Page 80 of Challenged by the Single Dad

“The fuck there isn’t,” Dom hollered. “My kid is afraid to come back to school because of this girl. And all you’ve done is punish the person who stood up to her. Who, from what I understand,repeatedlystands up to her. Because she is a bully and a menace.”

“Aya used physical force. She was violent and we don’t condone violence at this school,” Pickford said haughtily, glancing at Sierra for confirmation.

“What about Carnation’s violence toward my kid? You seem to be condoning that.”

Pickford hoisted up his pants with his fingers looped around his worn brown belt, but they sagged right down below his gut almost immediately. “Well … no teacher saw it. A recess duty teacher saw Aya physically assault Carnation.”

“And ignored the fact that Silas was on the ground and injured, apparently.” Dom shook his head, his entire body trembling from bottled rage. He was a shaken coke bottle, and Otto was the sleeve of Mentos. “We talk about consent, and how boys need to ask for consent. And I absolutely agree. But consent is a two-way street. If my son doesn’t want to kiss a girl, he absolutely doesn’t fucking have to.”

Color filled in the gaps of Otto’s cheeks among the patches of already burst capillaries. “Dominic, if you don’t calm down, I’m going to ask you to leave.”

Dom scoffed. “Okay. Do it. Then I’ll report your school—and you—to the school board. And take this shit to the news. You think my nephews and niece weregangingup on that kid with Silas? They weredefendinghim. Because my brothers and I are teaching our children to look out for each other.” He snorted in disgust. “Which is the right thing to do, especially since this school doesn’t have a single fucking adult that will do it.” He shook his head. “Fucking pathetic. You should retire. Let somebody with a fresh perspective run this school. You’re washed up and so out of touch.”

Apparently, it wasn’t the multitude of curse words that Dom spewed at the old codger that caused Otto Pickford to finally snap, but telling him he should retire and that he was washed up.

Otto’s face went even redder, and he stomped like a cartoon character out from behind the counter and grabbed Dom by the arm. “That’s enough, Dominic. I will not stand here inmyschool and be insulted like this. You are banned from San Camanez Elementary. How do you like that?”

Dom shot the old man a look. “We’ll see about that.” He wrenched his arm free from Otto’s grip. “You really going to pick a fight with me, Otto?”

“It’sMr. Pickford.”

Dom shook his head. “I reserve prefixes for people I respect. Do you plan to hire around-the-clock security to keep me from setting foot on my son’s school grounds? Really? What an absolute waste of school money and resources. I think the other parents would love to know about that. And why.”

They stood on the threshold of the door now, nose to nose. Otto inside, Dom outside.

Otto looked close to exploding.

“And how about the fact that you just got physical with me, hmm?”

Terror and fury filled Otto’s pale blue eyes. “Why you—”

“Don’t mess with a fucking McEvoy,” Dom warned. “Aya’s already teaching people that. I guess it’s time the rest of us did the same. We can be your greatest ally, or your worst fucking nightmare. Your choice.” Then he glanced back at Sierra who was watching everything with wide, terrified eyes. “Silas will be taking a personal day tomorrow after the trauma and neglect he experienced here today. Please mark him absent. Have a great weekend.” Then he flipped off Otto with both middle fingers and spun around, not nearly as satisfied with that exchange as he hoped he’d be.

He never liked Pickford, but he’d also never had a true problem with him. Until now.

Would this make his kid’s life even more miserable at school? Would Pickford take his distaste for Dom out on Silas?

When he got into his truck, he rested his forehead against the steering wheel and gripped the wheel hard to keep his hands from shaking.

Ever since the Nadine fiasco, Dom hadn’t trusted his gut or been able to make a decent decision about anything. He messed up big time with Chloe, his kid was clearly suffering, and now he’d probably done more harm than good at the school.

How was he going to fix this?

A hot tear slid down his cheek at the memory of all the scrapes, scratches, and bruises on his child’s body.

He’d never felt more like a failure in his life.

He also knew he couldn’t go back to the house feeling like this. Not without letting out some of this pent-up rage. Hell, all the pent-up emotions that were threatening to burst the seams of his sanity.

He drove up the mountain—Mount Madrona—that was behind the school. There was a fantastic look out point at the top, and they’d just paved the road to the summit a couple of years ago.

It was a popular mountain among hikers and mountain bikers, but even those who weren’t keen to get their sweat on could still appreciate the view.

Based on the weather and the time of day, he didn’t anticipate there being anybody else up there, and he was right. The normal postcard-worthy view was unavailable due to the fog. Which also typically acted like soundproofing. Silencing everything. Tuning out the buzz and din of the world.

Dom relished the quiet—until the voices in his head took over, that is.

His head pounded like a jackhammer of unrelenting guilt and shame against his skull as he pulled into the small dirt parking lot, eyes fixed on where he needed to go to hopefully find some solace.

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