Page 16 of The Teacher of Nothing
It’s always about control with our family, my dad being the one tugging on all our strings.
“I’ll speak to him about his grades,” I grunt out. “Is that all?”
“Our family, more than ever, will have a magnifying glass upon us. We don’t need anything popping up out of the blue. Hugo can achieve this, but it’s going to take everyone doing their parts to get him to the top.”
“Noted. Is that all?”
Dad slides off the bar stool and stands. He’s not nearly as tall as me, but he’s just as solid. I sip my sweetened coffee,attempting to relax my muscles. Whenever he’s near, I get tense as fuck.
“Your mother—er—stepmother.” He chuckles. “Jamie wants everyone to meet at the house on Sunday for a celebratory dinner honoring Hugo’s new endeavor. You’ll be there of course.”
My hand tightens around the handle of my mug, my knuckles turning white. “Of course, Dad.”
He studies me for a beat, clearly disappointed that his little jabs haven’t resulted in an outburst he can belittle me for. With a quick nod, he excuses himself and leaves the kitchen, exiting through the garage door. Every time I change the code, the fucker cons one of my brothers into giving it to him. My bet is on Hugo.
I whip out my phone and fire out a text to him.
Me: Thanks for the warning, dick.
Hugo: Yeah, about that. I was going to tell you the news over a drink. Guess Dad beat me to it.
Me: Waiting eager as fuck in my house like a kid on Christmas Eve.
Hugo: I’m sorry, man. I should have known better.
Me: AG? Really?
Hugo: Not all of us have big dreams of being a high school statistics teacher.
I send him several middle finger emojis.
Hugo: Seriously. This could be good for me. For our family. I didn’t tell you because you always get pissy when Dad is involved.
He’d get pissy too if Dad stole the love of his life, put a couple babies in her, and then married her, making her his stepmom.
Me: What do you need from me?
Hugo: Get along with Dad. Be happy for me.
Me: I’m happy for you.
Hugo: Liar.
Me: I’ll get there. As for Dad…I’ll work on it.
Also a lie.
Hugo: Just help me keep an eye on Spencer. The last thing we need is some scandal popping up when I’m knee-deep in this campaign and have dumped a shit ton of money into it.
Me: Spence isn’t going to cause trouble. I’ll keep an eye on all three of those brats at school. You have my promise.
Hugo: Let’s have that drink soon. Tonight?
Me: Long day today. Friday?
Hugo: I’ll pencil you in.
Asshole.
