Page 59 of Like Fathers, Like Son
“Well, I’ve dumped a few loads in her, so who knows.”
“When we get back, you’ll track that fucking car, and we’ll retrieve her. This time, don’t fucking let her out until she’s yours, yeah?”
I watched as we pulled up by the dirt path to the house, and realised I was dreading getting out of the car, and feeling the bite of that icy air again.
I reluctantly dragged myself out of the car, cursing at the cold air as I stepped outside, tugging that heated blanket tighter around me. Once we got inside, I went upstairs for a hot shower, while my dads did whatever the fuck it was they wanted.
When I was back downstairs, clean, dry, and finally feeling warmer, they sat me down, and practically glowered down at me with their arms folded.
“Details, Blaze. We need to get to her before she sends the police. Can she find the house?”
I shook my head, glancing around the room for my laptop, even though I still wasn’t sure whether I should track her or not.
“I really thought she was coming around, I can’t understand how this happened.”
“Kid, you haven’t had her long enough to have that kind of power over her yet.” Dad Dory groaned at dad Gray’s words, shaking his head.
“That’s not what this is about. It’s about making her love you, and I really thought you had more sense than to let her outside of the place. And how did she even get the keys to the car?”
I could feel the embarrassment heating my cheeks, and refused to meet their gazes as I responded.
“She picked my pocket for the key, right before she shoved me into the fucking lake, okay?”
I scratched at an itch on my stomach and grimaced, lifting my t-shirt to be reminded of the cuts from earlier. The largest one was bleeding again.
“What the fuck happened there? Did you… did she come at you with something?”
I shoved past my dads and went to the kitchen to get a towel to mop up the blood with, which led to them fetching the first aid kit and patching up both cuts, after cleaning them thoroughly with antiseptic wipes.
“Blaze, we need to track her down before she brings all kinds of trouble down on you, on us.”
“She won’t. She promised she wouldn’t.”
They exchanged a smirk. “Yeah, I don’t believe that for a minute,” dad Gray said.
“Track her, and do it now.”
Anneka
I KEPT MY WORD, even though everything in me was screaming at me to make him pay for what he did. My first port of call, once I was back in town was to go home to my mum, but I didn’t tell her what had happened.
I simply said that I’d fallen out with my friends and came home on the spur of the moment, to try and explain why I was in a different car and didn’t have my things.
I said I’d borrowed the car after mine wouldn’t start. The lies were already spinning out of control, and I hadn’t even begun yet. I was so relieved that Blaze’s family no longer lived next door to us, because I couldn’t face any of them right now.
I soaked in the bath for so long that the water was cold, but I still didn’t feel like I’d washed the whole experience away.
I slept in my old bed that night, and the next day I made an emergency doctor’s appointment. I asked them for help getting screened for STIs, and asked for advice about pregnancy. I’d lost track of my days since I’d been locked up with him, but it was probably too early to know if I was.
I was offered the morning after pill, and found myself refusing it, because I was too conflicted about whether it was the right thing to do. Was it really a baby’s fault how it was conceived?
I was questioned about whether I needed support or counselling, and I lied through my teeth to cover for Blaze, even as I was kicking myself for not doing the right thing. Why was I covering for him? Was it just because I’d promised? Was there some feeling there other than hate now?
Over the next few days, I found myself wondering where he was, and if he’d called for help. Had he been rescued from freezing to death, or was he curled up somewhere dead and not being missed, because he wasn’t expected anywhere?
I hadn’t expected him to keep his word and stay away, and the longer I went without word from him, the more sure I became that something bad had happened to him.
I even contemplated going back to check, but that would have been ridiculous, and crazy, and there was no way I’d have been able to find the place again. I didn’t even know where his family lived now, so I couldn’t find out.
