Total pages in book: 87
Estimated words: 82842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 82842 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 414(@200wpm)___ 331(@250wpm)___ 276(@300wpm)
“Why not?” Sean fussed. “Danny got his when he was my age, weren’t ya, Danny?”
The man standing next to my car nodded as he answered, “Yeah. Pretty much, but I was a country kid. Had lots of room to ride and crash without having to worry about running over anyone, ya know?”
“Yeah. I get it.”
“Okay, you two. We’ve gotta get going.” I leaned forward so I could get a better view of Danny as I said, “Thanks for looking out for Sean while I was inside.”
“No problem. You folks be careful gettin’ home.”
“We will.”
I rolled up Sean’s window, then backed out of the parking lot. As soon as we drove through the gate, I glanced up at my rear-view mirror so I could see Corry’s face as I asked, “How in the world did you end up with Widow tonight?”
“He saw me at the park and stopped to say hi.”
“The park? What were you doing at the park? Your dad said you were at Sean’s basketball practice!”
“I was, but I left.”
“You just up and left? What the hell were you thinking? You’re still grounded!”
“I know, but I didn’t want to sit there and watch Sean’s stupid practice.” Trying to sound innocent, he explained, “So, I went to the park to hang out with Evan and Jace.”
“Oh, that’s great, Corry. The two boys you just got in trouble with.”
“It wasn’t a big deal, Mom. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Uh, wrong,” I scolded. “For one, you were and still are grounded, and then you left without telling me. I had no idea where you were! I was worried sick!”
“I’m sorry, Mom. I didn’t mean to scare ya.”
“Well, you did.” When we pulled up in our driveway, I parked, then immediately turned back to face Corry. “I just don’t understand why he didn’t just bring you on home. The park is just a block away from the house. Why did he take you to his clubhouse?”
“He was going to, but he got a phone call.” Corry’s eyes filled with worry as he said, “I’m pretty sure one of his brothers got hurt or something.”
“How do you know that?”
“I overheard some of the guys talking. It sounded like one of them got beat up pretty bad, and you should’ve heard them. They were all kinds of pissed about it.” Corry unbuckled his seatbelt and opened his door. As we all started inside, he leaned over to Sean and whispered, “Dude, you should’ve seen inside the clubhouse. It was fuu...freaking awesome.”
“I wanted to, but Mom wouldn’t let me.” Sean glanced back at me with malevolence. “I bet it was awesome.”
“It was!” Corry continued talking as we went inside the house. “It had everything. This big family room with TVs mounted on the wall. There were pool tables and dart boards, and a refrigerator full of drinks. It was like a big hotel or something. It had all these different bedrooms, and a big ol’ kitchen. It was so freaking cool!”
“Wait.” I whipped around as I asked, “Widow took the time to show you around the clubhouse?”
“Not exactly.” His face twisted into a grimace as he admitted, “He told me to wait for him in the family room, but I got curious and snuck out to look around a little.”
“So, once again, you didn’t do as you were told!”
“Oh, come on, Mom. It’s...”
“Do not tell me it isn’t a big deal like you always do, because it is a big freaking deal! You have no business snooping around that place! We don’t know anything about them.”
Corry rolled his eyes. “Why do you have to be so dramatic about everything?”
“How about this for dramatic?” I crossed my arms and shouted, “You just added two more weeks to your grounding, and the PlayStation is mine! Unhook it and put it in my bedroom.”
“What?”
“You heard me! I’m done with all this mess. As long as you are living under my roof, you will follow my rules!” I pointed my finger towards his room. “End of discussion!”
“Gah, you’re worse than Dad!” He stormed towards his room, and just before he slammed his door, he shouted, “I hate this place! I can’t wait until I’m eighteen and I can get out of here.”
Even though I knew he was angry and lashing out, his words still hurt. I loved him with every ounce of my being, and I hated to be the one who made him upset, but it was my job to raise him. I had to push back and teach him how to be a good man—a man who was nothing like his father. To do that, I needed to know exactly what happened at the park, but Corry refused to talk to me about it. Over the next couple of days, I tried time and time again, but I always got the same vague response. It was pointless. If I was going to get the answers to my questions, I was going to have to talk to Roman. He was my only hope of putting all the pieces together.