Page 11 of Revenge At Raleigh High
“Glad to hear it.” He heads off slowly down the high street, eyes still boring into the back of Alex’s jacket, the fresh snow carpeting the sidewalk making stiff, creaking sounds beneath the soles of his boots.
Alex begins to laugh, his shoulders shaking as he plants a kiss against my temple. I pinch his side, making him yelp. “Jerk. You could have at least made eye contact with the guy. He would have been less suspicious if you’d smiled and introduced yourself.”
Alex leans back, an eyebrow arched in disagreement. “That guy would have taken one look at me and decided I was trying to mug you or something,Argento. You know it. I know it. Better I left him guessing. Come on, let’s get some coffee before the blood freezes in your veins.”
TEXT MESSAGE RECEIVED:
+1(564) 987 3491: You’re dead, bitch. I’m hack out your tongue and fuck your dirty, lying mouth.
4
SILVER
“I don’t know. Maybe he’s, uh…well. I mean, he’s not exactly cute, is he? I s’pose you could say there was something…charmingabout him?” I am being seriously generous with my compliments right now, but my father looks mortally offended. He takes a step back in the hallway, folding his arms across his chest, frowning over the tops of his horn-rimmed hipster wannabe glasses at the subject of my concern. A small, black, furry creature stares balefully back up at him, baring its teeth, letting out a low, hostile growl.
“He’s just confused is all,” Dad says defensively. “He was locked up in a cage for months.”
“Exactly. Which begs the question…don’t you think he should be a little happier now that he’s been liberated? He looks like he’s gonna chew your eyes out. Don’t—god, don’t move. I think he’s gonna lunge.”
Dad gives me amused side-eye. “And here I was, thinking I’d raised a fearless, strong daughter who wasn’t afraid of anything. He weighs fourteen pounds, Sil. I think I can take him.”
I screw my nose up, partly to block the smell emanating from the small animal guarding the entrance to the kitchen like his very life depends on it, but also because I’m not all that sure my fathercouldtake him. “He’s wiry, Dad. Like,muscular. He could probably jump from there and rip your throat out.”
Dad tuts, shaking his head at me in a disappointed manner. “I’m seconds away from disowning you. That dog is the sweetest, kindest, gentlest little soul I’ve ever laid—shit!Holyfuckingshit!Did you see that? He fucking lunged! He fuckingdid!”
For one brief, brilliant moment, my father holds his hands to his throat like he really did think the dog was going to clamp its jaws around his neck and bite down. He drops his hands to his side as soon as he catches me smirking at him. “Listen. This is not my fault. You didn’t see him at the pound. He was all sweet and doe-eyed, lying on his back, staring up at me from insidehis prison,” Dad stresses for effect. “I thought I was doing him a favor bringing him home with me. He didn’t start displaying any of these murderous tendencies until I got him inside, out of the wind, and the front door was closed. Then it was like a switch flipped and he turned into this raging little psychopath. I can’t get into my office, Silver. I’m gonna have to take him back to the pound first thing in the morning.”
“Whatever you think’s best,” I reply, my voice light, my tone going up at the end.
“Cold, Silver. Real cold. The hell is wrong with you? There’s no way he can go back to the pound. They kill dogs when people return them. Problem dogs. D’you want them to kill Nipper?”
“Nipper? You called himNipper?”
“He’s six years old. Someone else named him Nipper a long time ago. He’s used to it now. I can’t go around changing a dog’s name just because it makes him sound…”
“Bitey?” I offer.
“Yeah, well. He hasn’t actually bitten anyone. Yet. Not that I know of, anyway. They have to tell you that kind of stuff when you adopt a dog, right?”
I crouch down, rummaging in the bag of dog treats Dad bought for the savage little fucker, taking out a little bone-shaped morsel and gingerly holding it out to the dog. “Whatishe anyway? He looks like a miniature hippo with fur. Alotof fur.”
“They didn’t know,” Dad admits. “They said they thought he was some sort of terrier. Maybe.”
Nipper’s quick, dark eyes dart to me, and he growls, exposing his teeth again. I toss the treat toward him and it lands at his feet. He skitters back, legs splaying in every direction as he scrambles to gain purchase against the hardwood, ears flat against his head as he turns tail and bolts, whimpering, into the kitchen. I groan, standing up straight again, dusting my hands off against my jeans. “I mean…are you sure it’s even adog? And why bother? We both know this is some weird attempt to lash out at Mom.”
Dad rubs at the back of his neck, suddenly very focused on the light fitting above his head. “Jesus, I had no idea how dusty that thing had gotten. I think we’re gonna need to get a cleaner soon, kiddo.”
“Dad. I’m embarrassed for you. Your avoidance tactics need serious work. Just admit it. You got a dog because Mom’s allergic to them and you want to make it as unpleasant here for her as possible.”
“Your mother moved out well over a month ago, Silver. I never had a dog before because Icouldn’thave one. Now Icanhave one. I don’t see anything wrong with that. I’m not trying to make it uncomfortable for her here. I’m not even thinking about her now. This isn’t her home anymore. She has her own house. She cannothave a dog there.”
Fuck. I should have thought about it a little harder before bringing up Mom. After I sat down and told my parents about what happened to me at Leon’s Spring Fling party, things got bad. Really,reallybad. Mom was hysterical, and Dad… I’ve never seen him so furious before. He hasn’t stopped being furious, either, since I still haven’t told him the names of the boys who attacked and raped me in that bathroom. I wasn’t ready to part with that specific piece of information then, and I’m still not ready to part with it. I just couldn’t bear the thought of my father heading out into the night to find the monsters responsible for hurting me and hurting them back, because I saw that he wanted to. I saw the murderous look in his eyes, and I knew I needed to give him time to calm down before I handed over their identities.
Mom waited all of a week to sit down with Dad and confess that she’d been cheating on him with her boss for the past six fucking months. Later, after Dad had smashed the glass coffee table in the living room and mown down the neighbor’s mailbox as he’d fled the house, she’d told me sadly that secrets had eaten our family alive and there was nothing left to do anymore but be honest with one another and see what could be repaired once all the smoke and the debris had cleared. She’d moved out that night and taken Max with her.
It was strange. She didn’t even ask if I would go with her, as if she’d already known there wouldn’t be any point in even posing the question. I was always going to stay with Dad, because Dad was my person and I was his. I don’t know when my father and I formed our quirky little coalition, but now that Mom’s gone and Max is only here on the weekends, I realize that it’s kind of been Dad and me against the world for some time now. It’s terrible to admit this, and I would never say it out loud, but...it doesn’t really feel like all that much has changed.
It has for Dad, I’m sure. He woke up one morning, knowing his high school sweetheart loved him and the home they shared was a happy one. That evening, he found out his daughter had been hiding something monumentally horrible from him for months. And then, just to top it all off, his wife pulled him aside and told him she’d been fucking another guy behind his back.
