Page 69 of Freak Camp
Dad paused and looked up at him with something strange in his eyes.“What did you just say to me?”
“I said that you don’t listen,” Jake said.“I said that Ihavethought this through.”
“This being ...?”
“I’m getting Tobias out,” Jake said.The words seemed to echo in the room, as though the space had suddenly expanded.“And you can help me, sir, or you can get the hell out of my way.”
Leon stared, and then carefully laid his gun on the bed.“You’re getting a monster out of Freak Camp.”
“Yes.”
“Are you feeling all right?Any dizziness or disorientation, any details not feeling right?Gaps in your memory?Any hesitation at all in making these decisions?”
It made Jake angry that Dad was still convinced that this could be some kind of monster trick.If Toby had the ability to twist Jake’s head around—in some supernatural way, and not just with his smile—then he would have done all he could to get out of that shithole earlier, maybe back when they were burning smiley faces into his arm.
“Yes, Dad, I feel fine,” he snapped.“It’s not like this is a new idea.”
“Are you telling me that you have been planning to remove a monster from Freak Camp longer than just tonight?”
Just the last six years, Dad.“Yes.”
“What—” Dad’s voice broke, but Jake couldn’t tell if it was from anger or worry.He cleared his throat and tried again.“What exactly would you do with the freak if you get him out?”
“Do?”Feed him, for one.Toby looked thinner every time he visited.Get him somewhere safe, more than anything.
“Yes.Do.Do!You can’t just want to have amonsterwith you.”Leon sounded disgusted, confused, almost desperate, like he wanted the situation to make sense, but no matter how many times he counted there were still not enough guns, too many monsters, one less salt bag than he had expected.“There has to be a purpose.Give me areason, Jake.”
“Like, so I can stake him somewhere so other monsters will come and try to eat him?Am I fucking hunting deer now?”You think I get off on hurting things, on using evil to chase evil?
“Don’t use that language with me, boy.It’s a valid question, and if you can’t recognize that—”
“He’s aperson, Dad.And he doesn’t deserve—”
“Shut your mouth, Jake.Right now, shut your mouth.”
Leon stood, breathing hard.He glared at Jake.No longer down, a distant part of Jake’s mind noted.They were eye to eye.“There’s something that you’ve got to get through that thick skull of yours, something that you should have known a long time ago, but I guess you’re just not that bright, or I’ve raised you wrong, or something.That boy is not a person.He’s a monster.Amonster,Jake.It doesn’t matter what they deserve or what they don’t deserve, any more than it matters what a rabid dog deserves.It should be put down.I don’t care if it hasn’t bitten anyone yet.Frankly, I don’t like the shit that goes down in Freak Camp.Some things are basically impossible to kill, but it would be better to put a bullet through everything thatcanbe put down.”
“Toby is not a freak,” Jake said doggedly.“He’s just—”
“Jake.”Leon closed his eyes.“You can’t keep saying that.You can’t keep ...you can’t keep being this stupid.You can tell me.You can tell me anything, and we’ll deal with it.You want to ...to sleep with it?I know you’ve been going home with men and women, and I don’t care, but you could do so much better than a fucking monster.”
“Dad!”Jake turned away.“It’s not about that.This is about what’s right, and what I’ve known I wanted—”
“You can’t just tell me that you want to get a freak out of FREACS and it’s because youwantto.That just makes me think you want a pet monster because I never bought you a dog.”
“Toby’s not a dog!”Jake spun around, anger cracking his voice.“And he’s not a fucking freak—”
“Jake, he is.”
“—and I’m getting him out of Freak Camp whether or not you approve.Roger said I don’t have much time if I want to—”
“I’m going to gut Harper,” Leon said abruptly.
“Why do you do that?”Jake asked, moving close enough that he could shove Dad if he wanted to.For the first time, he wanted to.“Why do you blame people for things that aren’t their fault?”
“If Harper told you to get a monster out of camp ...”
“He said that Tobias might not last much longer, not that I should get him out.Jesus, Dad, don’t always blame other people for things that you—”
