Coffee with Mr. Casey

17 - Bad Ideas

How d'ya like them apples, XTakeMeToWanderlandX? That's right :P

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Johnny

Pent up anger issues occurs with everyone—not just the certain individuals who get court ordered anger management classes. It was the instantaneous and annoying bullshit, the agitated pet peeves, the ridicule, the hatred…

It was the presence of a conscience that separated angry people from “normal” people, and a conscience was something I most definitely had… Except for the moment that I saw the bitch sitting at my parents’ table, acting like she belonged there. She spoke as if she knew the innocent girl that stood next to me in a shocked state. My worst fears had come true just when I thought I’d had it under control.

I didn’t think.

Alana was just conveniently sitting in a chair before me, waiting to get what she had coming. As if my arms both had a mind of their own, the chair was pulled back in a rapid motion, but she knew better. With smirk of pure evil on her face, she stood on her feet and didn’t even give the chair a second look.

Before I knew it, my fist had connected with her nose. The cartilage went limp under the pressure of my knuckles. She fell back against the table, sliding to the floor with blood gurgling from her lips.

The crack to my hand didn’t hurt much with the adrenaline pumping rapidly through my body. Not once in my life had I ever acted on my impulses like that, but something needed to be done. I’d had enough. Alana would do no more damage without me getting even, whether that meant I had to punch her, or go to her husband myself. But losing Lola was not an option—not when we’d gotten this far.

Lola…

I raised my head only to meet her horrified gaze just before the kitchen door closed, creating a barrier between us. I ran towards it, only to be pushed back by my dad’s hand. I shot an enraged glance him, and then down at Alana, and not an ounce of my soul felt bad for her.

“What the hell is going on, son?” Dad demanded as he picked her up off the floor and sat her in an upright chair. She leaned her head back, trying to stop the blood from flowing.

When I didn’t answer him, he grabbed a towel out of the drawer and handed it to her.

I stormed past the both of them out to the patio, pacing back and forth. As I watched through the door, Dad bent down, saying something to Alana before he marched outside with a cherry red face. He vigorously grabbed my arm and pulled me to the side of the house.

“She says Lola is one of your students, Johnny,” he yelled under his breath.

I didn’t reply… What was I supposed to say? That she wasn’t exactly one of my students? That she was at least eighteen? The situation was exactly as it sounded.

“Oh dear God, what have you done?” Dad’s head fell in his hands as he tried to hide the look of agony.

After taking another begrudging look at the wretched woman inside, I glanced at my father with honest eyes. “Lola’s dad beats the shit out of her,” I growled. “She has no one but me.”

“And this is how you handle it?” He forced a laugh. “Don’t you realize that you are jeopardizing your whole career?”

“Just like you jeopardized yours for Mom?” I retorted.

Usually I didn’t like to throw my dad’s past in his face, but right then I needed him to understand.

Dad backed down at that moment. His stern face softened a bit as he leaned against the brick wall. “Okay,” he said. “What about that woman you just assaulted in there?”