Page 44 of Nodus Tollens
I knew he was right, but he has always had a steady, loving household. And if I could get just a sliver of that out of my parents, I would do it in a heartbeat.
Me: This is the last chance I’m giving him. I need to do this for me. Either he steps up or doesn’t.
Hayes: Then what? You’ll be one big happy family with him?
Hayes: I just don’t want to see you hurt again…
I wasn’t a stranger to hurt. If anything, I became immune to it long ago, and now it just felt like a pinprick of sadness. Nothing more, nothing less. When it came to both my parents, I let myself grow around their lack of parenting. It was all I knew, and it made it easier for me to accept as I got older.
Me: Good thing I’m invincible, right?
Me: Try not to lose the game tonight. I know it’ll be tough without me there ;)
Hayes: You’re good at avoidance, not invincible.
Hayes: We’ll manage without the Hulk for one night. Be careful, and don’t let that prick get to you.
I wouldn’t.
Or at least, I would try.
* * *
The last time I was at the Jackson County Jail, I almost lost my shit on a cop. Not only was I annoyed from having to drive eight hours to get there, but my stomach wouldn’t stop growling. It took me over an hour to convince the dipshit cop to let him go, and what did I get in return? Nothing. Absolutely nothing.
But this time, I was going to make sure I wouldn’t leave empty-handed. Whether that meant leaving with my dad, or the satisfaction of leaving him in jail, I wasn’t going to let this trip be for nothing.
Sitting in the small, cramped chair they had set out in front of a glass divider, I waited for a tan wrinkly man in an orange suit to come into view. Minutes passed of nothing until the noticeable sound of a smoker’s cough captured my attention. My stare lifted, and searching, I caught my old man sauntering with a slight gimp towards the chair across from mine. At first, he wouldn’t acknowledge me. I knew he knew I was there. I was a big fuckin’ guy that was hard to miss, but he managed to avoid making eye contact. Probably because he knew I’d notice just how old and shitty he looked. He looked like he had aged ten years. Saggy skin covered his exposed neck, and the droopy skin under his eyes made him look like he was at least sixty years old. Short to the scalp, dark hair covered his head while an array of tattoos peaked out from under his jumpsuit.
Finally, when he lowered himself into the chair, our eyes connected. Silver grey eyes stared back into mine as a toothy grin smiled at me. We both reached for the phones at the same time and brought them up to our ears.
“Mal.” He said like he couldn’t believe I was sitting in front of him. “You look great.” His hand lifted in a motioning gesture as he waved it up and down.
“And you look like shit.” I scaled my eyes down the length of his upper half, realizing just how smaller he’d gotten. Frail and bony, he went from being my size to this.
“Good thing you’re here then, right? To get me out.” He grinned smugly. “You’ll have to show me what you’ve been eatin’ and what kind of weights you’ve been liftin’ at the gym, so I can get back to lookin’ like that again.”
Ha.
I tried not to laugh at that, but I couldn’t help it. There’s no way at his age, and with the way he had been abusing his body for years, that he will ever go back to looking like he once did. He was only saying that to get on my good side. Tryin’ to butter me up with the thoughts of us bonding over food and working out…
I know how he works. I know how he likes to subtly persuade me, but I wasn’t buyin’ it. Not in the least.
“Doubtful.” I scoffed. “That means you’d have to stick around for more than a few hours.”
“I can arrange that.” He answered with a straight face.
Narrowing my eyes, I searched for the blatant signs of deceit. It was difficult to read his expressions with his skin being so creased and weather-beaten. The tell-tale signs weren’t visible, but it didn’t take a genius to know what he was up to.
“Yeah? And how do you plan on doing that if you’re stuck here?”
“Easy.” He smiled because leaning back in his chair and extending his arm out. “You bail me out.”
My jaw turned to stone at the nonchalant tone he used. Like it was the simplest thing in the world to spend my hard-earned cash to get him out. Knowing I wouldn’t get paid back. Right then and there, I wanted to slam the phone down and walk away. But instead, I reeled back my anger and started asking questions.
“What’d you do this time anyway? Must be pretty bad when they said they wouldn’t let you out without gettin’ some bail money.”
His face went from confident to sour in a matter of seconds. The lines in his head became more pronounced as he leaned in closer with his free hand rubbing nervous circles on the back of his neck.
