Page 109 of Puck'n Bully
Shit.It’s the same look he gets after an opponent gets away with hitting him or one of our teammates.
He’s going to go for the kill. I know it.
Mitchikov strides forward, radiating power and something dangerous.
Stopping in front of Dad, Mitchikov meets his eyes with a cold, calculating gaze. “You’re not supposed to be here.”
Dad scoffs. “Stay out of this, kid. This is between me, my son, and this twink.”
“You’ve just made the biggest mistake of your life by threatening my friends,” Mitchikov growls.
“Do you want me to press charges against you, too, kid?” Dad asks, laughing raucously.
Mitchikov laughs too, the sound sending chills down my spine.
“Oh, I wouldn’t do that if I were you, Sir,” Mitchikov says, slowly ambling toward Dad with a predatorial look. “Here, take a look at what we’ve dug out.”
Bringing out his phone, he hands it to my dad.
Dad takes it, squinting at the phone’s screen.
I shift closer, curious to know what he’s showing Dad.
Suddenly, Dad’s shouts and curses erupt from the phone. Moving closer, I see that a video is playing out on the screen.
It’s a clip of my father hitting me and abusing me.
To my surprise, the video was shot on the same night we lost the game to Silverlake University. So, it wasn’t just Liam who witnessed my shame and humiliation. Someone else saw it too.
“So, this is how you treat your son after a game,” Mitchikov says, wrapping an arm over Dad’s shoulders.
Dad’s face pales.
“And that’s not all either,” Mitchikov says, leaning over Dad’s shoulder to scroll over the screen. “There’s more. How about we check out this video from the time Hayden was just fifteen years old?”
Liam also steps forward to glance at the phone’s screen.
As the scene plays out, I’m reminded of the day I’d won an award for being the best player at a game. I was a sophomore in high school and was invited to play for a team in New Jersey for a fundraising campaign.
Dad’s curses fill the quiet atmosphere. As the video keeps playing, I witness him kicking me and using my bronze trophy to beat me.
I took his abuse without any resistance.
“How can you treat your only son so cruelly?” Liam’s tone is filled with disgust. “Are you even human?”
Mitchikov takes the phone away from Dad and steps away. “I have plenty of such videos. You can choose your favorite and we’ll present that to the cops. Let’s find out who’ll get charged for assault and abuse.”
A foreign expression spreads on my dad’s aging face.
It’s a moment before I realize what it is.
Fear.
“Touch Hayden again and these videos will go straight to the cops,” Mitchikov says in an icy tone. “If you bother him again about trying to steal his money, I will send this to every goddamn scout and team in the league. You won’t get a dime off of his hard work and talent. I will make sure you spend the rest of your life regretting what you’ve been doing to him.”
I stare at Mitchikov, my chest tightening.
My teammate—no, my friend, is standing up for me.
