Crash 》Hemmings

Chapter Twenty Nine

{Luke's POV}

This was supposed to be a surprise for mom, and of course dad had to ruin it. I kept Paxton close to me as the two of us entered the kitchen. Mom and dad were both seated already and eating. I nudged Paxton in the right direction so she could fix her plate.

"Holy shit," dad said. "I didn't think you were alive anymore."

I rolled my eyes and continued to fix my plate. The two of us headed back towards the table. I sat between Paxton and dad, not wanting her anywhere near him.

I was aware of him watching me. I did my best to ignore him. But after awhile it began to drive my crazy.

"What?" I snapped at him. I noticed mom tense up.

"Don't use that tone with me," dad said. His voice was even, which scared me even more. Not that I would show it. "I was just trying to figure out how my failure of a son managed to make it this far. And I was also trying to figure out who this lovely lady was."

"This is Paxton," I told him. "She's my girlfriend."

"I'm pretty sure your girlfriend can speak for herself," dad said. He leaned forward to get a better look at her. I gripped my fork tighter, ready to protect her if need be.

"Tell me sweetheart, out of all people why him?"

"Oh," Paxton said in a quiet tone. I wasn't used to this. "I think he's pretty great Mr. Hemmings."

Dad scoffed. He took a swig of his beer. I made eye contact with mom. She looked terrified, her eyes wide.

"He's not that great. He would cry a lot when he was little. What kind of boy cries?"

No one answered him. We all continued to eat. I wasn't even hungry. I snuck a glance at Paxton, she was keeping her head low, avoiding eye contact with everyone.

"Where are my good jeans?" Dad asked, clearly referring to mom. I felt a little relieved. For now his attention wasn't on me or more importantly, it wasn't on Paxton.

"They should be in your closet."

"Bullshit they are. I just looked in there twenty minutes ago."

"I don't know dear. That's where they should be. I did the laundry-"

Dad swiped his plate off the table. It went flying, causing glass and lasagna to scatter everywhere. I instantly pushed away from the table, standing up. Dad looked up at me.

"Seriously?" I questioned. "Are you fucking serious right now?"

"Luke," mom said softly. She was already cleaning up the mess. "It's fine. Why don't you and Paxton go in the living room."

"You should listen to your mother," dad stated. He downed the rest of his beer and demanded mom get him another one. I watched in disgust as he opened it and dropped the cap onto the floor.

"She doesn't deserve to be treated like this. You're a piece of shit and I'm tried of watching this happen."

"Watch it boy," dad warned. I was aware of mom's pleading looks and Paxton's hand resting on my lower back. But I didn't care about either of those things at the moment. He went too far and I finally cracked.

"No. I'm done taking orders from you. How can you treat the woman you supposedly love like shit? How could you hit her and your own son? What the fuck is wrong with you?"

Now he was standing up. I was thankful for my height, since I had a few inches on him. Paxton gripped onto my shirt tightly.

"I would stop talking if I were you," dad said. His breath reeked. We never broke eye contact as he drank more alcohol.