Page 27 of The Daredevil

“What if I turned out to be just like him?” I asked, revealing a truth I never meant to share.

That had been one fear whenever I started a relationship. What if things got serious and I leftmy girlfriend or wife? Were there hereditary tendencies I inherited? If I thought like a scientist, logic would lead me to conclude that yes, my father’s genes could influence me.

He left right around the time my sister disappeared. No one knew where he went. I didn’t care. Though he didn’t deserve to be my father, his blood ran in me. I had to be careful about how I handled relationships.

“It saddens me to know you feel this way about love. Your mom wouldn’t want that, Royce. As for your dad, perhaps he had a reason to leave. We can never know why someone does what they do. I’m not making excuses for him at all. Don’t let his actions influence yours.Youmake your own choices.”

What plausible reason could there be to leave your family? I didn’t ask that out loud because I didn’t want to fuel this conversation further.

“I know you’re concerned about me, but I don’t have the heart for love. I’m content with my life, Aunt Klara. I have my excursion empire, my volcanologist job, and a video game development that takes up a lot of my time. I’m good. Be happy for me.”

“I pray you’ll find someone who’ll inspire you to love, Royce. Love is very complicated. It’s not easy to define either. There’s no right or wrong way. Sometimes true love is doing something abnormal. No one can define the ‘norm’ for us. We’re all different.”

“Like how you were tasked with raising your nephew? That’s not normal either.”

“Family takes care of each other. I would’ve done anything for my sister, just as she would’ve done anything for me.”

I didn’t want to talk about this anymore. “Did you already book your hotel? I can book it for you.”

“Everything’s all set. I appreciate you taking care of me, but you don’t have to.”

“Of course I do. You took care of me, and I’ll take care of you. It’s logic.”

“I’m not a science experiment, Royce.”

“You’re more important than that. You’re the only family member I have left. Like you said, ‘Family takes care of each other.’ Right?”

I heard sniffles and knew she was wiping tears from her eyes. She often did this when we spoke about my parents.

“Alda would have been so proud of you right now.”

“Parents say that to their kids even if their children are murderers.”

She laughed. “Are you trying to tell me something?”

“No.”

Though I broke this kid’s nose and arm when he and his friend jumped me after school.

I get off the school bus, trying to rush home and retrieve my drone so I can meet up with my boys. We’re testing out our drones and seeing what we can capture.As I make my way down the street, I hear footsteps behind me. Before I can turn around, someone shoves me to the ground.

“Fucker!” Dominic Bryson, the popular athlete who supposedly got a sports scholarship to some college, stands before me. His friend, Robbie, crosses his arms and grins.

I jump to my feet and shrug off my backpack. “What the fuck do you want?”

This isn’t the first time Dominic has started trouble with me. He doesn’t like that his ex-girlfriend has been talking to me. She’s only a classmate, but he sees me as the reason for their breakup.

“To teach you a lesson you won’t forget.” Dominic charges at me. “My girl. My property. Stay away from her.”

I’m fucking sick of his privileged ass thinking he can bully me and get away with it. With all the drug deals he does at school, he should be expelled. But money speaks louder than anything else.

I’m not interested in his girl. “She’s smart for leaving you, asshole.”

“You’re going to die, fucker!” He throws a punch at me.

I block his attack and don’t hold back as my fist lands on his face. He falls back a few steps and curses.

“Hold him!” he shouts to Robbie.

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