Dark Days

Beware The Angry Daddy

  ©JRF2016

I saw Riley run out of Carl's room crying and cupping a hand to her face. I follow her to our room and I slide in quietly through the door. I see her face down crying into her pillow. I walk over sitting beside her and place a hand on her back. She turns her head wiping tears as she did and sniffling. "What happened?" I ask softly. I had grown so close to this girl. "Charlie," she sniffed again as she sits herself up and looks me in the eyes. She had a red hand print across her face. "He's so angry." I was furious at him. How could that brat do this to her? "I'm going to talk to Reid about this. Charlie can't do things like this."

"Cathy, wait. He was just lashing out. Anyway, I feel worse for the things he said to Rachel."

"Rachel was there when he did this to you and she didn't say or do anything?"

"I think she was in shock. Charlie's words to her hurt worse than his slap on my face. I felt her pain more than my own." She pauses and looks down at the floor, "He compared her to his mom and told her she could never be the mother Lucy was and that he wished she was the one that got ripped apart by that corpse." My jaw drops, she was right, those were really harsh words. I look up to see Darrick who had walked around and sat on the other side of his niece, looking at the damage on her face. As quick as he sat down and looked at her, he jumped back to his feet. "Where's that little punk at?" He nearly screamed as he ran back out the door. Both Riley and I tried to grab hold of him to stop him but he slipped through our fingers.

     We had just stepped out and Darrick was already pounding on Charlie's door screaming for him to open up. I walk over and put my hand on his shoulder. "Calm down. That's what both you and Charlie need to do and then you can talk this out. I'm angry with him too, but he's Reid's kid."

"Yeah, well she's my brother's kid and he ain't gonna treat her like that. She ain't gonna be his punching bag! If you think my anger is bad just wait till I tell Conner what that little brat did to his daughter."

"You know Charlie, he's a good kid. I'm sure he realizes just what he did was wrong and I'll bet he'll be apologizing real soon. Besides he knows you are her uncle and Conner's her dad, he's probably not going to be somewhere the two of you can find him for a while." I smile at him and he returns a little one back to me. "He knows better than to be around an angry Dillon." This caused Darrick to chuckle as his door swings open and we realize the boy wasn't in his room. "I told you, didn't I? He's hiding somewhere where you or Conner can't find him."

      When Conner got back from where ever he goes to during the day Darrick and I filled him in on what just happened. His face glowed red with anger and he jumped out of his chair, spinning around and catching Charlie just as he was slipping in and heading to his room. "Come here you little bastard!" Conner yells at him. Charlie freezes but doesn't turn around. I look over at Dar who had a scared look on his face too. I lean in and whisper, "You okay, you look like you've seen a ghost or something?" Darrick looks down at me shaking his head, "Heard one, Conner sounded just like our dad when he was fixin' to beat the livin' tar outta one of us." I glance back at Conner who was now starting toward Charlie when Darrick runs up and grab his arm. "Let go of me brother." Conner snarls, "He ain't gettin' away with this. He can't treat Riley like that and he can't talk to Rachel like that either!"

"Little brother," Darrick says trying to keep his voice as calm as possible so as not to anger his brother any more, "Calm down, you sound like pop right now."  Conner looks over at his big brother and his eyes grow wide as he remembers the sound of his own father screaming at them as he stomps down the hall looking to beat the hell out of him.  He looks back at Charlie who has that same look of fear on his face Conner himself had on too many occasions as a boy and he lets go of Charlie's shirt collar.  "I want to kick his little punk ass too but it ain't our place.  He's Reid's kid, Reid will handle this." Darrick continues.