Page 11 of White Hole

“Leave him alone, George. Aaron is an adult. He can do what he wants—”

“He’s not a fucking adult, Mom. He’ssixteenyears old! He should be in school right now. This is why you don’t have custody.”

My mom jumped up from her chair with a spryness I didn’t know she still had. Despite her short stature, she was able to reach up to my face and slap me across the cheek. It didn’t hurt… physically.

“Aaron can stay here if he wants. I’m his mother. He’s better off with me than a piece of shit like your father… likeyou. And he doesn’t need Dan’s influence, either. We understand each other. You have no idea the kind of pain we deal with on a daily basis...”

She kept going until I tuned her out. Finding the few items on the floor that were clearly Aaron’s, I thrust them into my bag. Grabbing the trash, I marched to the dumpster and tossed the bags inside, then returned to gather my brother. Mom was still talking as I walked out and back in. She never shut up. Despite her tirade of insults, I walked over and kissed her forehead.

“Move. Let’s go.” Aaron was still wearing a towel around his waist, but I didn’t care. I needed to get him home.

“Fine! Go tell your father, you big fuckingtraitor! You fucking asshole! I hate you!” Mom was screaming at me as I walked out with my baby brother in front of me.

Before I closed the door, I turned and said, “I’ll get some lightbulbs for your lamps, Mom. And buy more groceries.”

She screamed, “Bring me back my pills!”

After we got in, Aaron let his head rest on the passenger seat of my pickup. The pressure built inside the cabin as we drove until he said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. Please don’t tell Dad. You know what he’ll do.”

“You’re shooting that shit now, Aaron. What am I supposed to do?”

“I’m not like you and Dan. I’m not good at sports.” Quietly, he turned to look out his window. “I’m not good at anything.”

“No one’s asking you to be good at sports.” I sighed. I had no desire to talk to our father, either, but maybe it was time to. He needed to know how bad things had gotten. As we reached my father’s colonial, I pulled into the driveway and commanded, “Get dressed. Go to school.”

Aaron gawked. “It’s too late! I’ve already missed like two classes this morning.” I stared at him until his skinny shoulders slumped and he slowly opened his car door. “Fine, fine. I’ll go.”

If I hurried, I could almost make my own mid-morning class before grabbing a quick takeout lunch in the cafeteria, but first I needed to stop by for my dreaded errand. Adding protein powder to my blender bottle, I downed it and drove to the town’s central police station.

“George Turner, Junior. It’s been too long since you’ve visited me!” My dad’s assistant, Grace, was sitting at her desk when I ambled to his office after being greeted by several officers. Leaning over her desk, I kissed her on the cheek in greeting. “I think he’s busy.” She pointed to my father’s half-closed door down a short hall. I shrugged and walked that way. This was too important to wait. Whichever officer was in there could step out while I spoke with the tyrant.

As I approached, a woman’s seductive voice carried out of the half-opened door. Squinting my eyes closed, I pinched the bridge of my nose. Was he already fucking someone new? He started boning Clarissa a few months ago. The closer I got, the tighter the knot in my stomach twisted. I recognized the voice. No, no, no. Nausea hit me like an explosion in my belly.

“Thank you for the check, darling. Next time you cover up crimes, maybe you’ll think about how much your actions (she laughed here), sorry, yourinactionhas cost you.”

“Get lost, Gianna.”

“Is that any way to treat your ex-wife? Any way to treat aconcerned citizen?”

“You got your September check. Out.” My father opened his door more, and Gianna Cunningham’s svelte body slinked toward the exit in a bright green dress. She flipped her thick auburn hair as she sashayed past the threshold.

“See you next month!” Pressing my body against the wall, I hoped she wouldn’t see me. No chance. “Oh! Wow! Lookie here. Georgie has grown up.” Her eyes danced down my body and landed on my crotch. Leaning her body into mine, she said in a low, sultry voice, “Still have the same phone number, Georgie?” I didn’t move. “I’ll be in touch.” Crawling her fingers down my stomach, she grasped my penis lightly with a growl before walking down the hall.

“George. What are you doing? Leave her alone.” My father beckoned me into his office and closed the door tightly. I wandered in and sat in the plastic chair across from the nameplate on his desk that stated, “Chief George Turner, Senior.” Dad sat in his office chair. “Don’t touch that woman, George. She’s trouble.”

Like I had a choice. Like I ever had a choice. “Aaron’s in trouble.”

My father leaned forward, placing his uniformed arms on his desk pad calendar. “What is it now?”

“You’re not watching him. He’s going to Mom’s and—”

“I’m watching him fine. That woman has screwed him up. I cannot be held responsible for her actions when he is with her.” His gray eyes glared at me down his long, straight nose. “If you’d show a little responsibility, hadn’t quit your football career, maybe he’d have an older brother to look out for him.”

My fist pounded on the arm of the chair, vibrating the entire seat. “I am looking out for him. I’m the only one!”

“Do we need to have a go?” My father stood, loosening the buttons on his jacket. I knew what he was doing. If I assaulted him, ten officers would be in here, and everyone would blame me, his unhinged son. “Just like your mother”, he would say. Possibly stick me in an institution somewhere against my will. I settled back in my chair. “Fine. Military academy it is, then. I told him last time that’s where he was heading.”

“He needs rehab, Dad.”

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