Page 15 of Like Fathers, Like Son
He shrugged a little, glancing back at his front door.
“Dad got hurt last night, that’s all. They’re saying it’s not my fault, and it’s making me so mad, because of course it was.”
“Oh god. Is he okay?” It had to be the blonde dad, from what I’d seen, right?
He stepped closer to the wall, his eyes drifting to my hair for a moment, reminding me of that weird thing about him. Well, one of many.
“Blaze?”
He sighed, shoving his hands in his jeans pockets as he rested his hip against the wall.
“He says he is, but I heard my mum and dad talking about him needing skin grafts. I looked it up, and I know it means his burns are worse than they’re making out.”
“Burns? Oh my god, what happened?”
“It was my-”
“Oi, get away from my fucking daughter, you little freak!”I gasped, backing up as dad appeared at the gate. He was glaring at Blaze, and if he had been looking at me like that, I’d have been terrified, but Blaze? Yeah, not so much. He raised his eyebrows at my dad like he wasn’t afraid.
“I’m not so little anymore, and one day I’ll be bigger than you. Remember that.”
Oh! I couldn’t believe he was talking to my dad like that. Dad’s fists clenched, and he strode past our gate to Blaze’s. I wanted to grab Blaze and make sure my dad couldn’t get to him, because he looked like he wanted to hit him or something!
“Listen here, you little shit-”
“I’m all ears, neighbour, but if you’re gonna be an asshole, you better aim it this way, or aren’t you man enough to do that?”
Blaze’s dark haired dad was standing in the doorway with his arms folded. He was a bit taller than my dad, and younger. I had a feeling dad wouldn’t want to get into a fight with him.
“Keep him away from my daughter. I won’t be responsible for my actions if he comes near her again.”
Blaze’s dad strode down the path, standing right on the other side of the gate, even as my dad took a hurried step back.
“Threaten my son again, and I willabsolutelybe responsible for mine. You’re a nasty piece of work, but we’ve tolerated your shit for an easy life. That ends now. One more threatening word, or even a nasty look in the direction of anyone in my family, and I’ll show you who you’re really living next door to. Trust me when I say you really don’t wanna know.”
Blaze
DADDY GRAY MIGHT ALWAYS seem like the one who’d face off with anyone to defend us, but that just meant that people never expected my other dad to do it. I loved seeing how Anneka’s dad backed off when dad stepped in like that.
She actually looked impressed, and as I saw that look on her face, I realised I wanted to be the one making her look like that instead.
“We’re leaving.” Her dad started yelling at Anneka and her mum, and they left without another word to my dad or me.
“Are you okay?”
Dad grabbed my shoulder lightly until I looked at him. I’d been watching their car drive away, feeling that distance between Anneka and me growing, until I felt sick in my stomach. Where were they taking her?
“Blaze?”
“Oh. Yeah, I’m fine. He’s a complete bell-end, right?” Dad burst out laughing, shaking his head at the same time.
“Yeah, exactly that. If he ever talks to you like that again, you come and find me, okay? I’m not having him yelling at you, and calling you anything other than your name. You deserve to be treated with respect, okay?”
I pushed my hair out of my eyes and shrugged.
“I mean, I suppose he’s still mad about his fence. I thought it’d make everyone stop being angry at each other, but he’s definitely still mad. I keep messing up, don’t I?”
Dad shook his head, nudging me back into the house, and closing the door.
