If you're looking for an adventure in the morally grey, and a crash course of the human condition, this is the story for you! What is good and evil? Where is that line drawn, and who decides that? Packed with humor, danger, feels, and awkward relati...
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"How did all your legal stuff go?" Nathan asked Donovan as they walked to the basketball court.
Donovan was in a heavier jacket than he used to wear with how cold it had gotten in late fall. Playing in wife-beaters would get them killed in this weather, so they had all added a few layers. Most of them had started playing with gloves too to keep their fingers warm.
"Well." Donovan smiled in an abnormally upbeat manner. There had always been a sad, remorseful undertone to Donovan's gaze even when he was happy, but it didn't appear there was now, and it molded Nathan into happiness for him.
"It must have gone really well," Nathan said with a smile and nudged his arm. Surprised by the action, Donovan nudged him right back.
"Yes. I got to see my son for the first time in a while. It was nice to see him walking around. The last time I was around, he was banged up."
Donovan had been happy to see his son? That was the same one that had lied and condemned him. There really was something to be said about his parental affection. It wasn't as if all parents just loved their children unconditionally, but Donovan loved his son even when he'd betrayed him.
Did Nathan's mother still love him? After he'd hospitalized that boy and ended up in jail, did she still feel the same affection for him? There hadn't been a lot of time for him to think about it, but he hadn't called his mother since he'd arrived here, though he knew he could have asked.
Allowing himself to be distracted by everything going on had seemed like a better idea than hearing his mother's disappointed voice on the other side of it. Inside of himself, he wondered if he didn't frighten his mother now, like how the men here frightened him. What sort of person did he look like to her now?
It wasn't as if she had reached out and tried to call him either. That frightened him too much to consider speaking to her. Not knowing was better than finding out that she no longer loved him.
"Nathan." Donovan elbowed him, and he looked up, though tears were lining his eyes. "Hey, come here." Donovan's arm was light on his shoulder, but welcome. "If you're worried about anything, you can talk to me. I'm here for you."
The offer was nice, and Nathan would certainly take him up on it, but later. They were already at the gate, and the boys in Rachel's gang who didn't go to school were already roughhousing up ahead of him. The rock that landed on Nathan's shoulders and almost tore him from his feet was easily identified as Rachel as she drew him into a headlock.
"Hey, Rachel." Donovan greeted her with his normal groan, and she cackled, but Donovan focused back on his not a moment later. "How has today with Ian, by the way?"
Donovan never saw him in the morning, so Nathan frequently conveyed his horrors with Ian to him, though he hadn't mentioned the last incident. It made him wonder if he hadn't jumped the gun, and then he felt bad that he even thought that. Ian had taken it too far, and Nathan's kindness made him doubt his better reasoning.
