California Secrets (Billy Hargrove)

- 𝚝𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎 -

- Katherine Witherfield -

"Why thank you," my mother thanks a shirtless Billy as he places her scrambled eggs on her plate. I walk out to the scene, and it reminds me why I care about this man so much. He takes care of my family as if he is part of it, which he technically is. Ma loves him, and she supports any situation that would be good for James.

"So, did you sleep together last night?" Ma asks me in what she thinks is a whisper. I gasp at her noise level and her question.

"Ma!"

Billy laughs from in front of the stove. "No, ma'am, we slept, but not slept," he answers, looking over his shoulder at her.

I roll my eyes and cover my face with my hands in embarrassment. Both Ma and Billy laugh at me, and I shake my head at them. "You guys are so mean," I scold. I continue to shake my head at them, but a smile grows on my face at the closeness that has formed between them. Billy places a plate of food in front of me, and I thank him.

We all eat, and when I finish, I quickly dress before running out the door with Billy. We need to go quick so that Billy can run home and change before school, since his clothes still have car grease all over them. He also needs to take his step-sister, Maxine, or Max, to school. We do it all quickly, luckily not getting in contact with an angry Neil or a worried Susan.

Billy blasts Wheel In The Sky by Journey as we fly down the road towards the high school. The windows are down, and the wind blows through my hair.

"So are you guys like... a thing now?" Max asks from the back seat. I turn my head to Billy, and he bites his bottom lip in worry.

"No," I answer her. "It's complicated."

"Oh, ew, you're just hooking up. Okay," she comes to an inaccurate conclusion.

"No, no, we're not hooking up," I correct.

"Are you blackmailing him?" She asks, confused.

"Why do you need to know?" Billy snaps at her.

"She's just curious," I defend. I lean in a little, whispering in his ear to ask my question. "Did you tell her yet?"

"Clearly not," he answers with a snarky tone.

"If I do, will she tell Neil?"

"Tell me what?"

"Nothing," Billy scoffs. "Mind your own business, you nosy shit."

"Fine, jeez," she says, leaning back into her seat.

I can't help but feel bad that we have to keep James a secret from Max. She won't tell Neil, I know she wouldn't do that to Billy. But we have to keep James away from Billy's whole family, just to be safe.

🌊🌊🌊

- Billy Hargrove -

I dial in Katherine's number with my home phone after work. She picks up after a couple rings, a spritely tone in her voice. "Witherfield residence."

"Hey beautiful," I answer her.

"Billy," she says curiously. "What's up?"

"Hey, I just wanted to let you know I won't be able to pick James up on Saturday, so tell him I will come Sunday instead."

"Ok, that works," she agrees.

"Alright, tell him I love him," I smile into the phone.

"I will. Bye, Billy."

"Good bye, beautiful," I hang up the phone.

"Who is James, and why do you love him?" I hear the deep voice from behind me, and my heart drops to the floor. He wasn't supposed to be home for another thirty minutes or so, and I figured I would have time to make the phone call. I was horribly mistaken, though, and I am going to have to pay my life for my mistake. I turn around and Neil stands in the front of the front door, his eyebrow raised as he expects an answer to leave my lips.

"You must have misheard me," I try to save myself. It's a weak attempt, but I'm going to try.

"I did not mishear you," Neil growls at me. "You said you loved some boy named James. I want to know who this f*g is and why you love him."

"He's not a boyfriend, dad" I argue.

"Who is he then, huh?" He says, walking slowly over to me. My feet stay cemented to the floor in fear.

"No one."

"No one, huh?" He makes it to my face, and he gets close, his attempt at intimidating me working. I nod to him, and he scoffs. "He sounded like someone to me."

"It's not a big deal."

"It is a big deal if my son is giving up pussy for some gay bastard!" He screams in my face.

"For the second time, he is not a boyfriend!" I yell back, shocking myself at my back-talk.

"Then who is he?!" He yells back, spit splattering across my skin.

"He's...." I struggle to speak, terrified at what he will do to me once he knows the truth.

"WHO IS HE?" He yells again, grabbing onto my shoulders.

"He's my son," I blurt out, and the whole room goes quiet. It's then I hear the quiet breaths of Max in the corner of the room, and her eyes meet mine. They widen at my confession, and I see how she puts the pieces from this morning together in her mind.

"Who's the whore that had him?" He interrogates me.

"You don't know her," I mutter out.

"So some slut had your child and you didn't tell me?"

"I swear, I didn't even know until-"

Neil's fist meets my nose, and I stumble back at the impact. I look at him, rage filling my whole being and I do what I never thought I would-

I hit back.

We brawl, my fist punching continuously into his stomach as he grabs my arms and tries to bring me to the wall. He fails, and delivers multiple blows to my face. I feel the warm blood trickle down and past my lips, and I start to go lightheaded. I stumble back into the wall, and I take whatever hits come my way. It feels like forever, but I take what I get, giving into his rage. After a while, he stops, holding my arms to the wall as he whispers into my ear.

"You're out of this house. You're a disgrace to me, and a disgrace to this family. You're never welcome back here again."

I take a deep breath, struggling to get my words out through the blood. "Good, I'm never coming back."

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when neil mysteriously appears from behind: "and i said awoop jumpscareeee"

(sorry I had to, ive been thinking it all day)

the book is coming to an end.... what do you think?? how have you liked Katherine and Billy's story?

-Liz <3