Page 2 of Babe
“Rewind it,” Konrad demanded. “I want to see from the beginning.”
The principal clenched his jaw, clearly annoyed, but he rewinded it anyway. Konrad crossed his bulky arms across his chest, his expression unreadable as the audio filled the room once more. Cheers I hadn’t even heard while I was in the midst of the fight grew louder and louder. The video paused, silence filling the office once more. Without a word, Konrad moved back around the desk, coming to stand beside me. I scooted to the edge of my chair, not wanting to even chance brushing against him.
“Well, it appears that you started the fight, Keller,” Hartly said, not looking pleased about it. I barely bit back a smug grin. “You’ll serve a week of suspension, and when you come back, you’ll do a week of after-school cleaning with the janitorial staff.”
Shaw cleared his throat when the principal looked at me. “He’s being pulled out of school today,” Shaw announced. I frowned, trying to remember if I’d missed something. Hartly looked downright pissed that he wasn’t getting to punish me. “We’ll deal with this… behavior ourselves.”
“Who the fuck—” I blurted, turning to glare at Shaw, but Hartly smacked his desk, making me jump and glare at him next.
“Watch your language in my office,” Hartly snapped at me. He looked at Konrad and Shaw. “If he’s being withdrawn, get him out of my office and out of my school.”
I jerked to my feet, and just because I fucking felt like it, on my way out the door, I punched Keller in the face again. Hartly shouted my name, but I just stormed out of the room and out of the front office.
“Ace, fucking stop,” Konrad growled from behind me.
“Fuck you,” I shot over my shoulder as I shoved through the school doors. When we were outside, I swung around to face them, my backpack smacking against my side. “Why the hell are you here? Why the fuck are you barging into my life, yanking me out of school? Why?—”
“Jax called us,” Shaw told me, his voice patient. Always so fucking patient. I wanted to kick him in his fucking throat.
“Jax called you?” I snapped, disbelief coloring my tone. “He wouldn’t betray me?—”
“He called us because he’s worried about you, Ace. He heard your group home was being investigated, and he didn’t want you to get shipped across the state to a new home where he didn’t have access to you,” Shaw explained.
A mocking laugh spilled past my lips. “What—so you think you can just jump in here, pull some fucking strings, and just whisk me away?”
“That’s exactly what we’re doing,” Konrad told me, anger creeping into his voice. “Per the state of Washington, you’re now under my care, and I’m your guardian. I?—”
“You can go fuck yourself,” I sneered. “I don’t want your fucking help. I’m fine. I’ve been fine for the past several goddamn years. You left me without a backward glance. You abandoned me. So, go back to whatever fucking hole you crawled out of and leave me alone.”
I spun on my heel, marching toward the road. Konrad gripped my arm, and I swung around, jabbing my elbow into his gut and yanking my arm from his grasp. He bit back a wince, rubbing his stomach. “Don’t fucking touch me,” I snarled, sweat breaking out across my skin. “I don’t like being touched, you got me?”
Pain flashed through Konrad’s eyes. “Okay. I won’t touch you,” he promised me. “But please, just listen to us. We…” He sighed. “Shaw and I never meant to make you feel abandoned. I swear, we didn’t. We just…”
“We had to get the fuck out of here,” Shaw finished for him. “We needed to escape. Yeah, we went about it wrong, but we’re here now. I know that doesn’t fix things, but we want to try to make this right. We can’t erase the past, but we can do something about the future.”
I wrapped my arms around myself, suddenly feeling small and alone and hurt. “Everyone left,” I whispered. “And the only person who stuck around was locked in a fucking prison cell and wouldn’t let me see him.”
“I know, kid,” Konrad said quietly. “I know. And we’re sorry. We’re so fucking sorry, Ace.”
“Will you come home with us?” Shaw asked gently. “We’ve got a place. Starting a motorcycle club.” A tentative smile tilted his lips. “You’ll have your own room. Food in your stomach every single day. Freedom to be who you want. And you’ll never have to worry about someone hurting you again.” When I hesitated, the promises he was making seeming too good to be true, he added, “Jax is coming home. And we’re working on tracking down Cameron and Arlo. It’s time for us to be a family again, Ace.”
I swallowed thickly, then jerkily nodded my head. “Okay,” I said quietly. “I just need to get my things?—”
“No need, unless there’s something you really want,” Konrad told me, he and Shaw heading toward the parking lot. I silently fell into step, our shoes crunching along the asphalt. “We’re going to get you all new things.”
“I want my letters from Jax,” I told them, my shoulders rigid. “I won’t budge on that.”
“Okay,” Shaw said simply. “Then, we’ll go get them.”
“And I’m going in with you,” Konrad told me.
I just nodded. Maybe with Konrad there, no one would start shit with me while I got my letters.
I refused to leave those behind.
Jax was sitting outside what was to be the clubhouse on a five-gallon bucket, a blunt between his lips when we rolled up. He stood up as I jumped down from the truck, my bag clutched in my hand. With his thumb and pointer finger, he put out the blunt and set it down on the picnic table beside him, watching me with flat eyes.
Jax had always been like that. Sort of detached. Didn’t ever really give a fuck about anything. But I knew he was a bit softer for me. He always had been.