God love him, but damn! When Mom got into one of these moods, just let it go. There would be other weekends for me to go play.
“You, to the office!” Mom said as she pointed at my Dad. Then she turned back to me. “You’re grounded until further notice! Give me your keys, phone, tablet, and wallet. You’re not allowed to leave the house this weekend.”
“But I have football practice this morning,” I said.
Mom pulled out her phone and dialed a number.
“Coach Hope, this is Mrs. Dawson. David won’t be coming to practice this morning. He’s grounded … I’ll tell him,” she said and hung up. “You have to pull from the Punishment Jar on Monday.”
Mom then left to deal with my dad. I went to my apartment and got everything she asked for and then made breakfast. I can’t remember the last time nothing was said at a meal in our house. Dad was seriously pissed and left the house as soon as we were done eating. Mom wrote me a list of chores to do around the house. I wasn’t going to ‘sit around moping’—her words.
◊◊◊
I was on my hands and knees pulling weeds when my mom came out and handed me my phone.
“This is David,” I answered.
“Hey, it’s Kendal. We got the contract for the movie. Can you come down with your parents and sign it?”
“Are you and Tom happy with it?” I asked.
“If you mean are we happy that you’ll be making a butt-load of money for six weeks of work, then yeah. For a secondary character, you’re going to make more than you did for Star Academy.”
“Call my dad and tell him I said to sign it. Do you have his cell?” I asked.
“Yeah, is everything okay?” she asked.
“Everything’s just fine. Thanks for taking care of me,” I told Kendal.
Mom stood there with her hand out for the phone.
“I need to call Tracy and let her know I won’t be there,” I told her.
Mom just nodded, so I called Tracy. I asked her to call Mona and let her know, too, since I was only allowed one phone call from prison. That got my phone snatched out of my hand, and Tracy hung up on.
◊◊◊ Sunday August 30
Mom and Dad had a huge fight. Duke and I escaped to my apartment to stay out of the crossfire. I was confused when Dad packed a bag and left. An hour later Mom came up to my apartment with all my stuff. She laid it all on the coffee table and sat down.
“Your father made a confession yesterday. Phil Prince isn’t your uncle, he’s your half brother,” Mom told me and put me in a state of shock. “Your grandfather stepped in and supported Phil and his mother. That’s why Phil thinks Grandpa Dawson is his father.”
I was stunned. That would mean Dad had cheated on Mom, because Phil was younger than Greg and me. I would never have expected my father to step outside his wedding vows. Dad was the most devoted man I knew. I hoped to have a marriage as good as my parents had. I’m sure I wondered about the same things my mom had. I sat next to Mom on the couch, and she pushed me away, which hurt more than anyone would ever know.
I got up and walked into my bedroom.
◊◊◊
Chapter 4 – Things Your Momma Never Warned You About Monday August 31
I set a new record at Lincoln High: I got a three-day suspension before school even officially started. I guess I had better explain that one.
I got up and didn’t feel like running. Duke was disappointed when I wouldn’t let him go upstairs and get his morning loving. I was almost afraid of what Mom would do to him. Dad hadn’t come home last night. He called me and told me he would be staying with Uncle John for a while. I just hoped he wasn’t going to be exiled for three months like I had been. I got the unenviable task of calling Greg to fill him in.
I wasn’t surprised when Greg showed up for breakfast.
“How’s she doing?” he asked.
“I’d recommend that you stay far away until she comes to you. I tried to comfort her last night, and she pushed me away. I honestly have no idea what’s going on in her head right now.”
“How’s Dad?”
I just snorted and shook my head. How did Greg think he was? Mom had banished him to Uncle John’s farm.
“Sorry, I wasn’t thinking,” Greg said. “How are you doing?”
“I got grounded for asking to go to Tracy’s lake house for the weekend. My dad fathered me a little brother who follows me around like a lost puppy. My mother can’t stand to be around me. She wouldn’t even let me go to football practice this weekend, which got me into trouble. So everything’s great,” I said.
We ate breakfast, and Greg caught me up about his family. He had me smiling by the time I left for school.
◊◊◊
On the ride to school, I received a text with a picture attached. The phone was in the cradle on my dash, so I tapped on the link for the photo and smiled when I saw Mona had sent me a naughty picture from the weekend. When I pulled into the parking lot, I took a closer look at the photo. It seemed a little risqué, even for Mona, because it showed her with her legs spread. I peered closer and decided I needed a bigger image to see better, so I got my tablet out.
I blew up the image, and my blood ran cold. Someone had snapped the picture after leaving a deposit in Mona. There was a reflection in the photo, so I used my fingers to blow up that part of the image and saw Mike’s smiling face. I got out of my car with the intent to kill him. The Alpha Male in me was running the show as I came up to the front door and saw Alan first.
“Have you seen Mike?” I asked.
“No, I don’t think he’s here yet. Why, what do you need?”
I ignored him because I saw the varsity cheerleaders and walked to them with a purpose. I got my phone out and brought up the picture. I walked up to Mona who smiled at me as I shoved the photo in her face. Realization dawned, and she went white. Mona knew how I felt about this.
“David, I can explain,” Mona said.
“No need. Do us both a favor and stay the hell away from me.”
“David,” Tracy said.
“You, too; you taught her how to hurt me.”
Tracy’s eyes got big. I wasn’t sure if she knew what Mona had done or not, and quite frankly, I didn’t care at that moment.
“David,” Pam said.
“Screw you, too, for letting it happen,” I said. I spun away from the cheerleaders and spotted Mike.
He was in the parking lot with his girlfriend Gina, the girl I had set him up with.
“Oh, shit,” he mumbled as I got closer.
“What’s going …? DAVID!” Gina screamed as I used the side of my foot to hit Mike in the nose.
Wolf and Jim saw what had just happened and tried to stop me. I punched them both when they tried to grab me. They were lying on the ground when I turned back to finish off Mike. Gina hovered over him. I gently pulled her away from Mike and showed her my phone. Jim and Wolf got back up.
“Back off; this is between Mike and me. I’ve given you fair warning,” I told them and hoped I wouldn’t have to follow through on my threat.
Then the crowd parted, and Cassidy stepped inside the circle.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Cassidy asked.
“Mike sent me a text this morning,” I said and showed it to her.
“Are you done kicking the crap out of him?” she asked.
“Not by a long shot. I plan on breaking every bone in his body.”
“You know I can’t let you do that.”
“Cassidy, I’m not playing. I’m going to mess him up,” I said.
She nodded sadly, then launched herself at me. Cassidy wasn’t playing, either. I would like to describe my valiant effort as Cassidy and I battled all over the parking lot as if we were in a Bruce Lee epic thriller. I would like to say I at least held my own. I would like to say I wasn’t unconscious, but that would have been a lie, too.
◊◊◊
I came back around as the paramedics loaded me into the ambulance. Gina and Cassidy were crying. I felt terrible because I’d caused that. Mike had sat up, and a paramedic checked him out. They had strapped me to the gurney or I would have been after Mike again. Coach Hope pushed me back down, and after I’d been loaded into the ambulance, he joined me.