“What the fuck are you doing here?” I yell.
“Calm down, son,” says the sheriff.
“I’m not your fucking son.”
“Maverick, will you have a seat?” asks the unknown woman.
“No, I’ll stand. Who the fuck are you, anyway?”
What the hell is this?
“Maverick, my name is Millie Jones,” she tells me. “I’m a social worker.”
“Why are you here?”
“It’s my job to ensure that you have a guardian while your father awaits trial,” says Ms. Jones.
“I don’t need anyone to watch over me. I’ll be eighteen in a few months.”
“You’re a minor until you turn eighteen,” Mr. Green informs me.
“Dee’s parents have agreed to let me stay with them for the rest of the school year.”
“The decision isn’t up to you,” the sheriff tells me.
“I would like to speak to my nephew, alone.” The bastard finally speaks.
When everyone leaves, I finally face the asshole who abandoned me as a child.
“You have the fucking nerve to show up after all this time. I don’t need you anymore. You’re eleven years too late.”
He stands up then walks over to me.
“Stop right there,” I demand as my hands form into fists. If he gets too close, I’ll be too tempted to kick his ass.
“I don’t know what your father told you.”
“Don’t call him my father!” I yell.
“I’m sorry. Whatever he told you is a lie. I never abandoned you. For years, I tried to talk your mother into leaving John. When she finally found the courage to make her move, John found out. He beat her down until she didn’t have a will of her own anymore. She wasn’t the sister I grew up with. She became this lifeless person I didn’t recognize. After her suicide, I filed for custody of you, but I had no proof of the allegations I leveled against your father. I lost the custody battle over you, and your father filed a defamation of character lawsuit against me. It took me years to recover financially after that. I had no legal rights to you. Your father filed a restraining order against me. I couldn’t go anywhere near him, or you.”
All this time, I fucking hated him.
“When the story about John reached me, I made plans to be reunited with you as soon as possible.”
“I don’t need your protection anymore.”
“I know you don’t, but I want you to know that I’m sorry I couldn’t be the savior you needed. There wasn’t a day that went by that you weren’t in my thoughts. I want you to stay with me in Minnesota.”
“No, I have my life here.”
“Maverick, please hear me out. I’ve always planned to contact you once you turned eighteen. The family wants to build a relationship with you. I’m married with children, and I’ve told your cousins all about you. I filed a motion for legal guardianship over you. Things are going to get a lot worse before they get better. You need to get away from this town and the press. The principal has agreed to let you complete all school work from Minnesota under the current circumstances. He’ll discuss this with your teachers. Also, this is the only time I’ll have to catch up with you before you go to college. I want to make up for lost time.”
If I agree to live with him, at least I’ll be away from Cocoa. If I stay here, I know there’s no way I’d be able to leave her alone. Not when I’d see her at school every day. What about when she starts to date someone like Nix said? I’d lose my fucking mind. Maybe it is better for me to view this madness at a distance. I won’t have to enroll in a new school. I have a lot of good memories in this town, but the bad far outweighs the good. I’ll keep in touch with Dee and Nix. We’ll be attending the same college like we planned, so we’ll be reunited soon.
I don’t care about going to prom or walking across a stage to receive my high school diploma, that’s trivial shit. My goal has always been to get back at John. I accomplished the first half of my goal, showing the true character of the false God this town has worshiped all these years. The second half of my goal is to see John behind bars for years to come.
“I’ll go.”
