Chase's POV
"I still do not see how your little story affects me." I said.
He poured me a glass, which I drank up once.
"You lot have no more patience these days." He mused, looking at me. "For how much you hate and resent me, you have a lot to learn from me."
"Oh, I do not think I do." I was breathing heavily, and baring my teeth at him.
"I did all these things," He said, "just so you and your mom could have a better life." He shouted, sticking his fingers in my face.
"I'm not tryna get fooled by you tonight, Dad." I placed extra emphasis on the one word that wrongly summarized all he was to me.
"You came in here, and you are gonna have to listen to me." He bellowed.
"No!" I screamed, getting up and matching his height, "you listen to me. I have swallowed, and swallowed and swallowed, and I can assure you that I'm in a choke hold. I'm fucking tired, thought you'd be too, apparently I was wrong. You're about to kill my best friend's mom?! Have you no heart? She literally just got back with her husband, surely you of all people should want a reunion too much to spoil someone else's." I appealed to whatever must be left of his heart.
"If this is your attempt at a negotiation, you're failing, boy." He said, laughing and exposing a gold tooth somewhere behind his canine.
"And who said I'm here to negotiate?" I asked him, hurt at how much damage he was doing to my ego.
I knew pleading wasn't gonna do shit. He had sent out orders, and Grayson mom was gonna be missing before anyone says Jack R.
He was neck deep, involved in so many sketchy stuff.
"I can only be on one side, you get to choose." I said, staring him straight in the eye.
"I don't think so. Each man carves his path, Chasington Norman." My dad said.
"Do they get to 'recarve'?" I asked him.
"I supposed so. If you wanna." He replied, nonchalantly, sipping on some sparkling wine he poured himself.
"Why don't you?" I asked.
"I'm done with these childish questions, you've got more to say, I've got business to attend to." He said.
"Is it killing someone or kidnapping this time?" I asked, raising my voice as high as I could.
"It's - get the fuck away from me and stay away from my room- business." He said.
"I'm sorry I wouldn't be able to do that. I want you to understand that my days of sitting on the fence are long done. A lot of the shit you do affects me, whether you want to acknowledge it, or not. I have to be somewhere, and it's not with you." I said.
"We're saying the same thing son, I'll meet you on the other side." He said, and opened the door.
"I hope I don't." I shot at him.
I knew that was my cue to leave, I had already overstayed my welcome, worse still, I was stirring him up.
It was two hours past midnight, and I still wasn't feeling sleepy.
I went back to my room and checked on Lily's younger brother. Seeing him sleep so innocently, undisturbed, since the tragic incident happened, evoked quite a lot of emotions.
I checked my phone for notifications from whoever.
I saw texts from Lily's dad. Wanting to go down memory lane, and maybe make myself cry a bit, I checked my previous chats with the man.
I knew the only reason he was texting me was because it was absolutely important.
"I'll have a rider come get him. Thanks." His last message read.
He used to fancy me when I was with Lily. I spent hours at their house. All of them liked that their pretty, quiet daughter could pull a snack like me.
The stupid kid I was that took it for granted. My love for her floated off in the wind. She was history, and I had to accept it.
I slept off right at his foot, and woke up to an empty bed.
Emma's mom was standing by my door, I was only too grateful that ALL my body parts were asleep. I couldn't afford to be flaunting my length to her.
"That's creepy." I croaked, rousing from my sleep.
"You would make a really good big brother." She giggled.
"I don't think that's funny." I said, eyes her suspiciously.
"It actually isn't." She said, rubbing her tummy and smiling at me.
"You aren't pregnant, are you?" I asked her. I was so spent from the previous day,, and all I wanted to do was go home.
"You can't take a joke, huh?" She said, ripping at her seams and getting out of character.
"Would that be a bad thing though?" She asked, eyeing me suspiciously.
"I didn't say it would," I stalled, "I'm just saying it's not the right time, right now. There's so much shit going on." I shielded my eyes from the light entering through the navy blue curtains.
"A new life is always a good thing." She defended.
"There's always a thing as wrong timing." I thought I heard feet shuffle, but the sound was faint and went as quickly as it came.
"In that, I agree." She entered and shut the door behind her
"Are you sure your husband is gonna be comfortable with this?" I asked, spotting a naughty smile.
"Well, he wouldn't know, he's asleep." She said, smiling. "He had a midnight guest yesterday, you know, who could that be?" She looked so much like Emma as she carried on her theatrics.
I saw who Emma got it from, and it made me appreciate her even more.
"What was that about?" She asked finally, cutting to the chase.
"It's not ladies business." I said, smiling.
"Well, sometimes, a lady is necessary. If they had more ladies on tables of international conflict resolutions, we'd have far less wars." Linda smiled very demurely, just like Emma.
"I don't know about that." I replied. I couldn't tell her anything. It would just break her. I watched it happen to my mom. I didn't want the same for Emma. "This bad boy needs to go home." I stood up, I was done with the conversation, but Emma's mom was relentless.
"Chase, is there something I need to know?" She asked.
I hated being put on the spot, and hated my dad even more. I wonder how many more women he had to ruin to be happy. I couldn't tell her, there was no way.
"I don't think so." I said, disregarding it. "He'd have told you if he wanted you to know." I added.
"That doesn't make me any less worried, Chase." She said, "I was called from the hospital only two days ago, I left my poor baby in a rush, to come answer funny questions we knew nothing about. Goodness me, I haven't even asked her how it went." She put a hand on her forehead and one on her waist.
Linda was too much of a reminder of Emma, and it was fogging up my brain. I still hadn't gotten over how shitty she treated me last night, and that WE still had issues to resolve.
Thinking about it made my head ache, so I cast the thought aside as I went to the County City Police Department.
Mike's case had been transferred, because all their suspects were in County.
In exchange for cooperation, and after proving Emma's innocence, there were two more persons left on their suspect list, Linda and Mark Norman.
It broke my heart every single time to think of what was coming, but I was actually really done trying to cover him up.
I left after saying so much, and saying nothing at the same time. I wanted to do the right thing, but many people depended on my dad, and it felt cruel to take away so many people's benefactor.
I rang Gray up a couple of times on my way home, but all my calls went into voicemail.
I drove back home, wonder ing what could be up with him. I had scary thoughts, but I kept them under check, while blasting Lewis' 'Someone You Love'.