Page 108 of Unfix Me

“Stop this right now,” he demanded, seething. “Apologize to your mom and grandma. Look how much you’ve upset them.”

I shook my head. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t stop my lip from quivering.

“Fuck you.” I enunciated each syllable, leaning a little closer.

He hit me again and I stumbled into the wall. There was blood in my mouth, which dripped onto the ground. I’d never been hit like that before outside of being tackled in football. My entire life, I steered clear of fights. The first person to punch me in the face was my father and for some reason, that made me laugh.

“Fuck you,” I repeated. “If you don’t want me, then that’s fine. I’m leaving.”

He lunged forward and grabbed my arms, but was wrenched away. West sent him stumbling backward into the couch. He barely managed to regain his balance without falling. Still angry, my dad turned his assault on West. I thought he’d dodge or catch his fist midair, but he took a solid hit to the cheek. It knocked him off balance, but he stayed standing.

“Get out of my house,” Dad demanded. “And leave my son alone.”

When West didn’t move, he got hit again. I moved toward him, but he shook his head.

“No, it’s fine. I can take a punch.” He stepped closer to my dad, challenging him. “I have a dad who likes to rearrange my face too. If you think you’re any better than that asshole, you’re wrong. What you’ve done to this precious fucker right here,” he gestured toward me, “is unforgiveable. My best friend loves him so much. I’ve never seen him so damn happy and let me tell you something.”

He took another step and my dad backed up this time. The anger was still apparent on his face, but I saw the slight tremble in his hands.

“If Kai was here, he’d defend Sen with his life, which any sane parent would be happy about. So go ahead, pops. Hit me because you sure as hell aren’t getting to him.”

West eyed him for another moment before he turned to me. His fingers grazed over the tender part of my cheek as he frowned.

“It’s okay,” I assured him.

“Kai is gonna be pissed.”

The thought brought a smile to my face. I remembered his intensity when he told me he was going to talk to Derek. I’d never had that sort of protection before.

As we walked out the door, I heard my mom wail. I hated the sound of it, but she had choices here too. If she wanted me in her life, she’d have to accept me, just like the others would. And it would take a lot for me to forgive everything that happened.

“How’d you know about Travis?” I asked as West dropped my suitcase into the trunk.

“Kai was looking into those conversion people and saw a picture of your group from 2017. He was gonna tell you, but I thought it would help just in case you weren’t ready to leave when I pulled up. Something to push you the rest of the way.”

“I don’t understand why they lied. Why say that he killed himself?”

“Because their entire model is built on fear tactics. Trav is an openly gay major league baseball player now and he’s spoken about what he went through as a teenager. It’s why he blew up online. His dad pulled him out of camp, I’m assuming after what happened with you guys, and he ended up accepting that Trav was gay. He was lucky.”

He really was. I wished I would have known he was alive. There wasn’t anything I could have done, but if we’d stayed in contact somehow, maybe I wouldn’t have let my dad and Dumont screw with my head so much. Or not. I’d never know.

“Hey, why aren’t you allowed to drive?”

He twirled the keys around his finger. “DUI.”

I held my hand out and he frowned. When I shook it insistently, he rolled his eyes and passed them over.

“I’m a good driver,” he muttered.

“If you got pulled over on your way here, you’d be screwed.”

“Good thing I didn’t get pulled over.”

It felt surreal to back out of the driveway. I’d grown up in this house. It marked my birth and everything that happened after, all the way through today. Would I make any more memories here in the future or was this the last time I’d see it?

My dad pulled the curtains closed, blocking my view of everyone inside.

It was silent for a while, only the sound of West’s bass-heavy music and tires on asphalt. When I pulled onto the freeway, I let myself voice the concerns that had been swirling around inside my mind.

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