night.”
Moody nodded. “From the sounds of it, they need as much of that as they can get.”
“Amen.”
Chapter Three
It was another three days before Marco was well enough to meet Kent in his office. He’d hated to call in sick. It was something he’d rarely done in his years of employment, but it couldn’t be helped.
After several days spent on the couch, he was finally able to put enough weight on his knee to walk. He glanced at himself in the rear view mirror. Unfortunately his face looked worse than right after the mini-beating he’d received from Eddy.
He climbed out of his pickup and made his way into the Baker Construction offices. How many times had he gone over the planned meeting in his mind? Despite going through a hundred scenarios, Marco couldn’t see any way around it. He was going to have to come clean with Kent. It was definitely something he wasn’t looking forward to.
Thankfully, at seven in the morning, the offices were still fairly empty. He knocked on the wall outside Kent’s open office door.
Kent glanced up from a pile of papers. “Come…Fuck! What the hell happened? Your little boy toy get rough with you after I left Saturday night?”
And so it begins. Marco made his way into Kent’s office and sat in the chair in front of his desk. “No. I had a run-in with my dad on Sunday,” he admitted, refusing to look at Kent.
Complete silence met his explanation. He finally glanced up. Kent’s face had gone red, his meaty hand fisted on top of his papers.
“I hope you filed charges,” Kent ground out between clenched jaws.
“Kind of. I told Moody about it. He took a couple of pictures.”
“Moody? So he’s your go-to guy now?” Kent scoffed.
“He’s a friend. I wasn’t sure what else to do.” Marco shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “There were extenuating circumstances. I needed some answers from someone in law enforcement.”
“What kind of circumstances? A man beats the shit out of you, you press charges. It should’ve been as simple as that.”
Marco touched the healing cut on his lip with the tip of his tongue. “There are things about me you don’t know.”
Kent ’s body seemed to relax enough to lean back in the wide leather desk chair. “You talking about your age, because I already knew about that.”
Shocked, Marco leant forward, bracing his hands on the arms of the chair. “You knew about that? How?”
“I saw you reading a birthday card on your seventeenth birthday,” Kent stated. His tone was matter-of-fact, but Marco could sense some underlying hurt.
“I needed the job.”
“I guess I figured that out. Otherwise I would’ve fired your ass on the spot.”
Marco knew it was time. “I needed the job because I was trying to raise my two kid brothers and my little sister. That was Bruno who answered the door Saturday night.”
“What?” Kent burst out of his chair and stalked around the desk. “What the hell are you talking about? I’ve never even heard you mention your family, now, suddenly, I learn you’ve got an asshole for a father and three kids you’ve been taking care of? When did this happen?”
“Mom left nine years ago, shortly after Maria was born. Guess she got tired of being a punching bag for the old man.” Marco shrugged. He knew if he didn’t get it all out within the next few minutes he’d chicken out.
“Eddy, my dad, was too busy getting drunk to actually hold down a job. I knew if I went to the authorities, they’d split us up. So I dropped out of school and did what I had to do. Once I turned eighteen, I kicked Eddy’s worthless ass out. I’ve been doing it on my own ever since.”
Kent ’s face was back to the reddish purple colour it had been several minutes earlier. He started to say something, but stopped. He held up his hands. “Give me a moment. I’ll be right back.”
* * * *
Once inside the small restroom, Kent locked the door. With his back to the cool tiles, he
Moody nodded. “From the sounds of it, they need as much of that as they can get.”
“Amen.”
Chapter Three
It was another three days before Marco was well enough to meet Kent in his office. He’d hated to call in sick. It was something he’d rarely done in his years of employment, but it couldn’t be helped.
After several days spent on the couch, he was finally able to put enough weight on his knee to walk. He glanced at himself in the rear view mirror. Unfortunately his face looked worse than right after the mini-beating he’d received from Eddy.
He climbed out of his pickup and made his way into the Baker Construction offices. How many times had he gone over the planned meeting in his mind? Despite going through a hundred scenarios, Marco couldn’t see any way around it. He was going to have to come clean with Kent. It was definitely something he wasn’t looking forward to.
Thankfully, at seven in the morning, the offices were still fairly empty. He knocked on the wall outside Kent’s open office door.
Kent glanced up from a pile of papers. “Come…Fuck! What the hell happened? Your little boy toy get rough with you after I left Saturday night?”
And so it begins. Marco made his way into Kent’s office and sat in the chair in front of his desk. “No. I had a run-in with my dad on Sunday,” he admitted, refusing to look at Kent.
Complete silence met his explanation. He finally glanced up. Kent’s face had gone red, his meaty hand fisted on top of his papers.
“I hope you filed charges,” Kent ground out between clenched jaws.
“Kind of. I told Moody about it. He took a couple of pictures.”
“Moody? So he’s your go-to guy now?” Kent scoffed.
“He’s a friend. I wasn’t sure what else to do.” Marco shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “There were extenuating circumstances. I needed some answers from someone in law enforcement.”
“What kind of circumstances? A man beats the shit out of you, you press charges. It should’ve been as simple as that.”
Marco touched the healing cut on his lip with the tip of his tongue. “There are things about me you don’t know.”
Kent ’s body seemed to relax enough to lean back in the wide leather desk chair. “You talking about your age, because I already knew about that.”
Shocked, Marco leant forward, bracing his hands on the arms of the chair. “You knew about that? How?”
“I saw you reading a birthday card on your seventeenth birthday,” Kent stated. His tone was matter-of-fact, but Marco could sense some underlying hurt.
“I needed the job.”
“I guess I figured that out. Otherwise I would’ve fired your ass on the spot.”
Marco knew it was time. “I needed the job because I was trying to raise my two kid brothers and my little sister. That was Bruno who answered the door Saturday night.”
“What?” Kent burst out of his chair and stalked around the desk. “What the hell are you talking about? I’ve never even heard you mention your family, now, suddenly, I learn you’ve got an asshole for a father and three kids you’ve been taking care of? When did this happen?”
“Mom left nine years ago, shortly after Maria was born. Guess she got tired of being a punching bag for the old man.” Marco shrugged. He knew if he didn’t get it all out within the next few minutes he’d chicken out.
“Eddy, my dad, was too busy getting drunk to actually hold down a job. I knew if I went to the authorities, they’d split us up. So I dropped out of school and did what I had to do. Once I turned eighteen, I kicked Eddy’s worthless ass out. I’ve been doing it on my own ever since.”
Kent ’s face was back to the reddish purple colour it had been several minutes earlier. He started to say something, but stopped. He held up his hands. “Give me a moment. I’ll be right back.”
* * * *
Once inside the small restroom, Kent locked the door. With his back to the cool tiles, he
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