Page 66 of Seal of Approval

“Fucking court, what would they know?” he spat. He moved to the side so he could see the crowd on the beach. The tic in his jaw, normally subtle, now seemed to jerk through his whole body.

I needed to calm the situation down. I knew how to do this. My child self was an expert. But not with someone who had taken a substance. He had to have been on something, some drug of some kind. I needed to keep his attention on me, try to train his erratic eyes to focus. Lower his agitation somehow. Keep Jasmine safe.

“Max, I know you want to see Bailey and Rose. I don’t think now is the right time.” I kept my voice calm and low.

“Don’t tell me what I can and can’t do with my fucking kids.” His voice was loud. “You have no idea what I’ve been through. How some people fucking look at me.” He turned his attention to Jasmine. “You fucking did this to me. You. You took everything I had away.”

Jasmine took a small step forward. “Max?—”

“Don’t fucking Max me.” He pointed at her chest. She took a step back. “I’ll fucking take everything you have.” He sneered at me. “And your fucking pretty boy won’t be able to stop me.”

My breaths were shallow. His previous visits had been nothing like this. “Max,” I said, drawing his attention back to me. “I don’t want to call the police, but you’re not leaving me much choice.”

He stood so close to me I could see the lines around his eyes and the spittle in the corner of his lips. “You call the fucking police and it will be the last thing you do.”

In the state he was in, I didn’t doubt his words. Normally, it was Jasmine he spoke to, not me. He seemed to have lost that inhibition.

“Leave now and I won’t have to.”

Someone was walking along the sand behind us. I glanced over my shoulder. It was Jack. Max saw him too and as soon as he did, he retrained his face. It was a thin disguise. His eyes were still bouncing from side to side.

“I’ll be back.” He made his way back to the car. “We could have done this the easy way. Now…” His voice was cut off as he got into his car and drove away.

The three of us stood and watched as the taillights disappeared.

“What now?” Jack asked.

“I doubt he’ll be back tonight. Too many witnesses for his liking.” That was the only thing that saved us. I stared at the retreating car with clenched fists. This needed to stop. “Jasmine, you’ll need to talk to the police and get a new restraining order.”

She nodded. “I’ll do it tomorrow. Let’s not ruin tonight for the kids.”

We headed back down and tried to act normal. But none of us were the same. We were all lost to Max in some way. But my maze drew me deeper, past Max and down the years to my father.

His car pulled up into the driveway and then the car door banged. It was a sure sign that he hadn’t had a good day.

Steve was on his bed reading a book with his headphones on.

I rushed over to him. “You need to go. Dad’s home and in one of his moods.”

Steve pulled his headphones off, the music still playing. I switched it off. I hadn’t done that once and copped it twice as bad when my father figured out that I’d been lying about Steve not being there.

“Come with me,” Steve said.

“I can’t,” I said, listening to the footsteps on the stairs outside. “I didn’t put my bike away. He’ll know I’m home.”

Steve’s hands were shaking. I shoved mine in my pockets so he couldn’t see my fear. There was no point going with him. You could never tell what mood my father was in. He could either calm down while we were gone or stew until we came back. This way, only one of us would have to face his wrath. And it wasn’t going to be my twelve-year-old brother. If Steve was gone long enough, my father would forget he was angry with him in the first place.

“Go out the window. Go to Noah’s place. Don’t come back until I come and get you.”

I left him and went into the kitchen to make a snack. Dad came in the front door and slammed it behind him, shaking the frames on the wall. The ones with photos where we pretended to be a happy family. There weren’t many. He spotted me straight away. He always spotted me straight away. I squeezed my legs together to stop them from shaking.

“Eating again, are you? I swear I work a shitty job just so you can shove food in your mouth.”

I didn’t make eye contact with him. Making eye contact could set him off. Not making eye contact could set him off. You couldn’t win, just had to figure it out moment by moment.

“Where’s your brother?”

“He’s at Noah’s.”

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