Page 95 of Bear Hunt

“—ngrateful little shit.”

“Excuse me, sir, but you need to go. You can’t be here.” Being confrontational hasn’t been ingrained into me, but I find myself gritting my teeth and narrowing my eyes at this man.

This is definitely not the time or place for an argument, and I can feel the tension rolling off Bear beside me, so I’m trying totread carefully. From experience, I know that placating a man like this is usually the best way to not cause a scene. Let them think they’re in control.

I just hope Bear follows my lead.

“I can do what the fuck I like, cunt. He’s my son.”

Chapter Thirty-Five

Bear

I’mma kill this motherfucker.

At Athena’s words, I can’t help but be proud of her because I know it couldn’t have been easy to speak up against a man she doesn’t know. And when she releases my hand and steps behind Paxton in a show of fortitude, my heart just expands tenfold.

Best thing is, this fucking junkie hasn’t seen me yet because I’m standing right behind him.

“Lift your eyes, Son. Don’t ever let nobody make you feel like you can’t look them straight in the eyes.” I’m talking to Pax but looking straight at his sorry excuse for a father. The sperm donor. Which is probably the only good thing this guy’s ever done in his life.

I lost my dad early on, and that void was filled by the love and protection of my mother. Trust me, I’d rather be fatherless than have this waste of space call me his son.

When I place a large hand on this fucker’s shoulder, all I feel is bones slightly covered by skin. The sweater he wears is rippedand barely holding itself together so there’s no doubt he feels the weight of my warning when my fingers curl around the ball of his shoulder. I know he does because the constant scratching on the forearms stops as he looks up at me with nearly vacant eyes.

“The fuck you think you are—” That question dies on his thin, chapped lips when his eyes reach mine and he physically recoils at the sight of me. Straight up, I don’t know if my Black ass scared him ‘cause I just made all of his pasty ass nightmares come true or if the sheer size of me just made him realize that my bicep is bigger than his whole damn head. Don’t matter though, my goal here is to get this guy as far away from Paxton as possible without causing a scene that could give the nice faculty members here a reason to take Paxton away from us.

Ain’t happenin’.

“Come on, man, I see you jonesin’ over here. Lemme hook you up.” At my words, the guy’s eyes light up like the Christmas tree we just took down less than a week ago, and if I weren’t so fucking pissed off that he showed up here at all, I’d feel bad for him. Obviously, I ain’t giving him fuck all for a shit ton of reasons, least of which being that I don’t do drugs and I don’t carry drugs. Hell, I’m more worried about Paxton and the effect this whole scene will have on his healing.

Ain’t nothing out there much worse than losing a mother, but having this fuck up as a father probably comes damn close.

“Yeah, okay, yeah.” This time he looks me square in the eyes as he speaks and my need to knock him out is real.

As I turn him around and away from Paxton, I nod to Athena, hoping she understands that I want Paxton far away from here.

“All good, man. Lemme call my brothers with the stash.” I have to guide him away from Athena and Paxton as they start to walk in the opposite direction but he keeps wanting to turn around like he’s trying to talk to his kid. Yeah, not gonna happen.

We get a few side eyes from the parents who pull their kids a little closer and walk a little faster to their cars. I get it. The big Black man trying to entice the scary, strung out, addict is textbook advertising for the “Just Say No” campaign from the eighties. All we need now is a frying pan and a couple of eggs for the stereotype to be on point.This is your brain on drugs.

Twenty bucks says we get a call from the principal’s office before tomorrow morning.

But that’s a tomorrow problem. Right now, I need to deal with this loser.

Sliding my phone out of my pocket, I continue leading Paxton’s dad away from the middle school just as Psycho starts talking before I get a single word in.

“Thank fuck, brother. I’m bored out of my mind. What’s up?” I grin because a bored Psycho is a down-for-anything Psycho and I’m gonna need my best friend to get creative today.

“I gotchu. Paxton’s dad is here—”

“Motherfuck—” I talk over Psycho even though I appreciate his loyalty.

“—and he’s in need of something to take the edge off.” There’s a pause on the line and I know Psycho well enough. He’s putting the pieces together and soon he’ll make me proud.

“Where are you?”

“At the school.”

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