Devil's Pass (The Harlequin Crew #.5) - Caroline Peckham Page 0,8

shittiest corner of town. Everything in this place creaked, but I knew where to place my feet to remain silent as I moved, I'd adapted to my environment like the street dogs in town had adapted to theirs. The ones who survived built a pack of their own. And so had I.

"Boy!" my dad's booming voice made my heart crush like it was held in his fist. I paused on the stairs, holding my breath. "Get down here!" he hollered.

I ran, leaping down the final few steps and racing into the kitchen. I made it to the back door, yanking it open and sprinting down the steps into our overgrown garden. I rounded the house, grabbing my bike as I fumbled to unlock the gate.

My dad's strong hands latched around my shoulders, wheeling me around and throwing me to the ground. My heart lurched into my throat as I tried to scramble away but his fist slammed into my cheek, making my head ring from the impact as the back of it hit the ground. Dad hauled me back inside while I fought to get his hands off of me and he dragged me to my feet in our shitty little kitchen which smelled of lemons since Momma had tried to cover the scent of the mould crawling across the ceiling.

Dad shoved me back against the refrigerator and Momma screamed somewhere to my right. I stared at my dad with my upper lip peeled back; his thinning grey hair was overgrown just like his beard and his eyes were bloodshot from the PBR he'd drunk. Always the same. The cans of Pabst Blue Ribbon were scattered around the house like confetti and it looked like my dad's demons were ready to party.

"You wanna run from me, boy?" he spat, his muscles bunching as he wrapped a hand around my throat. I wanted to shove and hit him, but fear was making me freeze up. As much as I longed to be bigger and stronger, to destroy this monster who tormented me and my momma, I was always reduced to this frightened fucking kid when he had me in his grip. The older I got, the more brutal his blows became, the more I feared he might just go too far and see through on his threats to get rid of me. "You're not man enough to face me," he growled. "You're weak. Pathetic."

"Michael!" Momma wailed. "Let him go. He's just a boy."

"You hear that, Chase?" Dad growled. "Your momma says you're just a boy, that still true? 'Cause you're gettin' taller every day and I see that look in your eye..."

I shoved him with a shout of effort, but his fist slammed into my gut and took the wind out of me.

"You think you're a man now, huh? Show me what a man you are then," he laughed coldly.

"Let go of me," I snarled through my teeth, gripping his wrist as his fingers tightened around my throat.

He shoved me to the floor at my momma's feet and I cursed as I stared up at his dark silhouette, the exposed bulb hanging behind him meaning his face was cast in shadow.

"You're not mine," he hissed, the same old shit coming out of his mouth as usual. "He's not mine, Amber, is he? Look at him, he's a weak piece of shit. Who was it then? Who fucking was it?!"

I pushed myself to my feet as he stalked towards my momma, placing myself between them as I glared at him. My heart beat erratically and sweat was breaking out on my brow, but I wouldn't let him hurt her. Not this time.

"Get outta my way, you little cunt," he snapped and a tremor ran through me, but I didn't move.

"It's alright baby, it's alright," Momma cooed and for a second I thought she was talking to me before she hurried toward my dad, clutching his arm with one hand while cupping his cheek with the other. It cut deep seeing her run to him like that. Like he was right and we were in the wrong. "I'd never betray you. He's your boy. And he's a good boy."

Dad grunted, but didn't push her away, his eyes trailing down her body with a possessive, toxic kind of desire. My upper lip peeled back and my hands started to shake.

"Come on baby, come upstairs with me," Momma urged him, pulling him by the hand and guiding him past me.

I clenched my teeth, blinking back