Rare was the day when we actively paid attention to the news.
But after Hailey had told me that she would be providing a special news report, one that promised greater balance for us, I decided, perhaps rather foolishly, to give it a chance. Odds were good that this was going to blow up in my face, that Hailey would make some video about how we were monsters and then would never speak to me again.
If that happened, I deserved every sarcastic remark from Spawn, every look of guilt and shame from Sonny, every disappointing internal feeling with myself. But for reasons that I was beginning to fear were idiotic, I held out hope.
“All right, boys, let’s see what happens,” I said as the station came back from a commercial break.
“They gonna show Satan’s dick and say, ‘This is the biggest dick in all of Phoenix,’” Spawn said with a laugh.
“Are you as fucking stupid as you sound sometimes?” Sonny said. “This is public television, not Pornhub. They can’t show that shit.”
“I dunno, I just think it would be funny.”
“Hey, shut the fuck up,” I said with a raised voice. “Let’s watch this shit.”
The first shot showed the outside of the clubhouse—undamaged. OK, good start.
“Many of the Devil’s Patriots are known…”
“Who the fuck is that?” I said. “That’s not Hailey’s voice?”
“I was going to say, I didn’t know Hailey was a dude—”
“Shut the fuck up,” I snapped. I didn’t even know if it was Spawn or Sonny who’d said that; I’d just heard noise over my shoulder distracting me.
“…Cook, went undercover to the clubhouse to learn more. What we saw were situations of harassment, intimidation, and at one point, even assault.”
And then they showed it.
The moment when I’d first, in a state of complete arousal and horniness, had gone in for the kiss on Hailey. She’d said no, and I’d respected that.
But she’d fucking kept recording?
She fucking featuredthat?
Not a word came from anyone. My temper was rising. My—
“God fucking damnit!”
I grabbed my beer bottle and chucked it at the television. The beer shattered all over the ground, and the TV screen cracked and turned to a fuzzy image.
“Fix this shit, prospects!” I roared. “I can’t fucking believe this bullshit! We fucking let that cunt into our clubhouse, think she’s different, and then she hides behind some gay dude’s voice to be her big, bad protector?”
I scanned the room in anger. No one was looking at me. Wise fucking choice. I probably would have broken them in half if they’d looked at me for any length of time.
“Un-fucking-believable. Fucking bullshit!”
I hadn’t yelled like this in some time. My vocal cords were straining. I could literally see Devil’s Patriots shrinking where they stood as if any of them might become the target of my screams. Which they very well fucking might.
And then I turned my attention to the only person in the room whom I wouldn’t fucking break if I spoke to. The only person that could keep me from exploding. My son.
“You were right,” I said, my temperature reduced from volcanic to just below boiling. “You were fucking right.”
Sonny bit his lip and grimly nodded.
“What else you got to say, boy?” I said. “You’re the genius of the club.”
He shook his head.
