Page 23 of Sins of Innocence

"For what?"

"The soccer team." The pride in his voice is impossible to miss.

My heart squeezes. Kenny Jr. worked hard for it. He'd been practicing in the backyard every day all summer.

There's a brief silence.

Then Kenneth asks, "Starting lineup?"

"No, sir," Kenny Jr. mumbles.

Another silence. Longer this time.

"Then you didn't get picked."

That jerk!

"I made the team," Kenny Jr. insists stubbornly.

"You made the bench," his dad dismisses.

"Coach said if I keep working—"

"Did coach put you in the starting lineup?"

"No, sir."

"Then work harder."

"I practiced every day," Kenny says quietly.

"Apparently not enough." I can't see him from where I am, but I can picture Kenneth in my mind's eye. Expression hard, standing over his son like he's passing sentence.

I've seen it often enough.

"The world doesn't reward effort," Kenneth adds harshly. "The world rewards results."

"Yes, sir."

"If another boy took the position you wanted, it's because he earned it."

"Yes, sir."

"Do better next time."

"Yes, sir." The sound of Kenny Jr.'s feet shuffling across the carpet is so different than the exuberant step he had entering his father's office, my heart hurts for him.

"But we can try." Kara's words spoken vehemently to her husband bring me back into the present.

Mick stares back dispassionately. "The punishment for rape in this mob is death."

"Fitz stopped them!" I'm not defending the little creeps, but Kenny Jr. is only twelve.

They can't kill a child. Can they?

"Even sociopaths can be taught a sense of honor." Kara shares a private look with her husband.

"We'll need a more detailed account of what happened today," Mick tells his wife. "I'll talk to Fitz."