Darker Than Sin (BoyxBoy) Book 2

Chapter 17

"You're excused, James. You can leave the poster board here."

I didn't bother saying anything else to Mr. Black before I left. He looked genuinely hurt at what Billy had to say, since he was one of the people who help him learn how to read better. Mr. Black himself is from Mexico also and his first language is Spanish like Billy, but he obviously has a better grip on English.

Billy has ADHD, so trying to read a language he barely knows how to speak isn't something he's interested in or can physically do on his own. He's embarrassed.

He also doesn't have the time on his own to study... his dad makes him pay the rent and everything else in their apartment. It's just not something that could fit into his brain or schedule.

The sound of my Papa's death core playing from his car broke me out of my thoughts. I opened the door to the passengers seat, his eyes narrowing at the sight of my own. I felt like my stomach dropped to my ass. He scared me sometimes.

"Hey, everything alright?" I asked him. I closed the door behind me once I climbed into the seat, a deep sigh escaping his throat as 'Chelsea Grin' blared in my ears. He always listened to this music casually in the car, regardless if the rest of us were in here. Dad would whine about how he didn't like that kind of music, only for Julia to head bang behind him with her hair going every way around her... and that of course only encouraged him.

"Something happened with your grandma." He said to me. My eyes widened as he drove out of the school parking lot, a little faster than what he should have been. His darker hands gripped the steering wheel a little tighter than what I was comfortable with.

"Oh god, is she okay? I know she hasn't been feeling well-"

"Your dad thinks it's old age. He's trying to avoid what's really happening." He said, his voice cracking towards the end. He let out a shaky sigh, briefly looking over to me with tired eyes. My eyes widened at the sight, knocking any tiredness I had out of me.

I've seen my Papa cry before. He's never been afraid to cry, he always said it's a good example for me. It's alright for men to cry, it's apart of being human- He'd cry because he's in pain, he'd cry because he was happy...

But never like this. He was frustrated.

He was scared. This was the first time I ever saw my Papa scared.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him, my words shaking once they left my mouth. He reached over to the radio, turning down the volume before letting out a shaky sigh. He brought up a hand to his eyes, wiping away any tears that threatened to fall from them.

"She's been telling your dad for ages she's been getting weird messages and mail. She got sent a bag of dead animals one time even. Guess what? The cops did nothing! She's been so paranoid she hasn't left her house. Now look what happened!" He yelled out. He held up a shaky fist, his hand hovering over the steering wheel as if he was going to punch it.

"What? Why didn't you guys tell me-"

"Your dad doesn't want to face it. He doesn't want to go back to how it used to be. I get it, he wants to protect you and Julia-"

"But why couldn't you tell me, Papa? Wouldn't you want to? You know I care about Grandma!" I cried out. I was the one who was crying now. He looked at me with sad eyes, his jaw beginning to shake as he tried to keep his eyes on the road.

"I'm scared." He finally admitted. The silence that was between the both of us was almost unbearable. "I'm scared I can't protect you guys."

I didn't really know what that meant. Against my grandpa? If that was really what he was talking about? I don't know how he would be able to get to my grandma from prison. Why would he want revenge after this long?