you ain't seen nothin' yet

༒chapter fifteen༒

When I get inside Dad's lair, he's sleeping on the couch. I step down the stairs quietly and go to the record player, grabbing the needle to move it.

"What are you doing, rat?"

I move the needle off the vinyl and turn to him. "That's no way to greet your daughter."

He takes his sunglasses off and sits up. "Oh, it's you."

"Great to see you too, Dad," I say, leaning against the wall.

"Please tell me you weren't just with that Hook kid."

"Pff. What? Why would you think that?"

He stands up and walks over to me before flicking the hat on my head.

"I forgot I had that on."

He nods and goes back over to the couch. "Mhm." After he flops down on the couch he eyes me. "Well, your clothes are messed up, so that's something."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

He rolls his eyes dramatically. "You're wearing the kid's hat. What do you think it means?"

"That—Oh my god, no. We sat in Fish and Chips with Uma."

"Mmk."

"Why do you always say that kind of shit?" I ask and shrug. "We're friends. Just like how I'm friends with Jay and Carlos and Gil."

He rolls his eyes again. "I don't understand how someone of my blood can be so stupid."

"Hey!"

He sits up straight and points at me, then the hat. "If Uma hasn't already said something about it, I sure as hell will, as much as I don't want to. You and Jay and Carlos and Gil and everyone else look at each other like you are friends. Whatever the hell you and Hook have going on is not the way friends look at each other. Understand?"

I roll my eyes. "Yeah, sure. He's a dumbass with a hook and I'm a bitch with fire."

He shrugs and lays back down, closing his eyes. I huff and start for the stairs. "Whatever, Dad. See you later."

"Turn the dog back on!"

༒

Harry jumps down in front of a tied up Ben. I glance up at him and pause my nail picking on the stairs. He puts his face near Ben's and moves his hook under Ben's chin. "Coochy-coochy coo." He starts laughing while Ben looks at him annoyed.

"It still amazes me that you have more than one brain cell," I say. Harry glares at me and I smile up at him.

Harry turns his attention back to Ben and puts his forearm on the pole Ben is tied to. "How's it feel to be the kind now, eh?" Ben just stares at him. He laughs and walks to the other side of the pole.

"Give it a rest, Harry," Uma says, then looks at me and nods to Harry.

"Harry, my favorite dumbass, give it a fucking rest."

He pouts. "You two never let me have any fun."

"One," Uma says, sitting down next to me, "you and Harper could have fun, but you're both too dumb to realize it. And two, we don't want any damaged goods."

Harry climbs the edge and holds onto the rope, turning and pointing his hook at Ben. "You said that I could hook him."

"I said at noon," Uma says, then nods to me. "And if it wasn't for her wanting me to show him a little mercy, I would let you at eleven."

Ben looks over at Harry and he gets a glare.

"Pipe down, Har," I say. "He's a decent person. You can hook the next guy."