Page 14 of Dare You to See Me
“Well I think it looks fun and I want a pink bike when I’m grown up.”
Over my dead body, I think. Those things are flying death traps. I’ll be damned if I let my most prized possession get on one of those. Grown-up or not.
SEVEN
MALIK
Monday morning came too fast.Especially because I spent the entirety of the weekend thinking about seeing Soleil and Dahlia Saturday morning. Dahlia’s excitement was infectious, but Soleil’s wide eyes are what captured me.
I wanted to climb in through her window, show her my face and admit I am infatuated. But then I remembered that behavior is a bit…psychotic and she’d probably end up calling the cops on me.
I thought my heart was going to leap out of my chest and crawl its way up her dress when she dropped off Dahlia this morning. She wore a beautiful light blue dress that made her look like Snow White come to life. She was fucking gorgeous. It took everything in me not to pull her into my arms and steal her breath.
It’s unhealthy how much I think about this woman. She walked into my life one week ago and I feel a bit like an insane man. I soak up every minute with Dahlia in my class because it’s the closest I can get to her mother without getting the cops called on me.
“Earth to Mal.” A hand waves in front of my face and I blink. “Did you hear anything I just said?”
“What? Sorry man. I had a long day at school. You know how kids can be.” I pick up my soda and take a big chug.
Danté’s lip curls and he says, “No. No, I don't know how kids can be. Thank God. I can’t understand why you want to be around those little snotty brats all damn day when you could just be chillin’ at home with all of your money.”
“They’re not snotty brats. Well, not all of them. Maybe one or two. But I like teaching. You know that D. So what if I have money? This fulfills more than money. I get to make a difference in a kid's life.”
His hand freezes, his lips pressed against the opening of his beer bottle, and stares at me. “Jesus, Mal. You sound like an afterschool special.”
I shove his shoulder and he wobbles on his barstool. “Whatever. You’ll never know what it’s like to have a passion because your heart is black.”
“Better than a fucking bleeding heart. Between Henny handing his balls over to Dagen, and you withI love kidshearts in your eyes, I’m the only brother who has any sense. You’ll never find me selling out to a woman or fawning over some kid.”
I shake my head, eyeing him and his pessimism. “One day, D, some chick is going to knock you on your ass and Henny and I will be here to laugh ours off. We’ll help you up, but not before we get a good ha-ha out of it.”
We grow silent, only the music from the speakers between us, and I stare at the picture that sits against the back wall of the bar. It’s of me and my brothers, Henny and Danté, and we’re sitting on our bikes. The first big purchase we made when we sold shares of Dare Inc. Behind the black helmets are three faces with big smiles. We couldn’t believe that three kids nobody wanted were now millionaires.
Hendrix, the kid who stole shit and snuck out at night and into girls’ bedrooms.
Danté, the asshole who hated everyone and had a sick sense of humor, daring people to do crazy shit that you only see in movies. Horror movies.
And then there’s me, the boy whose parents realized they couldn’t be good parents when I was eight and passed me off to the state. I was the kid constantly in fights, using my fists to express how I was feeling because my words would get stuck. Maybe if I wasn’t constantly knocking the teeth out of my foster siblings and kids at school, I wouldn’t have been passed over so many times. When I finally realized the error of my ways, it was too late to hope for a family. Then Hendrix and Danté came along and they were the only family I needed.
I finish off my soda and walk around the bar, our bar, to rinse the glass and set it down to be washed. “I’m gonna take off. I have a few things to do for tomorrow. Are we still riding on Thursday?”
“Always,” D replies and dips his chin.
“See ya,” I tell him, but don’t expect a response.
Danté rarely says goodbye to us. It may seem like he doesn’t care, but it’s really because he’s afraid that saying it could mean the last time. The abandonment issues still run pretty deep with him.
I’m only a few blocks away from the bar when a notification lights up my phone. I know I shouldn’t, but I pull my eyes away for just a moment to see a new like on a post. I pull up to the red light and take a closer look.
Sunny_Grl liked your post
I quickly click on the notification and smile when I see who has liked my post from Saturday's drive when I saw Soleil and Dahlia. The video has a cut with the two of them but I blurred out their faces as I didn’t think it was appropriate to splash a child’s face all over social media.
When I open it, I see the profile picture of a sunset that I’ve looked many times from my cyber stalking, and quickly click the follow request before the light turns green. Her account is private and I didn’t dare request to follow her before, assuming she’d decline and probably block me.
Pulling into my garage, I blow out a deep breath and run through the list of things I must do before calling it a night. First things first; make sure I have everything I need for my lesson plan tomorrow. Once that’s done, it’s on to the next tasks which will take up the rest of my evening. Well past when I should be sleeping.
I do a quick change in my closet then walk across the hall to my office. It’s a dark room illuminated by dark blue strip lights that are dimmed to cast a subtle glow. I fire up my computer and click on the camera attached, and open my social media account.
