enough for the two bikes to touch. Xander overcompensated, pitching hard to the right and sending the bike toppling over. Xander wrapped his arm around Jack, protecting him from the impact as the bike fell on its side and skidded to a
halt.
“You okay, bud?” asked Xander, frantically looking Jack over.
“I think so,” said Jack.
But as Xander looked at himself, he saw that he hadn’t been unscathed; a large patch of road rash, glistening with blood, covered the forearm of the arm that he’d used to protect Jack. He thanked God that he’d dropped his speed, knowing that skidding off the road like that at a higher speed might’ve been a death sentence for them both.