Page 16 of Beast
Speechless, I watched Donna climb into her car and pull away.
“What was that all about?” Cinder asked.
“What do you know about raising a kid?”
Cinder shrugged. “Not shit.”
“That makes two of us.” I started back inside. “Church at two. I got something I need to take care of now.”
Inside, I found Skittles playing pool with Gigi and Carmen.
“Well?” Skittles said. “What did the little leg spreader want?”
“I don’t think you learned those words in college.”
“Sorry, babe. What did the little whore want?”
“That’s better,” I said. “I need you to wait here while I pick up my son at the Holiday Inn.”
Skittles nodded. “She’s not coming back, is she?”
“She’s not.”
I went back outside and climbed on my bike. Cinder offered to go, but I needed to talk to Mark alone. I had no fucking idea what I would say, but I knew it needed to be profound and heartfelt. He was in a shitty situation he didn’t ask to be in, and since I helped put him there, I needed to be the one to get him out. I could do it. I knew how to be a man. I knew what it took. Kickstand taught me that. Through example, he also taught me how to be a father.
I waited outside the Holiday Inn until almost eleven before going inside. I stood at the elevator and couldn’t make my finger press the button. What was I afraid of? The kid was ten. I pushed the button, and the doors opened. I stepped on, pressed the third-floor button, and turned as the doors closed.
I jammed my hand between the doors, and they opened. Fuck, he looked just like me.
“Mark?”
The boy standing outside the elevator nodded. “Are you my Dad?”
“Yeah, I suppose I am.” What a fucking dick I sounded like. “Yes, I’m your Dad.” I stepped off the elevator. “What’re you doing out here?”
“I checked out on my own,” he said, and I felt like an asshole. “Mom left, didn’t she?”
“Yeah, dude, I’m afraid so.” I put my hand on his shoulder the way Kickstand had put his hand on mine when I was young. “I’ll take good care of you. Not sure how good I’ll be at this, but I’ll give it my best shot.”
“Are you a bad guy?”
Fuck. “I’m not a bad guy. At least most of the time.” He smiled, and I felt much better. “You ever been on the back of a bike before?” He shook his head. “Time to give it a try. You got a suitcase?”
He shook his head again. “Just my backpack.”
“That’s all your shit? I mean, stuff?”
“It’s okay to use those words. Mom said your club cusses a lot.”
“Yeah? What else she tell you?”
“That my stepmother is a whore.”
Fuck. I wanted to tell him so was his mother, but decided that wasn’t the best course of action to begin our relationship. “Your stepmother is a very good and educated person. She loves me and will love you the same way I do.”
“You love me? You just met me.”
Damn, I didn’t know if I could do it. “I do. You’re my son. Doesn’t matter how all this is coming together, you know? Fact of the matter is you belong to me, and I love things that belong to me. I treat them well. I love them the way I’m supposed to.”
