CHAPTER NINE- Fatherly Father
I had been in the car a few times and it never failed to terrify me. I couldn't even begin to understand how Renee controlled it. Every time we got close to another vehicle, I'd hold my breath until we were a safe distance away.
It was absolute chaos on the road. The rules seemed arbitrary and complex. The way the car just listened to what she told it to do was also impossible to comprehend. It felt as though it had a mind of its own, wanting to veer off the road.
Grant and Xavion didn't share my feelings as they both casually conversed. Even as we sped uncontrollably to our inevitable deaths, they spoke of trivial matters: whether or not God was a "simp" or a "pimp", who would survive longer in a zombie apocalypse, and how to properly pronounce "carmel." I ended up tuning them out, watching as the world blurred by us.
"Dude! Car-mel. That's it! Less on the mouth!" Grant yelled, twisted around to face Xavion.
"Car-a-mel." Xav shrugged, easing into the back of his seat.
Grant scoffed, "I've never heard you pronounce it that way. Are you just playing devil's advocate?" He accused, narrowing his eyes.
I bit my lip, rubbing my arms
"Abso-fucking-lutley not. The devil's advocate is such a chad and I do not vibe with that energy."
Renee hummed from the driver's seat, "I'd imagine that the devil's advocate would be more of the business type."
Xav scoffed, "You and what evidence? Trust me, he's a Chad."
"And why can't it be a woman?" Renee clipped, turning around to glare at him.
The road, Renee. The road. My mind screamed as she continued to drive forward. She looked back to the front but would glance back at Xavion through the rear-view mirror every few moments.
Xavion shrugged, "Ask the devil, it's his advocate."
"We don't know who or what the devil's advocate really is, neither of us knows them. I'm asking why you had to assume it would be a man." She glared, "You haven't met them."
Xavion looked ready to argue, but only rolled his eyes. Apparently, keeping his demon-side on the down-low was more important than winning this argument. He shrugged, "I still think it's car-a-mel."
Grant groaned, "You're just wrong."
Xavion shrugged, "Well, that doesn't make you right."
"It does." Grant glowered.
"Does not."
"Does--"
"Not!"
"I will literally turn this car around and abandon you, Xav. We don't need you meeting my father in the first place." Renee glared through the mirror.
Xavion gasped, "Oh, come on! Grant started it!"
"I did not! You did." Grant scoffed.
"You started it when you said God was a simp." Xavion rolled his eyes, "When, in fact, he's definitely a pimp."
Grant scowled, "You're the one who asked whether God was a pimp or a simp."
"I was asking Ishy-Mishy!"
"You think Ishmael knows what a pimp or a simp is?" Grant scoffed. "Ishmael didn't know what cookies were until this morning."
Before the conversation could spur into what God was again, Renee turned into a bumpy driveway and the conversation took a complete 180.
"You live here?" Xavion whistled, "You're loaded."
Grant turned in his seat to nod at Xavion, "That's what I said!"
Renee groaned, "My parents are loaded. I live with my roommates in a crappy apartment." She turned the car off, and I felt the tension completely leave my shoulders. As Renee opened her door and stepped outside, I felt the tension return.
I stared at my door, trying to figure out how it opened. Meanwhile, everyone else easily popped out of the car. I bit my lip, grinding my teeth into the flesh to calm myself down. Trying not to get embarrassed, I tried to pull the handle-looking mechanism. The door didn't open, so I tried pushing all the buttons.
Grant sighed and reached for my door. He opened it for me, waving his hand to invite me out.
"Thanks." I breathed, relieved to leave. I tried to get out, but the strap holding me in place refused to drop its hold. I frowned and pulled on it, as I let it go it snapped back in its original place. I huffed in annoyance and tugged harder.
This time, it fought back. With my harsh tug, the traitorous strap refused to budge. It made a jarring noise of protest as it returned to its place against my body. I growled and tried to remove it. It held fast, trapping me in the seat. Panic flared through me as I struggled. "Grant!" I cried, "It won't let me move!"
Grant gave me a deadpan expression.
The more I struggled, the tighter the strap became.
"Grant! Help! It's going to kill me!" I yelled frantically, fighting against my confinements.
Xavion, the Hell-spawn, began to chuckle. Renee looked slightly worried, but not enough to jump to my aid. Grant simply looked annoyed.
"Ishmael." He spoke calmly, "Just press the button on your side."
I looked to my sides, but didn't see any such buttons. The strap was determined that it would consume me. At the thought, I widened my eyes and warned Grant. "Just run and let it take me! I think I'll quench it's hunger for now--"
"Jesus fucking Christ." He leaned over, getting incredibly close. I felt his ribs against my stomach as he balanced over me, looking for something.
I looked at him with wide eyes, "Are you a fool? Grant, you, Renee, and Xav need to get to safety--"
"--Ishmael, it's a seatbelt. Calm down. I'll take care of it, you're fine." He said, surprising me.
He didn't care. He was risking his life to save me, even though I told him to run. I felt a warmth in my chest-- no one was that kind to me before. Ironic, this human was kinder than any angel I had ever met.
Grant's hand swooped down my outer thigh, snapping something from the click noise. The strap went limp and retreated, quickly hiding in its hole on the side of the car. I felt the cold, soothing rush of relief flow through my body. As Grant straightened up and got out of the car, I leaped out and smothered him in a tight embrace. "Thank you for saving me," I whispered.
"I didn't--" Grant sighed, cutting himself off. He softly pat me on the back. "No problem, Ishmael."
Xavion chuckled and clapped a hand on my shoulder, "I'll teach you how to tame that beast at one of your de..." he trailed off, glancing at Renee, "Badass lessons."
I removed my face from Grant's chest to give Xavion a hopeful look. "You will?"
"Yeah, it'll never try to fuck with you again." He winked, a smirk on his face.
"Alright!" Renee rained in the conversation, as though she were the one in charge of a group of rowdy children. "Let's stop dallying and get going." She gestured for us to follow as she walked up to the house.
The building was huge-- if I had to guess, many human families inhabited it. Though, it looked a lot neater than Grant's tall apartment. We all began to follow.
"Shit!" Xavion hissed, "I totally left my phone in the car." He turned around and opened the car door, leaning in.
"Be careful!" I reminded, worried.
He laughed from inside the car, "I'll be good, I'll meet you up there!" He assured, sounding slightly muffled.
Grant gently took my elbow and we walked up to Renee's parents' house together. Renee was already knocking on the door, a large smile prepared on her face. Grant and I
After a few moments, the door swung open. The man was slim and tall, looking at us with surprise. "Renee, Grant! Great to see you guys again!" His bright brown eyes turned to me with curiosity. "Is this the friend you were telling me about?"
Renee nodded, "Dad, meet Ishmael. Ishamael, meet my dad." She quickly introduced us.
"Uh, hi My Dad." I said awkwardly, holding out a hand in the way Grant taught me to.
Renee's dad laughed in amusement and caught my hand in a rough grip. "Nice to meet you. Ishmael. You can call me John."
I smiled timidly. Shaking hands with him was weird. Grant's hand was the only one that I had shook, so I was surprised by the amount of pressure he used to squeeze my hand. He grinned politely, all the same.
"Fuck!" came a loud call from the end of the driveway. I looked back to see Xavion, rubbing his head and slamming the car door. He probably hit his head on the car-- or it had attacked him. He slid his phone in his pocket and started up to the driveway with us.
John made a surprised cough, "Oh! Xavion! I don't remember... asking you to be here!" He, a tense smile cracking on his face.
Renee's eyes widened in surprise. "You know each other?" She asked, pointing between Xavion and her father.
John looked horrified, "You know him?" His horror melted into a strange angry, "Renee!"
Xavion laughed, finally reaching us. He eased himself against the door frame. "What a lovely coincidence." He held out a hand, "I'm Grant's roommate."
John did not accept his hand, instead he scowled.
Xavion carried on talking, naturally using his hand to squeeze my shoulder instead. "I was worried for a bit about Renee's priest father making a good impression on my Ishy-poo. But I'm excited to see it's you, Johnny."
John clicked his tongue, "It's John." He looked to Grant with a raised eyebrow, "You live with Xavion? I pity you."
Grant's eyebrows raised, "Eh, he pays rent on time."
Xavion's eyes flickered over the house. "You live here, Johnny? It's very nice. Nicer than I was expecting." He spoke smoothly, sounding somewhat impressed.
John's face twitched. The tension in the air was palpable.
Renee spoke, doing nothing to break the tension. "So... how do you even know each other?"
John's jaw clenched, "Nowhere."
"Business." They spoke at the same time. Xavion grinned, "Oh, come on. You can't lie and say we aren't business partners." He gestured to Renee with his head, "I knew you had a family, but you never mentioned a hot daughter."
John sighed and rolled his eyes. He opened the door wider and beckoned us in. Xavion made large strides, confidently dragging me into the large entrance with him. My eyes widened at the large room.
I realized that this giant building housed only one family, which really felt excessive. I gave John another look, this time peering into his soul. It was darker than I was expecting for a priest-- he was walking the line between Heaven and Hell.
Renee walked in quickly after, the click of her shoes reverbing off the marble floors. She crossed her arms and glared at her father. "Business? What kind of business?" She asked shrilly.
Grant followed in quietly and kindly shut the door.
"It's really nothing special." John waved it off.
Xavion nodded, "Mostly weed. Sometimes coke or shrooms, though. We have some molly right now if you're interested."
"Absolutely not." John's head firmly shook. "My daughter-- my family, as a matter of fact-- will partake in no such activities."
Renee's eyes widened to the size of saucers, "What?!" She shrieked, looking shocked. She looked more taken-aback than the day she met me.
John winced, "I'm so sorry, sweetie. But I really didn't want to alarm you or make you worry about money. It's just-- your mother was laid off and she was really making most of the money. And we needed to make the ends meet somehow." He explained himself quickly, not breathing throughout his explanation.
"W-Why didn't you tell me?" Renee asked, her eyes glassy.
John sighed, "Look, I found another way to make it work. You have nothing to worry about."
"Selling drugs?"
I was lost, I softly moved over to Grant and leaned in, "What are drugs?" I whispered.
He glanced down at me, "They're illegal. You take them and feel amazing for a few hours."
"Why is that illegal?" I asked, peering up at him.
"They also, like, slowly kill you. And you can get really addicted. Don't do drugs, Ishmael." He warned me quietly, patting me on the head.
Meanwhile, John, Xavion, and Renee were still arguing.
"You couldn't have sold the house and found a new job?!" Renee yelled, "You had to go against the law?"
"I did!" John defended himself. "Your mother was depending on me to work things out, and Xavion seemed like a good option."
Renee scowled, "Does mom know?"
John tensed up, "No. And please, don't tell her."
"She deserves to know." Renee pressed, narrowing her eyes.
"Even so-- I will be the one to tell her." He sounded urgent, extremely nervous too. He looked slightly unhinged. "Please, just let me tell her." He spoke softer, sounding ready to beg.
Something about the way he asked broke Renee's resolve. The tension in her shoulders broke and she clenched her teeth. "Fine." She bit out. "But you also need to keep a secret from mom, because I-- for one-- don't keep secrets from you." She said, sounding awfully accusatory.
John looked caught off guard. "What is it?"
"I found an angel. A real angel." She admitted, gesturing to me.
Grant frowned, "We."
Renee's eyes rolled, "We found an angel. We saw him fall from the sky, and I think it's up to us to set him on the right path." Then her eyes narrowed, "though, now I'm starting to think it's just up to me. All of your guys are drowning in sins of your own."
John blinked for a moment, then turned to Xavion. "What kind of fucking drugs did you sell my daughter?"