Page 129 of The Only Seconds that Matter
“I’ll drag him in when he’s the reason Taylor don’t wanna be at your place.”
“The other kids can get along with him.The only reason he and Taylor fight so much is cuz you’re always talkin’ shit about him to her.”
“I don’t say fuck all about your damn boyfriend to Taylor.She comes to her own conclusions.”
“If she did what she was fuckin’ told, she and Mike wouldn’t have a problem.”
“I wouldn’t wanna be told what to do by that guy either.”
“You ain’t ten years old!”
“Johnny,” Victor muttered under his breath, spotting a table nearby looking over their shoulder at them.He really did not want to turn this into a scene.Of course he went ignored.
“I was ten years old when Daddy locked me outside the house in the middle of January,” Johnny snarled.“Spent the night in the damn barn like an animal.God fuckin’ forbid I don’t want your daughter to deal with the same shit.”
“Don’t you compare Mike to Daddy.”
“I will when he stops hittin’ her.”
“He don’t hit her!He spanked her that one time!”
“Since when is spankin’ not hittin’?”
“Every kid gets spanked.It’s different.”
Victor had never been spanked, but he didn’t feel like now was a good time to bring that up.This conversation had veered off track, and he decided to try to gently steer it back.“Okay, let’s not hash out old arguments.Can we focus on what we plan to do moving forward?”
“I’m tryin’ to help you out,” Johnny said.“If I take Taylor a few days, it means you don’t gotta deal with her.”
“She’s my daughter.I’m not going to just give her away.”
“You ain’t.I’m your brother—family.”
“He ain’t.”She gestured toward Victor.“Seems a little odd he’s so involved.”
“We already explained why he’s here.”
“I don’t have to be, if you don’t want me to be,” Victor interjected, wondering if it might lower the temperature.
“You’re stayin’,” Johnny replied sternly, like a parent disciplining their child.
“If it’s going to make things harder—”
“Ignore my sister.She’s just bein’ difficult to be difficult.”
“I ain’t the one being difficult.If I knew we’d be inviting our boyfriends, I woulda brought Mike.”At this she smirked, raising an eyebrow like she expected this to get a reaction.
“Mine doesn’t hit little girls,” Johnny retorted, seemingly without thinking.But instead of taking it back or stuttering out a correction, Johnny fell silent and met his sister’s stare with matching intensity.Victor watched some surprise and doubt cross Kayla’s face, probably wondering if Johnny was just messing with her or if he was being serious about theboyfriendpart.Victor could barely breathe, wondering what the fuck was going on.Was Johnny really going to tell his sister the truth just to win a stupid argument?
Then again, that would be just like him.
“I don’t know how to fuckin’ take that.”Kayla’s cheek bulged as she pressed her tongue against it.“You’re fuckin’ with me.”
“How?”
“You and Vic ain’t…” She trailed off, eyes darting between Victor and Johnny.“That was a joke, right?”
Victor froze, afraid to do or say anything in fear it’d be something Johnny might hold against him.He couldn’t possibly be considering coming out to his sister, right?They had not discussed it.He’d been so hesitant to let Sarah and Jade know.
