Page 16 of Boys Who Taint

“What?” Silas shrugs. “She started it.”

“She didn’t deserve to die. That’s all I’m saying,” Sunny says.

“Yeah, and the perp is standing right there,” Silas says, targeting Levi, who’s in the back of the group.

Everyone is looking at him now, and the attention doesn’t go unnoticed. He immediately straightens his back, altering his pose.

Something about him has changed.

Darkened.

“He’s a murderer,” Silas growls from a distance.

Horrific gasps emanate from the crowd of people surrounding us, whispers of a murder going around. A nightmare unraveling in reality.

“Say that to my face, asshole,” Levi barks back.

“Please, can we not do this now?” Alistair pleads with my family. “This is supposed to be a funeral. A time of grieving.”

“Exactly,” my dad says as he comes to stand behind me. He places his hand on my shoulder while he stares at Kai and the rest. “So leave.”

“We’re here because we want to show we care,” Kai replies. “Please let us offer our condolences and grieve with you.”

“I thought I made myself clear the first time,” my mom interjects. “Leave. Now.”

“Please, Pen,” Lana begs. “Please let us be there for you.”

“So you can kill another one of my kids?” Mom stands beside my dad and clutches my other shoulder, forming a ghastly wall between us and the others.

“Kill?” Kai, Levi’s dad, balls his fist, his face darkening with every passing second. “My son didn’tkillanyone. You’re making assumptions, and we came here out of kindness.”

“Kindness?!” Mom squawks. “My daughter is dead, and you call that kindness?!”

Felix holds her back and steps forward. “Your son was there on that cliff when Mavis fell.”

“That’s right,” Levi’s dad responds with a clenched jaw. “When shefell.”

My dad suddenly steps out in front of Felix and pushes Kai. “Like that? Is that how she fell?”

Kai’s face contorts. “Touch me again, and I swear—”

“You’ll do what? You’ve already destroyed my family,” Dad retorts. “Say it. Say it to my face that you’ll kill me, and I swear to God, I will gut you open right here on my goddamn carpet.”

They’re face-to-face now, and the living room feels too small for the crowd.

Too small to even breathe.

My dad looks Kai up and down, homing in on the nasty scar on his face. “I should’ve taken your other eye too.”

Levi’s dad reaches for his pocket, but Levi grabs his wrist. “Dad, don’t. Please.”

“Fuck it, let’s take it outside. You and me, dude,” my dad says, rolling his sleeves up.

“Dad, stop!” I yell as he attempts to throw a fist right into Kai’s face, who dodges it right before it lands.

Suddenly, Apollo’s dad, Ares, steps in and blocks the two from interacting. “Enough. This is an insult to Mavis’s memory.” He glances at both Dylan and Kai. “You two should know better than to start a fight at her funeral. Herfuneral,out of all days.” He glares at Kai. “I suggest you leave. You’ve made your point.”

“We were only trying to offer our condolences,” Max squeaks.

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