Page 16 of Ruin
“You got him?” A man rushes over and stops dead in his tracks when he sees me.
Jeremy.
Though some of the members of the MC know just about everyone in town, I don’t. Don’t bother myself with shit I don’t need to know. I’m keen on people who are important, like the business owners and the school administrators, because I workwith them, but outside of that, I couldn’t tell you one damn person in this place.
So how the fuck was I supposed to know this is Jeremy’s kid and wife?
He stares at me, looking like a deer in headlights.
“Travis, you can’t run off like that,” his mother scolds, reaching for his hand and pulling him to her.
“Is he okay?” Jeremy finally asks, looking down at his kid.
“Yeah, he’s okay.”
Jeremy moves closer, and that’s when I see another kid attached to his hand. This one is almost identical to the other one, only smaller. Maybe three? I don’t fucking know.
“Thank you so much,” she says.
“Yeah, thanks,” Jeremy says carefully.
“No problem,” I say, downing the rest of my beer and taking off.
I really fucking hate this town.
Chapter Six
Kolton
Surprise, surprise.
I fucking hate surprises, yet I always seem to get them.
Principal fucking Kenting, who I thought I liked once upon a time, has quickly made it onto my shit list.
He never fucking told me that I’d need to be up on stage when Lucian got this stupid award. I’m not the only person who put this thing together, yet I’m the one who has to come up here? Had he told me beforehand, I’d have declined, but when he announces it in front of everyone, I don’t have much of a choice.
No one is going to help with this shit if they see me being a dick, as much as I want to be one. So I climb up on the stage and stand on the opposite side of Principal Kenting as he gives some speech about books being important to kids and how they’re so thankful that the community has come together to help the library get the repairs and upgrades it needs. That thenleads into the information about Lucian, which makes me want to throw up. But I busy myself with all the ways I can make Kenting suffer for this, and it makes me feel a little better.
“He’s one of our own. Lucian grew up in this town, but moved away for college and became a surgeon who has helped thousands of people over the years. He keeps ties here though, and visits now and again. When he heard about the school needing to be rebuilt, he jumped at the chance to help by donating a majority of the money needed. And for that, we felt he should be celebrated here today, with all of you.”
Everyone claps, and I want to hide under a fucking rock.
From the corner of my eye, I see Lucian smiling. But it’s his fake smile. The one he puts on for everyone.
Everyone but me.
I used to get real smiles. The one that meant something. I never saw that smile for anyone else, but what the fuck does a stupid smile mean? Nothing, apparently.
“Without further adieu,” Principal Kenting starts as Janet walks over with a small plaque in her hand. Kenting takes it and carefully hands it to Lucian, whose fake smile grows when his fingers wrap around the award.
“Thank you so much, Principal Kenting. This town means a lot to me. It’s my home. Where I grew up. Where I made lasting memories. Anything I can do to help, I will. Thank you so much for this. It truly means the world to me that I can make a difference here in Pinehaven.”
Bullshit. It’s all fucking bullshit. If I could get away with knocking him out right now, I would. The way he makes me so angry is ridiculous.
Of course, everyone claps for him like he’s the next fucking president, when all he did was hand over some bullshit money that he did nothing to get. None of that money was hard earned. It was what he got from when his parents died. He’d told me all about it.
When I spot people dispersing from the crowd, I hurry off the stage, taking the steps two at a time.
