Bradley shakes his head, a twisted smile forming. “Actually, you can’t. There’s no proof of anything she told you because nothing happened. Alondra must be afraid to tell you how she really likes it in bed. A little roughness never hurt anyone, but she couldn’t get enough of it,” he says, winking at me, and Johnny’s jaw drops, as if finally understanding what a piece of shit his friend is.
The thread of patience I’m clinging to snaps as I connect the dots. I lunge forward, but I’m knocked to the side by Coop, who comes flying out of nowhere, preventing me from making contact with Bradley.
“Jack, you can’t throw the first punch. He’s not worth it,” Coop warns, blocking my path as I rip my gloves off, dropping them on the ice.
“Did you hear what he just fucking said about her?”
Coop grips my shoulders tightly while I struggle against him. “I know. I heard him, but she wouldn’t want you to get in trouble over him.”
But then Bradley opens his mouth one last time. “You might think you’re better than me, but I know who you really are, Schultz, and the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
I freeze, and Johnny drags his pathetic ass off the ice. I see Coop in front of me, and I know he’s talking because his mouth is moving, but my ears are ringing, an icy chill seeping into my bones.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“He’s hurting Momma,” I whisper into the line, afraid he’ll hear me because I can hear them. The breaking glass woke me up, and they were fighting again. I grabbed the phone out of the hallway when I heard Momma scream. “Please, help her. I think Dad’s going to kill her this time.”
“Can you tell me your address?” her steady voice asks, and I say it slowly, making sure to get everything right. “We’ll have officers there in two minutes. Can you tell me your name?”
I close my eyes tightly, hearing Momma cry out as I start to cry. “Jack. My name is Jack.”
“Okay, Jack, can you tell me if your dad has a weapon?”
“He has a gun.”
Everything unfolds quickly. From around the corner, I watch Dad point the gun at Momma, the policemen telling him to drop it, Dad getting handcuffed. Momma runs for me, and he stares at me from where the cops have him pinned to the floor, finally spotting me from my hiding place.
“The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, Jack! You’re going to be just like me,” he yells as Momma pulls me into her shaking body, hiding me from view.
“Thank you. You did so good, my boy. I love you so much,” she whispers in my ear, kissing the side of my head.
“What the fuck did you just say to me?” I ask, shoving against Coop, who’s still trying to hold me back. “Let me go,” I say, shaking.
“I can’t, Jack.I can’t.”
How does Bradley know? The list of people who know here is so small I can count on one hand here. It’s a public record in Texas, but the amount of work required to find the information is more than I thought anyone would try, especially without a reason to look.
“Cooper, get your fucking hands off me,” I yell, shoving my best friend back from me as he watches me with sympathy I’ve never wanted.
A slamming door echoes through the rink, and I see Coach jogging down the steps a moment later. “Hey! What the hell is going on?”
Coop backs out of my way, and I inhale ragged breaths. I need to get out of here.
I tear across the ice, memories I’ve tried so hard to suppress threatening to break past the wall I’ve hidden them behind. I walk off, quickly unlacing my skates, fully intent on ignoring Coach standing next to me, waiting for answers I don’t have. If I talk to him right now, I’m going to shatter the boundary in my mind separating him from my coach and Al’s dad.
“Schultz, I’m talking to you,” Coach says, and I look up at him, seething from the uncontrollable anger consuming me.
“What?” I snap, struggling to keep myself under control.
If I’ve surprised him, Coach doesn’t show it on his face. “Jack, what happened?”
I tug a hand through my hair as Coop skates over, holding my stick and gloves in one hand. “Coach, it’s fine—” Coop starts to say while I slip on my shoes, taking the opportunity to get away from here.
I drop my things in my stall, snagging my truck keys to drive back to the house, trying to ignore the pounding in my head begging to be let out. Dylan’s watching the recap from ourgame last weekend on the couch when I storm through the door, turning to look at me.
“Shit, you scared me. I thought you were meeting Coop at the rink?”
I ignore Dylan, making a beeline up the stairs to my room.
