“Like he can talk,” Flash motioned to me without breaking eye contact with his mother. “Bikes are a hell of a lot more important to him than education ever was.”
“What did you say to me, young man?” Maisie asked in a deep controlled tone. My son may not have known it, but he had mere seconds left to live.
“Go to your room,” I said as sternly and plainly as possible, as I knew any further conversation or sudden movements would further add to the thoughts of filicide I knew my wife was currently having.
Thankfully, Flash did as he was told and as soon as he’d left the room I went to my wife. And gently kissed her forehead.
“You’re a good mother and our son is an asshole.”
Maisie slapped my chest. “Don’t you dare call my precious angel an asshole,” she chastised without a trace of irony.
“See? That’s why I could never be a mother,” I joked.
“Oh, is that the only reason?”
“I’m gonna get to the bottom of it, Sunshine.”
“He misses you,” she said. “There’s something else going on, for sure, but part of this is because you’re gone a lot.”
“Not sure how to change that,” I said.
“I know, love. I’ve got your back, but I can’t be you for Parker. You’re his favorite human and you’re not here much. He’s feeling it.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t take the Prez patch.”
Maisie sighed. “Darling, you deserve the patch, and I know that once all of this business with the Spiders is dealt with, things will calm down. You’ve just got to figure out how to make Parker understand.”
I stroked her cheek. “I’m gonna go talk to him.”
“I’ll keep your dinner warm.”
“Thanks,” I said, and made my way upstairs, stomping a little harder than normal to drive home my irritation.
Pushing open his door, I found him sitting cross-legged on his bed, his phone in his hand, probably texting Tate.
“Phone down, bud.”
He dropped the phone on the nightstand and settled his chin in his hand, and I sat beside him on the bed. “What’s goin’ on?”
“Nothing.”
I nodded to his phone. “Do I need to ground you from textin’ Tate?”
“She grounded herself.”
“What do you mean?”
“She’s not talking to me, Dad, okay?”
I raised an eyebrow. “What did you do?”
“Nothing.”
“Swear to God, kid, you keep up with this nothing bullshit, I’m gonna sell your bike.”
“You wouldn’t.”
“I would. Start talkin’. All of it.”
“A girl at school’s in trouble.”
“What kind of trouble?”
“Her dad hits her.”
I did my best to control my rage, fisting my hand at my side. “And why’s Tate not talkin’ to you?”
“Because I’ve been skipping our study group to help Madison.”
“Madison’s the girl who’s gettin’ hit?”
Flash nodded.
“Has Madison told her teachers what’s goin’ on?”
“No. And she swore me to secrecy, but now I’ve told you, so I’ve betrayed her confidence.”
“You like this girl?”
“Yeah.”
“Tate jealous about that?”
Flash shrugged. “I don’t think so. She’d probably tell me if she was. She tells me everything. Even stuff I don’t wanna know.”
“I guess that’s what best friends are for, huh?”
“I don’t mind,” he said, running his finger over the comforter distractedly. “I just wish she wouldn’t be pissed about me helping Madison.”
“Bud, your grades come first. Tate’s obviously just lookin’ out for you, and if this Madison girl is gettin’ hit by her dad, that’s adult shit you shouldn’t be takin’ on.”
“No one else will help her.”
“Flash, that’s not true. Her teachers will help her.”
“Well, she doesn’t want to tell them and I’m not a snitch.” He huffed. “Forget it. You don’t understand.”
“I understand more than you think.”
He reached for his phone, but I grabbed it before he could. “I’m keepin’ this for a few days.”
“What? Why?”
“Because you’re grounded until you get your grades up.”
“That’s not fucking fair.”
“Watch your mouth.”
“Why should I?” he snapped. “You swear all the time.”
“Jesus, kid, what the hell’s goin’ on with you?”
He shook his head, dragging his hands through his hair.
“Talk to me, Park.”
“There’s no point.”
“Outside of school, you’re in this house until your grades are up.”
“Whatever,” he said, and I left him to wallow for a bit, pulling my phone out as I walked down the hall.
“Hi, Hatch,” Zach said, answering my call.
“Need you to find out from Tate what the fuck’s goin’ on with this girl Madison. She’s not talkin’ to Parker over it and he’s losin’ his shit.”
“Madison Payne.”
“Did she volunteer this information?”
Zach chuckled. “Sort of. She’s pretty emotional about this stuff with Flash, and Shannon got her to drill down a bit. Tate said Flash won’t tell her much, which is part of why she’s frustrated. I think Madison’s dad’s name is Myron or something like that.”
“Okay, thanks. I’ll see if I can get more info from Flash.”
“Sounds good.”
I hung up with Zach and called Mack. “Hey, Brother.”
“Hey. Myron Payne...any idea why that name sounds familiar to me?”
“He’s that asshole security guard we hired for Blush.”
“Not ‘Major’ Payne?”
“Yeah, the very same douche.’”
“Jesus. More like, Major Asswipe. Didn’t he last about a week?”
“Three days,” Mack corrected. “He was gettin’ creepy with the girls.”
“Right.”
“Why?” Mack asked.
“His daughter goes to school with Flash and she’s having some trouble.”
“You have Booker do a deep dive yet?” Mack asked.
“Was gonna give him a call tonight, but I think I’ll do it now.”
“Okay, brother. Keep me posted.”
“I will.”
I hung up and texted Booker instead of calling, and he responded with, “On it.” I then headed downstairs to eat.
“Is Flash in trouble?” Jamie asked. He was sitting at the island, a bowl of ice cream in front of him.
“Not your concern, bud,” I said, pulling him in for a hug. “You have a good day at school?”
He shrugged. “It’s school.”
I chuckled. “Yeah, that’s true. Appreciate you workin’ hard, though.”
“Is that why Flash is in trouble?”
“Darling, don’t worry about Flash, okay?” Maisie said. “He’s just having a bad day and needs a bit of an attitude adjustment.”
“More like a bad month.”
“Yeah?” I asked.
“Yeah, he’s super salty and stuff. He was kind of being a jerk at the club dinner.”
I sighed. “Okay, bud, we’re gonna figure it out.”
“Be
