Better when He's Bold

I prodded at the cut in the center of my lip with a finger and thought about what he asked. She was glossy and shiny, but inside she was tough and kind of gritty.

“She had to move home to take care of her kid sister. She has some lunatic stalking her. She’s works a shit job with shit hours, but she’s committed to it. She’s getting screwed over at school because she won’t put out for some loser. She just found out her dad owes the guy she’s screwing a ton of money, and that I took the family ride for collateral. On the outside she might look like my old life, but on the inside I think she is completely full of my new life.”

He dipped his head in a slight nod and I reached out to shove him on the shoulder. It was like pushing against a brick wall.

“Besides, there was no dragging into the gutter involved. I chased you into the streets, Bax. I guess at the time, I always thought there would be a way out if I needed one.”

He grunted. “Is that what you’re doing? This business with Nassir, the money and the risk? You still looking for a way out?”

Was that what I was doing? Sometimes I didn’t even know anymore, but I did know two things that were crystal clear in my mind.

“You’re here. Dovie is here. That means if I have any kind of say in the matter, I’m going to make this a survivable place to be.”

“You think you’re going to single-handedly pull the Point out of the fire, Race?”

I turned away and started back toward the stairs.

“No. But I do think I can control the burn, Bax, and that’s all I really want to do.”

I didn’t wait to see what his response was. I hurt and needed to find some kind of painkiller. I needed to call Titus and see if he could find out what the deal with my father was, and more importantly, I needed to figure out what I was going to do about Brysen.

I had always thought I could take care of myself, that I was smarter than this awful place that I called home. Now I wasn’t so sure. The Point had been around for a long time, had seen all variations of evil come and go. The only thing that ever seemed to change here was the seasons.

Chapter 11

Brysen

I WAS SO ANGRY when I got home, I had to take a minute before I went inside. I was furious at Race, furious at my dad, furious at myself for not realizing sooner that something else was going on besides my father turning a blind eye to what was happening at home. More than all of that, though, I was livid at the fact that both of my parents had watched me walk away from my life to come home and try and piece everything back together when it was now crystal clear neither one of them had any intention of trying to stop the downward spiral. My mom had no interest in rehab or in seeking counseling, and evidently, my dad had addiction issues of his own that were just as bad and just as devastating to this family. The unjustness of it all made my blood boil and had fury so bright and sharp on the tip of my tongue, it was all I could taste.

I slammed the door to my car way harder than was needed and marched into the house without a plan. I was fueled by new revelations, and all the things I had been swallowing down for the last year or so were breaking free of the stranglehold I normally kept on them. I shoved open the front door and didn’t even bother to close it as I marched with purpose and ferocity to my dad’s closed office door. I didn’t bother to knock and didn’t bother to announce myself or make any kind of pleasantries. I just stormed in and attacked.

His head snapped up from the computer screen and his eyes got wide. “Brysen?”

I put my hands on the edge of the desk and leaned over so that he had no choice but to look at me and not at the computer monitor.

“I know you lost the Lexus because of a gambling debt, Dad. I also know it doesn’t even begin to cover what you owe.”

His eyes got even bigger, if that was possible, and all the color fled from his face.

“What are you talking about?”

I narrowed my eyes at him and pushed off the desk so I could cross my arms over my chest in a defensive stance.

“I know, Dad.”

“You don’t know anything, little girl.” His tone got sharp, and where he had been pale a minute ago, now a hot red flooded into his cheeks. “Everything I have done I have done to keep this family afloat since your mother’s accident. Do you think those doctor bills were cheap? Do you think the settlement we had to pay to that other family was pulled out of thin air? I did what I had to do.”

“Yeah, but you didn’t stop, did you?”

He just glared at me and I glared at him even harder.

“How much do you owe, Dad?”

He huffed and puffed and pushed back in his chair. “That’s none of your concern. I have everything under control.”

I wanted to chuck something heavy at his head. He most definitely didn’t have anything under control. It was glaringly obvious.

“What about Mom? Does she know about this, or is that why you have no problem keeping her in a steady supply of booze? She’s already depressed and all messed up, so maybe you think enabling her to self-medicate will keep her off your back while you lose whatever this family has left.”

He flinched and I saw the horrible truth of my words reflected in his gaze. What in the hell was wrong with my family?

He heaved a heavy sigh and flopped back in his swivel chair. He covered his face with his hands, and right before my eyes suddenly looked a hundred years old.

“There isn’t anything left to lose, Brysen. My 401(k), all our savings, the credit cards, and my car—all of it is gone.” His eyes got glassy and he looked really scared when he told me, “The mortgage on the house hasn’t been paid for months and months. We went into foreclosure a month after you moved in. Luckily, the banks are still trying to dig out of the rut the recession put them in and are backed up. It’s going to happen eventually. We’re going to have to leave when the bank takes possession.”