Grounding sucks, especially with Christmas near. My parents didn't allow me even to attend the Christmas dance at school. Luckily, I got to see Kai at school, which was a plus, and they allowed me to call Jacob to let him know they ground me. When Jacob ask why, I told Jacob the reason, and he laughed. Glad, I could make him laugh.
It was now Christmas break, and I got stuck at home. That sucked. I sat next to my window, watching the snowfall since there wasn't much else to do.
Dad walked in and took a seat next to me, "Hey, baby girl."
I looked at Dad and went back to looking out the window.
"Faith, listen. We get it. The reason we grounded you was that you had us worried sick when you didn't come home, and you didn't call," Dad reasoned.
I sighed. "I know, and I'm sorry, but honestly, it was a rough day that day for Kai."
"What do you mean?" Dad asked.
"Kai saw his mom and his uncle was there. Kai didn't go into details when he stormed out of there, but something felt off," I explained.
"How did it feel off?" Dad asked me.
I turned and looked at Dad, "When Kai came out, so did his uncle. When I looked at Kai's uncle, he gave me a nasty look."
"Why would the guy do that?" Dad questioned.
"Honestly, I don't know. It's not like I met the guy before, but it felt like I did," I explained.
"What do you mean, Faith?" Dad asked.
"Dad, I ended up looking down and saw that the guy was wearing these boots," I mentioned.
"Boots?" Dad asked.
"Yeah, when Jacob came over when I didn't have my sight, I remember hearing boots. The same boots I saw when I got a hit that one day. Before I blacked out, I saw a pair of men's boots next to me, but I couldn't make out the face," I informed my dad.
Dad looked at me, "Come on. Get your coat on."
"Where are we going?" I asked with a look as I grabbed my coat.
"To go see Kai," Dad said, leaving.
"Does this mean I'm not grounded?" I yelled.
"Yep," Dad answered.
I quickly ran out of my room, and with that, we both went to Papa's house.
When we arrived, Dad yelled, "Ace!"
Papa and Nana came out of the kitchen with Kai running down the stairs. The minute he saw me, he rushed me, knocking me over.
"Hi there," Kai said.
"Hi yourself," I smiled.
"Oh, for Christ sakes, will you two get off the floor," Papa demanded.
Kai got up and helped me up, then gave me a deep kiss. Papa rolled his eyes.
"Zack, what's going on?" Papa asked.
"I think I might know who had hit Faith," Dad said, causing us all to look at him. He walked over to Kai, "Where's your uncle?"
"Got me. I try to stay away from my uncle as much as possible," Kai answered.
Dad pulled out his phone and called Granddad, "I need a favor."
We sat at the kitchen table, drinking hot cocoa while we waited for Granddad.
"Are you sure about this?" Papa asked Dad.
"Maybe." Dad looked at Kai, "Tell me about this uncle of yours."
"There's not much to tell. It's my mom's brother, and the guy's a dick. My dad can't stand him," Kai said.
A few minutes later, we heard some noise coming from the living room.
"Yo, Ace, we got a present for you!" Brax yelled.
The four of us walked out of the kitchen into the living room. Sitting there on the couch was Kai's uncle. Dad looked at the guy, "Sonofabitch."
We all looked at Dad, who sighed in frustration.
"I should have guessed," Dad said.
"Do you know Kai's uncle?" I asked.
"Yeah, I fucking know this prick. Bobby's prick brother dated your mom," Dad said to me.
I was so confused. I looked at Kai, who looked equally confused.
Dad called Mom, and she came over to Papa and Nana's house. When she walked in, it shocked her.
"Bobby?" Mom exclaimed.
"Hey, Grace," the guy smirked.
"You know this guy?" I asked.
"That's Marco's little brother. My lying, cheating ex's brother," Mom said, her lips turning into a frown.
"You know my brother would get a kick to find out our nephew is dating your daughter," the guy said, still smirking. "That is if he was still alive, but I guess you all know why he isn't, don't you?"
I looked at my family. "What does he mean?"
"Nothing. Bobby's talking about nothing," Dad answered.
"Still keeping your nasty secrets, I see," Bobby said to Dad.
"I guess we all have secrets, don't we, Bobby? Like the one, your sister kept," Dad snapped back.
"Leave my sister out of this," Bobby snapped.
"What? Can't take the truth? That your sister is a nasty, little piece of shit, who has to go after her blood? Oh, that's right, from what I hear, you're all twisted sick fucks, weren't you?" Dad said, glaring at Bobby.
"What's he talking about, Faith?" Kai asked me. I shook my head in confusion.
"Well, Kai, it seems your mother's family has some sick, twisted, fucked up love in their family," Dad said to Kai. "It seems they like to take liberties with each other in the most inappropriate ways. But that's not why your uncle is here." Dad turned back to Bobby.
Dad walked over and took a seat in front of Bobby. "Oh, we're here for a different matter."
Bobby crossed his arms and smirked at Dad as Dad said, "This is the piece of shit that put Faith in the hospital."
My eyes widened, and my heart dropped into my stomach. I looked down, and that's when I saw the boots. The same boots I saw before I blacked out. Even Bobby's voice came back to me as I remember him saying, "You should have kept your nose out of other people's business." Everything at that moment came flooding back.
Kai grabbed me and took me upstairs, away from the sight of this vile human being.
Dad looked at Bobby. "Now, you will know what it's like to mess with the wrong damn family."
There was a knock at the door, and Mom opened it to see Tony, Sean, and Lucas standing there. Dad looked at them. "Grab this prick. It's time to finish this."
Tony and Sean walked over and yanked Bobby out of his seat, then dragged him off. Granddad looked at Dad. "Are you sure that you don't want Brax and me to handle this?"
Dad looked at Granddad. "We'll take care of this prick. You take care of his sister." With that, Dad left.
Granddad looked at Papa, "Your call."
Papa pulled out his phone and made a call, "It's Ace. Karen King. Yeah, you know what to do. Call me back." Papa hung up promptly. Then they looked at Granddad. "What about the other arrangements?"
"They're all set. At least there will be some good coming out of all of this," Granddad said.
"Good, because we need something," Papa said.
After that day, we spoke nothing about what went down. Bobby would no longer be a threat, and the prison notified us that someone killed Kai's mother in prison. A fight broke out, and once the guards regained control, Kai's mother's body laid bloody and lifeless on the floor.
The prison isolated Kai's mother from the general population since she was a convicted sex offender, but that day they brought her into the general population. The guards opened everyone's cell and disappeared for thirty minutes. Eventually, they put the prisoners back in their cells, and the warden assessed the situation. They claimed it was a computer malfunction, but we knew better.
Christmas arrived, and all of us were celebrating when we heard a knock at the door. Kai answered it, only to find his dad standing there with a duffle bag.
"Dad?" Kai exclaimed.
"Hi, son," Kai's dad said, dropping his bag and Kai crashed into him. Kai hugged his dad tightly as Kai's dad hugged him back. We all stood there and watched as it reunited Kai with his dad.
They came in, and Kai introduced his dad to me.
"It's nice to meet you, Mr. King," I said.
"Call me, Robert," Mr. King said, shaking my hand.
Everyone shook Mr. King's hand, and he looked at Papa. "Thank you, Ace, for taking care of my boy."
"Anytime. Thank you for your service," Papa said, shaking Mr. King's hand.
"How long are you here for?" Kai asked.
"A few days, then I go back, but I'll be back when you graduate. Then we'll go look for a new house," Robert said.
"What about our old house?" Kai asked.
"Chase is helping me sell it. I don't need any reminders of that life," Robert told Kai.
"And Mom?" Kai asked.
"It's done. No more. I never want to speak of that woman ever again. No person should ever treat a child the way she treated you. I'm sorry, son. So sorry," Robert said as tears filled his eyes. I could see how hard it was for Robert to hear what had transpired while he was away. Parents should protect their kids, not hurt them.
While Kai spent time with his dad, I had my dad take me to see a friend.
We pulled up to the hospital, and both of us went inside the building. I walked into the room of tables, and Jacob was sitting there, waiting. His face lit up when he saw me. I smiled and sat down.
I pulled out a gift and handed it to Jacob, "Merry Christmas, Jacob."
Jacob took the gift and tore it open. Inside was a framed picture of the two of us, "Thank you, Faith."
"How are things?" I asked.
"Oh, you know. It's Christmas, and I'm stuck in a nuthouse. You're my only visitor today, so it's less lonely," Jacob said somberly.
"Didn't your mom come and visit?" I asked.
"Mom, couldn't get away with it being Christmas and all. I get it. It's another reminder that I fucked things up," Jacob said with a shrug. "But I love my Christmas present. It meant a lot to me." I could see he was trying to hide the hurt behind his smile. My heart ached for Jacob. While we all spent time with our families, he was alone.
"How would you like another Christmas gift?" I asked Jacob. He looked at me. "Jacob, it's a gift. Remember that." Then I got up and opened the door. "Okay, everyone, come in!"
Jacob watched as everyone walked through the door, which included my family, our friends, and his family. He stood up in shock.
"Hey, Jacob," each one said, hugging him.
"I thought you guys hated me," Jacob said.
"Yeah, we weren't happy with what you did, but Faith reminded us that sometimes people aren't perfect and they make mistakes," Kai said.
"Gee, I wonder where Faith heard that," Dad whispered to Mom, and she nodded in agreement.
Jacob looked at me, "Faith, you are an amazing person, you know that? You were the only one that visited me besides my mom, that made it bearable to be here. Thank you."
I hugged Jacob. "Jacob, you're my best friend. I would do it for anyone who I care about and love."
"I hate to break up this love fest, but we have some Christmas dinner getting cold," Granddad said.
With that, we all moved tables around while everyone set the food down. As we sat and ate, I looked at everyone talking and laughing. It warmed my heart. Sometimes it takes a little faith to bring everyone together.