Page 3 of Outlaw Xmas
Jack looked over his shoulder, the color drained out of his face. “Are you gonna make me go to school?”
Chas’s heart lurched, and he slowly shook his head. “No. If you don’t feel good, then you shouldn’t be at school.” The relief that spread over his twelve-year-old son’s face pained him. “When you get to feeling better, what would you say to me teaching you how to fight? You’re at the age where you should know this stuff.”
Jack’s eyes widened. “Would you? That’d be real cool, Dad.”
“If you’re better by the weekend, I’ll show you some moves.”
The color returned to Jack’s face as he pulled out a chair and plopped down on it. “I’m sure I’ll be better by the weekend.”
“Good. Take it easy today. I’m gonna take your sister to school. Be good to your mom. I don’t want her to tell me you were rude to her. And make sure you tell her you’re sorry. She was hurt by what you said to her.”
“I didn’t mean it. Honest.”
Chas stood up. “I know, but words can really hurt, so you gotta be sure you watch what you say. And no video games for the rest of the week.”
“Come on, Dad.”
“If you argue about it, I’ll make it two weeks. It’s your call.”
Jack grumbled something under his breath as Chas picked up a basket full of controllers. “You want some breakfast?” Jack shook his head without looking at him. “Okay. Probably a good decision since your stomach’s hurting. But if you start feeling better, let your mom know and she’ll fix you something. I gotta go.” With the basket in his hands, he walked out of the room just as Hope came dashing down the hall.
“Daddy!” she said, then giggled as he swooped her up with one arm.
“Where’re you going dressed so pretty?”
“School. You know that.” She wrapped her arms around his neck. “You smell good.”
He laughed. “I’ll take her to school. Jack may want something to eat after I leave,” he said to Addie as he handed her the controllers. “I took away video games for the next four days.”
“Don’t you think that’s too harsh?”
“Hell no. If I would’ve spoken to my mom like that, my dad would’ve grounded me for two weeks and had me on pots and pans duty for a month, so he got off pretty easy.”
“Well, I think a couple of days would’ve been enough. With a huge snowstorm in the forecast, it’s going to be a long weekend for him,” Addie said as she grabbed the basket from his hand.
“I’ll keep him busy. Besides, he doesn’t have to be in front of a screen all day. There’s plenty to do.”
“Maybe we can ask Banger to bring Ethan over for the weekend.”
Chas shook his head and then pressed his lips on hers. “Sort of fucks up the punishment if he gets a sleepover, precious,” he said against her mouth. Hope squirmed in his arm and he pulled away. “Is cereal good for her breakfast?”
“Yes. The Cream of Wheat’s on the stove. Just give her half a cup with a splash of milk and a little bit of banana in it. I’ll be down in a minute.”
After Hope ate a few bites of her hot cereal and drank some of her juice, she was ready to go to school. As he was putting on her jacket, his phone rang. Glancing down, he saw Banger’s name light up on the screen.
“Hold on, honey.” He placed the phone to his ear. “What’s up?” he asked.
“I’m just letting everyone know that we have an emergency church this morning at ten thirty.”
“I’ll be there. I just need to drop Hope off at preschool, and then I’ll come to the club and hang until church. Uh… has Ethan mentioned anything about Jack getting picked on at school?”
“No, but that don’t mean shit with kids. So your boy’s getting bullied?”
“I think so. I mean, the signs are there, especially making excuses not to go to school. I just wondered if Ethan said anything. Can you ask him?”
“I’ll talk to him and let you know. What’re you going to do about it?”
“Teach Jack to beat the shit out of the brat.”
