Page 74 of Puck Lust

Jeremy’s father doesn’t see me coming in enough time to move out of the way. I rush toward him and grab him by the sides of his jacket. “You son of a bitch. Did you do that to your kid? Did you fucking hurt him?”

“Get the hell off me,” the guy grunts, struggling to free himself from my grip. But I hang on tight and bring him in close, fighting the clench of my gut when his stank breath hits my nose.

“You fucking did that to him, didn’t you? You gave him those bruises. You piece of shit. You’re gonna pay for what you did to him!”

“You can’t prove shit, dickwad,” he mutters. “And what happens between me and my kid ain’t none of your business.”

“The fuck it isn’t. When he can’t walk or move his arm because the bruises are so bad, it becomes my business. And I’m gonna make sure it becomes CPS’s business, too.”

“Jack!”

Sam’s voice pierces the air, a warning in his words.

But I don’t give a damn.

“He got outta line. That’s what you do to kids who get outta line. You gotta teach them to not be fucking pussies,” he sneers. “I guess your dad didn’t teachyoushit, huh?”

A deep, guttural sound rumbles in my throat and I unleash it right along with a right hook to the bastard’s jaw. The punch knocks him off balance and he staggers sideways into a wall. His eyes narrow and he rushes me like a rabid dog.

Bring it the fuckon.

I sidestep his pathetic excuse for a punch and manage to drive my fist into his gut before I’m pulled away from him.

“Let me go,” I say to Carter and Sam. “He fucking deserves to have the shit kicked out of him.”

Some of the other coaches have Jeremy’s dad by the arms, holding him back as if he could actually do any damage to me.

“He’s a good kid,” I shout. “You should be proud of him, you asshole.”

I turn my head, spotting Jeremy standing with one of the football coaches. His eyes are wet with tears, his shouldersquivering. I pull away from Carter and Sam and run over to Jeremy.

Kneeling down in front of him, I say, “He’s not gonna hurt you again. I promise, he won’t ever hurt you again.”

Words I longed to hear from somebody, anybody.

Words that never came.

I’ll be damned if I let another kid suffer like I did.

The tears stream down Jeremy’s face and he nods. I rise to my feet and hug him tight, squeezing my eyes closed and forcing out all of the horrors I lived through. The tighter I hug him, the more muted the screams in my memories.

“You don’t have to do this anymore,” I mumble. “You don’t have to suffer anymore.”

“You’re not getting away with this,” the father yells from across the room. “You attacked and assaulted me in front of all these people. And I’m gonna get this place shut down for interfering with my business.”

I turn to look at him and then all the people standing around us.

Then he has the fucking nerve to smile at me.

“And if nobody here will sell you out,” he says, pointing to the camera flashes blinking madly outside the front windows with a clear view of exactly what just happened. “I bet someone out there will. Nowwho’sgonna pay?”

TWENTY-SIX

jack

Sam’s lipstug into a tight line. “So, what kind of backlash are we looking at, Rex?”

“Who the fuck cares about backlash?” I jump out of my chair and slams my palms on the table. “Jeremy is still under the supervision of that prick. He was too scared to admit the truth, and now he’s back home with his monster of a father. And there’s nothing we can do about it.”

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