The Man of the House

Chapter 147

“Huh?” I blinked, looking as innocent as I could. “What could I have said?”

“Nothing... it’s probably nothing.” Mom shook her head. “I’m just surprised. Suddenly offering me a week of paid leave so that I can take care of you while you’re recovering at home, I just never expected something like that from my boss. She didn’t even let me take any time off when you went into a coma. The only reason I put up with it was that I knew we’d need the insurance.”

“Ah, well, who knows.” I laughed. “Maybe, things at your job will start looking up.”

Of course, I knew why Ms. Dean had suddenly changed her tune. She had too much to lose to risk upsetting the status quo now. It was a mutually assured destruction now, and as long as Ms. Dean gave up her decade-long revenge streak and played ball, no one would have to lose out. Of course, I had to lie a bit at the end. I had intended to overwhelm her. Once she agreed to my plan, it didn’t matter if she figured out I was lying later. The damage would already be done.

I could always work on getting a DNA test, and as for the recording, how could she know I didn’t have it? At least, I knew such a thing existed, and as much as it filled me with rage, I was going to use it to give my mother a better life. She’d be the boss of her firm, and Ms. Dean could leave and find someone else’s life to ruin, preferably her husband, that rapist bastard. Perhaps there would be a time when I would finally pull the pin on that bomb but now wasn’t that time.

As for how I guessed there was a recording, it was something dad had said to me back some time ago. To convince him that mom cheated on him, they would have needed evidence. He made it seem like he had seen mom cheating, which gave me the idea that she must have recorded it and shown it to him back then to break him. She’d also want something on her husband in case he tried to divorce her, so the tape likely still existed.

Either way, it was the best I could do at the moment. I wasn’t some action hero. I was just a guy trying to help his mom. A week of paid vacation was the least I could do for her after everything that happened. I looked over at mom. It was dark now, and the street lights caused shadows to occasionally cross her face, but I could see a small smile on her lips. That was when red and blue flashing lights appeared.

“Crap...” Mom cursed, and I straitened in my seat as she pulled over to the side.

A police car had a siren on, and they ended up following us to the side of the street. We were getting pulled over. I had numerous thoughts in my mind. Did Miss Dead retaliate already? Was she sending some kind of statement? This was bad.

Mom opened her window as a person approached from the passenger side. “I’m sorry, officer, was I going to fas- ah! Bob?”

Bob? Why does that name seem familiar?

I peeked out the door, and that’s when I recognized the face of the familiar man.

“Samantha’s dad!” I let out.

The officer squinted, and then let out a laugh. “Is that you, Noah? Wow, I haven’t seen you since you were yay high...”

“That’s right! Your Samantha’s dad.” Mom acted like she just realized that. “How is the family going?”

His expression faltered slightly. “Ah, Samantha’s doing okay. A bit lonely... since her mom...”

“Ooohh...” Mom’s face turned white. “I’m sorry for prying, is she-”

“What?” He blinked, and then laughed. “Ah, no, not dead. Her mom ran off with the gardener.”

“Oh, my... I’m so sorry...”

He shrugged. “I’ve gotten over it. I was going through some things and left the force for a while. My wife worked instead. I guess she had enough of it and made a decision. Turns out, it was just the push I needed to get off my butt and start working again, but I do worry about how Samantha is handling it. I’m just a guy, it’s not like I know how to deal with all of those female issues.”

I didn’t know how to feel about it. It sounded like his story played out the same way whether I was there or not. I suppose his wife ran off with a young gardener rather than end up in jail for attacking me. In that respect, things were better. Yet, pretty much everything else was the same. I’d guess it was a sex trafficking case that broke him as well. It was no wonder he was just doing traffic now.

“If you need any advice, I have six daughters. I have just about experienced every female-related problem you could imagine. If there is someone I struggle to understand, it’s my son here.” Mom reached out and squeezed my shoulder.

“You might not want to...”

“Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!”

“Scream...” I sighed.

“What’s happening?”

I heard her father run to the stairs. I turned around and slammed the door shut as her dad ran up.

“It’s nothing!” I coughed.

“Is Samantha alright?” He tried to get passed me, but I moved to block him.

“Yeah, she’s fine.”

“She’s screamed? What happened?” His expression grew serious, perhaps even a little scary.

“Nothing! She’s fine! Just give her a moment.” I shoved my back between him and the door as he tried to turn the knob.

“Kid, I don’t know what happened, but if you don’t move right now!” He glared.

“Dad! I’m fine!” A shout came through the door.

“Honey!” His expression softened. “Did something happen?”

“N-no!” She shouted back. “I just was surprised to see Noah, that’s all!”

“Is that all?” He asked suspiciously.

“Yes!” She snapped back. “Just go away!”

He still looked hesitant. “Should I go?”

“Yes, Dad! Didn’t I say we needed boundaries? Go, away!”

Bob looked like he had been struck. He still gave me a suspicious look, but then he sighed.

“Come on, kid. Let’s go back downstairs.” He nodded to me.

“Also, N-noah... can come inside.”

“Whaaat?”

Bob really did have it rough being a single parent.