Page 33 of Hodge
Chapter 15
Hodge
Maybe she was right. Maybe I shouldn’t have done that, but in my mind, this was the right thing to do. She needed a home, a family, someone who would take care of her, and that’s what I just gave her. It doesn’t have to be here. It could be anywhere. Anywhere she wants to go, she’ll be protected.
I bring the cigarette to my lips and inhale as my dad walks toward me. He drops down onto the couch next to me and brings his beer to his lips.
“You might have fucked that girl up a little more,” he says.
“No. I helped her out.”
“Is that what you think you did? You don’t think forcin’ this shit on her was a little wrong?” I shake my head as I look over at him.
“She was bein’ abused, beaten, and she stuck around for fuckin’ money.”
“That’s her business, Hodge.”
“She made it my business.”
“What are you doin’ with this girl?” he asks now. I shrug my shoulders and take another drag from my cigarette.
“I wanted her to know there was more out there. That there wasn’t a good enough reason for her to stick around for that shit,” I tell him. He sighs before clapping a hand on my shoulder.
“I get it, son. I do. You think you’re makin’ the right choices with her, but I’m not so sure you are. This isn’t an easy life. This isn’t a life everyone wants to lead.”
“She doesn’t have to be here. She can go anywhere she wants, and she’ll be accepted. She’ll have a family, people who will care about her. That’s what she needs.”
“You might be right, but you also might be wrong,” he adds before standing and walking away from me. I huff out a breath and stand when she walks in with Remy. I left her out there, bare for the world to see.
Her eyes wander the room before stopping on me. I can see it. That fire in her eyes. The way she looks at me like she could end my life if she wanted to. She’s fucking beautiful, and she doesn’t see it. Or she doesn’t want to see it. She’s too busy dragging herself down that she doesn’t see what I do, what any other man would see if he were as smart as me.
“You fucked up,” she hisses, the closer to me they get. Now I smirk.
“I didn’t do shit.”
“You branded me! Like fucking cattle!” She screams louder this time. Remy steps back to let this play out the way it’s going to, although I don’t even know how this is going to work out.
“No. I branded you like family.”
“We’re not family, Hodge! My family didn’t want me, and I didn’t want this,” she yells at me.
“You wanted to go back to him, though, right? You wanted to be fuckin’ used and beat on for money, yeah?” I see the flush as it comes over her. I’m pissing her off, and maybe that’s exactlywhat I want. I want her mad. I want her pissed off. I want that fire, and I want to feel that burn.
“You don’t know shit about me!”
“Oh, but I do.” I stand from the couch and stalk toward her slowly. “I know you’re afraid of who you really are. I know you let someone hurt you for no other reason than money. I know your real family is a bunch of shit I plan on takin’ care of,” I tell her truthfully.
“What do you mean by taking care of them?”
“Just what I said. I’m gonna rip them limb from limb for what they did to you.”
“Why?” I step closer, raising my hand and cupping her cheek.
“Have you learned nothin’ about me, Kemah?”
“I’ve learned you’re crazy as fuck.” I chuckle.
“That I am. But I know you know so much more about me than that. And you understand exactly why I’m gonna do the things I’m gonna do.”
