Page 170 of The Otherworld

Dad studies me, his gaze unwavering. “I heard you gave him worse.”

“I hope so,” I fire back, knowing I’m poking a snake here—but I don’t give a damn. “He deserved it, that’s for sure.”

“So you’re not sorry.”

“No, sir. I’m not sorry.”

Dad watches me for a long moment, his gaze drilling into mine.

“You gonna whoop my ass?”

He sighs, gets to his feet, and slowly paces to the other end of the office. “No.”

I’m stunned. Why is he not even angry about this? Does he agree with me? Somehow, the possibility of Dad taking my side is more disappointing than getting my ass whooped.

“You’re not a child anymore, Jack. As you so often like to remind me.”

I stare at him, not sure how to respond. He’s being so weird. So unlike Dad, who yells at me for every little thing I do wrong.

“Do you know what Adam did?”

Dad nods slowly. “Yes.”

“All this time, he’s been keeping the truth from me. It would’ve been the easiest thing in the world to tell me what was going on with him and Orca, but instead he had to let me make a fool of myself. He saw how things were between me and her, but did he say anything? No, he just let me stay in the dark and let Orca think it was A-okay for her to be going out with me while he screwed around with her behind my back!”

Dad remains silent, staring out the dusty window that overlooks the harbor.

“I found out this morning,” I continue, my voice rough with bottled-up rage. “And when I went to confront him about it, I walked in on the two of them making out.”

“And you responded by beating him up?”

“How would you expect me to respond?”

“Like a man.”

Somehow, that hits me harder than Adam’s uppercut.

Dad turns around to face me, his voice low and serious. “You want to prove you’re no longer a child, Jack? You can start by apologizing to your brother.”

“Apologize? To him?”

“Since you missed your opportunity to be a man earlier.”

“But Adam—”

“I don’t care what Adam did!” Dad booms, stepping closer. “He’s your brother. Your blood. Now, I don’t know all the details of what happened with this Orca girl, but it seems to me like the whole thing is one big misunderstanding. When you’re done with work today, I want you to talk to your brother and sort this thing out like grown men. Is that clear?”

I stare at him, my fists clenched at my sides.

“I said, is that clear?”

“Yeah. Clear as day.” I turn away sharply and march back to the door. “What do you want me to work on?”

Dad hesitates before answering, “Got a dozen boats out there that need cleaning.”

Of course.

I’m sore just thinking about it. “Fine. I’ll get started right away.” I turn to leave the office, but Dad stops me.

---