My father’s words petrified me. I feared for Thorn’s future. If Dad got this news to his lawyer friends then it would mean hell for Thorn and his schools. I could picture it all. Forest Hills shutting down, all the other academies closing their doors, with Grayson in prison wearing an orange jumpsuit.
But that wasn’t going to happen, and my man spoke with confidence then.
“Shut the fuck up,” he rasped hoarsely. “Minnie’s eighteen. She wanted to do this.”
“So? That’s not stopping me from putting you behind bars.” Pat hissed. And before I could understand what was happening, he gestured to someone behind him and screamed, “Get them! Now now now!”
Suddenly, cops swarmed the cabin, a sea of black armor complete with riot gear. Thorn fought them like a madman, but it was four on one. Eventually, the alpha’s hands were forced behind his back, four tiny ant-like policemen doing their best to restrain the big man.
“You have the right to remain silent,” one said through gritted teeth, trying to keep a hold on Gray. “You have the right to an attorney,” he continued.
I screamed then.
“No! It’s not his fault! I wanted this to happen! No! Stop it! Let him go!”
The cops ignored me. A female police officer tried to wrap a blanket around my form, but I was impossible to control. My limbs went in every direction as my lungs screeched, screaming profanities at my father.
But there was nothing I could do. Thorn was led out of the cabin like a criminal. I rushed after my lover, allowing the blanket to fall on the ground as I dashed into the night, boobies bobbling, pussy and ass bare.
“Let him go!” I screamed again helplessly even as the door to the police cruiser opened. “He didn’t do anything! I’m eighteen! I wanted to do this! Please stop!”
But no one listened.
“Miss, come back inside,” the lady cop said firmly while pulling lightly at my arm. But I was inconsolable, jerking away.
“No! No, you don’t understand please! Please listen to me.”
“He must’ve drugged her,” Pat said, coming out and refusing to look in my direction. “My daughter’s out of her mind.”
The lady officer wrapped me in a blanket again and looked at me with concern. “Honey, you’re okay now. You’re safe with your dad.”
“No! No! No! I’m not going with him! You can’t let me go with him!” I pleaded, cheeks wet with tears. “Please, please, I’m begging you please. Take me to the station, bring me to Thorn!”
But she shook her head slowly.
“No can do, sweetheart. He’s a criminal, even if you don’t want to acknowledge it. You’re gonna be safe with your dad.”
“No!” I screamed. The thought of going home with Pat only made the bile rise in my throat. “No no no!”
But the lady cop merely scribbled into her notepad.
“Mr. Evans, we’ll come by and get samples from Minnie tomorrow. It’ll help us determine if that predator drugged your daughter.”
It was like I was in a black hole. No one could see me. No one could hear me, much less acknowledge my pleas.
“No! I love him, I love him! Why can’t you understand that?” came my helpless whimper. “Please!”
But the female cop merely closed her notebook and walked away. It was like I never existed. I gaped at her departing form. Really? That was it?
Suddenly, a pair of hands landed hard on my shoulders, grabbing hard. They were my father’s. He made it impossible for me to struggle, steering me to his car.
“You slut,” he managed through clenched teeth. “You fucking whore. You’re just like your good for nothing mother. A fucking prostitute who spreads her legs for anyone and anything. Whores like you don’t deserve anything good in this world,” he hissed.
And then ruthlessly, Pat grabbed a handful of my hair and half-pushed, half-shoved me into the car. I was crying too hard to even find any strength to make an escape because his words devastated my soul. They shouldn’t have. I know my father well enough to realize that finding me with Thorn made him delirious with a burning rage.
Because his beliefs were validated.
I was just like Elaine, the woman who’d loved him and left.
I didn’t deserve better, which meant that she didn’t deserve better either.
It made no sense, but that’s how Pat thinks.
But now, the situation was dire. I couldn’t leave with Pat. My life would be destroyed if I did.
“Let me go, please,” I said from the backseat, trying to sound strong and confident. “This does us no good.”
Pat sneered from behind the wheel, one hand already on the ignition. And his reply was simple.
“No. Whores like you deserve what they get.”
And then we zoomed out of Forest Hills, leaving clouds of dust on the wooded trail. I stared out the window, my eyes dazed. Was this really happening? Were Thorn and I done for good now?
Because given the past twenty minutes, it sure seemed like it. My lover had been hauled off to the precinct, to be thrown into the slammer. I, on the other hand, was currently nude in the backseat of Pat’s car, trembling like a wild animal in a cage. Because Pat’s my dad, yes … but there was grave danger coming my way.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Minnie
Hysterical in the backseat, I sobbed loudly, begging for Pat to turn the car around. But the man was silent, eyes staring ahead, fingers gripping the steering wheel.
And silence was good compared with what came next. Because my father’s words were devastating.
“That fucker Thorn took advantage of you, you stupid slut. You’re such a dumb ho. Why can’t you see that?”
“I love him!” I screamed, toppling over in the backseat as the car came to a screeching halt. I wound the blanket tighter over my body even as my dad’s hands shook with rage on the wheel.
Slowly, he turned and looked at me, eyes burning like coals.
“Say that again, Minnie,” came his voice, low and raspy. “Say that to my fucking face.”
Pat truly was the devil, his mien a mask of anger, fear, and disgust rolled into one. Why were the demons coming after me now?
But still, this was my truth and I couldn’t deny it. I was in love with Grayson Thorn and even if I wanted to put things back into the box, I couldn’t. A connection had taken spark and become a full-blown fire, and that was the irrevocable truth.
So my words were ragged as I appealed to my heartless captor.
“I love him, Daddy,” was my broken whisper, feeling like the little six year old child who had once begged him to keep a puppy. “Why can’t you understand?”
But deep in my heart, I knew. Because the story of the puppy was heartbreaking, even now. The helpless animal had been buried deep in the snow but when I tripped, I fell right in front of it, almost crushing the poor thing.
“Daddy! Daddy!” was my excited cry, eyes alive.
“What is it, sweetheart?” Pat asked me gently.
I pointed at the barely breathing animal under the snow. “Daddy, there’s a puppy. We have to save him!”
My father hurried to help the small dog, but once the limp animal was out from under the ice, the poor thing was barely breathing. Pat looked at me with apologetic eyes. “He’s gone, sweetie.”
“No!” I grabbed the dog from his hands with my tiny ones. I tried my best to cuddle him close, providing warmth and heat. I think I even tried puppy CPR, something I’d seen on TV. And by some sort of miracle, the poor thing whimpered weakly then, its eyes opening slightly.
“Daddy, Daddy, he’s alive!” was my urgent cry.
“Well, I’ll be,” Pat muttered behind me and looked at the little pup. “You saved him, sweetheart. Now we have to find his Mama and bring him back to her.”
I thought for a moment.
“But if we can’t find his mom, can I keep him, Daddy?” were my eager words.
Pat shook his head right back at me. “Minnie, the dog isn’t ours.�
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“But I love him!” I argued, pressing the little guy closer to my chest. “Daddy, I love him already.”
Pat looked at me with speculative eyes and sighed.
“And who’s gonna take care of him?”
“Me!” I said enthusiastically. “I’ll take good care of him. I’ll do a real good job, I promise.”
Pat ruffled my hair and sighed again.
“You’re too young to understand what love is yet, sweetheart. And we can’t take this dog, do you understand? Me and your ma have to work, and sweetie you’re only six years old. Ain’t no one home to take care of this dog.”
I shook my head stubbornly.
“I can do it Daddy. I can do it!”
But instead of trying to reason with me more, Pat snatched the dog from my arms, the brown and white mass still limp.
“Listen to me,” he said tightly this time. “We can’t keep this thing. Ain’t up to you, Minnie. It’s up to me. And I say he goes to the Humane Society. You hear? Don’t cry, there ain’t nothin’ to cry about. This is just the way things are.”
I swallowed heavily.
“Please Daddy,” was my whispered entreaty. “Please treat that doggie right.”
Because Pat was capable of great cruelty, and even then, my childish brain knew it. There was no way to fight when I was six, but now was different. Now I could stand up for myself. Maybe I couldn’t help that puppy way back when, but I wasn’t going to subject myself to my father’s nasty ways.
“You don’t know me,” I said tightly, refusing to meet his eyes in the rearview mirror. “I may be your daughter, but you don’t know me. Not really.”
Pat slammed his hand on the dashboard and stared my way, eyes furious.
“You don’t know what love is, Minnie!” he rasped, face a mottled red. “That fucker corrupted your goddamn mind!”
“Daddy, I love Thorn,” I repeated again, not caring that I sounded like a broken record. If I had to repeat those words over and over again for the rest of my life, then I would.
But Pat had turned to the dark side, the inside of his soul tortured and twisted.
“Love does not exist,” he rasped once more, eyes staring blankly at nothing.
But I wasn’t backing down. Not without a fight at least. I was no helpless puppy, not anymore at least.
“Pat, look,” I began cautiously. “I remember the way that you looked at Mom. How much you loved her,” I said, treading in dangerous waters. Any mention of Elaine sparked so much anger in the man.
But I had to try.
“Don’t you remember some of that love? How good it felt? Maybe it’s gone now, but don’t you remember, even a little bit? Because that’s where I am now.”
I held my breath. Sometimes the only way to solve a problem is to attack it head on. There’s no point in beating around the bush anymore, skimming over the hard parts. So taking a deep breath, I doubled down.
“You used to look at Elaine like she was the only person in the room, Daddy. There were times that you forgot that I even existed, you loved Elaine so much,” I said firmly, willing him to understand.
A muscle in Pat’s jaw twitched, eyes staring straight ahead. I thought he might say something and break the tension between us, but instead, the man twisted around and started the car again, the engine vrooming to life.
I closed my eyes, praying for peace. But suddenly, the vehicle swerved sharply, doing a U-turn before screeching to a stop once more.
I peered at our surroundings and realized we were in the middle of nowhere, towering pines reaching high into the sky. By now it was night, and strange sounds crackled in the night, the low hoots of owls reaching my ears.
“Daddy?” was my fearful inquiry.
Pat turned to stare at me with burning eyes, truly the devil incarnate.
“Your mother was my world until she chose to destroy it,” he whispered in a ragged voice. And then the small man got out of his seat, walking to the back to open my door.
“You. Are. A. Whore,” he enunciated the words very carefully, making sure that they pierced my soul. One wrinkled hand reached for the blanket on my shoulders, trying to grab it away.
“Hey!” I screeched, pulling it tight. “Let go!”
But Pat was a maniacal robot now. His eyes were glazed, expression frozen in a grimace. Those fists tightened on the blanket once more, ripping it away from my curvy form.
My heart sped up, the rapid pulse making my vision swim.
This wasn’t my father.
This was a monster.
“You’re getting it now, Minnie,” Pat said, his voice deep and eerily calm as he grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards him. Oh god, his other hand was fumbling at his fly, trying to undo the button and zip.
My eyes widened in fear and I tried to kick him away from me.
“No! Daddy, Daddy, no! Please no!”
This wasn’t happening.
This couldn’t be happening.
And yet, my father was trying to force me.
No, God no! What kind of horror movie was I in? A sick, twisted film where fathers did their daughters?
But it was true. Pat had entered in some kind of trance-like state, eyes bright and glassy even as his hand yanked his pants down. I retched then, dry heaving into the back seat. Oh, God, no, please. This wasn’t happening to me.
But the Lord had no mercy.
“That’s right,” Pat rasped, one hand like a manacle around my wrist even as I struggled away, feet kicking. “You’re gettin’ it good. You put out for everyone, how bout a little sumthin’ for Daddy too?”
“Pat, please!” was my scream. “Listen to what you’re saying!”
Sobbing hysterically, I tried to squirm further away from him. I tried to open the door on the other side, but the damn lock was jammed. There was no escape. I was trapped, a prisoner in this beat-up car.
“Daddy, please,” I tried again, my hands still fumbling at the door. “I’m your daughter! This isn’t right, stop, stop!”
And a flash of something crossed his face then. I wasn’t sure what it was, but Pat jerked up for a moment, eyes clearing. But that instant of lucidity passed, and he burst into loud hee-haws of laughter.
“Oh, but you’re not, Minnie. You’re not my daughter.”
I blinked. For a moment, my guard was down and I stared at the small man limply. “What?”
Pat had that smile on his face again, the scary robotic one that raised goosebumps on my arms and thighs. This wasn’t the man who raised me in that moment. It was like looking at a stranger, and not the father I’d known my whole life.
“You’re not my daughter,” Pat repeated cruelly. “Your mother was drunk once and told me everything. The one night hook-up. The ‘hot guy from out of town,’” he said disgusted, miming air quotes with his hands. “And the thing is, sweetheart, your mom is a whore. She has no idea who your father is.”
I shut my eyes, shaking my head. Was this true? How could it be true? The man who’d I’d always called Daddy wasn’t my father at all?
But from the depths surfaced a distant memory of my parents fighting tooth and nail, and it was ugly. I had chosen to forget it but slowly, the scene took shape in the forefront of my mind.
“How long were you planning to hide it?” Dad asked Mom, his tone serious and deadly. “How long were you planning on foisting her off on me?”
Elaine cringed, as if Pat had physically hit her.
“Ho-how did you know?” she stammered, cowering behind a chair.
Pat glared fiercely.
“I saw you meeting up with a man at a café near the salon. I hired an investigator to see if you were cheating on me. But you were getting money out of him. So I had him checked out. Funny thing is, he looks eerily like our daughter. I thought he might be your brother or something because you two looked alike too.” Dad spat and he was trembling with rage. “But the investigator said otherwise. He ain’t your brother. He’s your daughter’s FATHER!” Pa
t finished on a roar. “So I ask again. HOW LONG? HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO CARE FOR A FUCKING SLUT’S CHILD WHO’S NOT MINE?”
My eyes closed in the darkness of the hallway, not fully understanding what was happening. Meanwhile, Elaine clutched her hands together.
“Please let me explain, Pat. There’s an explanation for everything.”
My father smiled contemptuously, an evil glare in his eyes.
“Then enlighten me,” he spat.
“I wasn’t pregnant when I met you, I swear. A month before our wedding, my ex asked if we could meet again. Adam begged me for another chance and I said no. But we drank too much that night, one thing led to another and then I found I was pregnant. It was a week before our wedding,” she cried. “I wanted her to be yours so badly, I really did. And I didn’t know, not for a long time.”
“How did you find out?” Pat rasped.
Tears ran down her cheeks.
“The guilt overtook me. And the suspicion. So I had a paternity test done, and I knew she wasn’t yours.”
Pat stared at her.
“So Minnie’s your ex’s then?”
She nodded, sniffling again.
“Think so. Has to be. I think.”
Pat stared at her dumbfounded.
“Has to be? I think? What the fuck?”
But I couldn’t hear the rest, the blood pounding in my ears. Elaine was crying really hard now and my father looked like he was about to explode. So many emotions raging, and all of it awful.
Suddenly, a few sentences caught me ear.
“So you decided it would be best that you hide that fact from me and let me raise your daughter?”
“You wanted a family. Minnie’s arrival was perfect!” Elaine cried. “You love her, Pat.”
But Dad shook his head. “I loved her because I thought she was mine.”
“Pat, please, I beg of you. Don’t ruin Minnie’s life.”
The Dirty Headmaster Page 17
