I stayed still not out of fear, but because I wanted to be certain of my decision, so I began to count the blows in my head.
One.
Two.
Three.
Kimberly did not get up from the sofa, watching the assault as if it were a necessary correction for a guest who had overstayed his welcome.
The guests did what they always do, which was to remain silent so they wouldn’t ruin the vibe of the expensive party.
When I reached the thirtieth strike, Austin backed away panting like an animal, looking satisfied because he believed he had finally proven his dominance.
I wiped the blood from my face with the back of my hand, picked up the clock from the floor, and saw that the mechanism was still ticking.
I looked him in the eyes without saying a single word.
As I walked out of that front door, I realized that sometimes you don’t raise a grateful son, you simply subsidize an ungrateful one.
While he continued to toast his success in a house he thought he owned, I already knew exactly what I was going to take away from him at dawn.
