Lost in Hollywood

Always

Hawk's punch made Dad fall heavily onto the sand. In a heartbeat, he was on top of him, his fist hammering Dad's face again, again, again. Blood covered his hands, it sprayed onto the sand and painted Dad's shirt red.

The woman Dad had been with, was screaming and crying, but Hawk barely heard it. Rage made his blood sing in his ears, he didn't care about anything. Dad groaned and tried to cover his face, to block the punches, but in vain - Hawk wasn't a kid anymore, he wasn't the one who was getting his ass kicked anymore, he was stronger than Dad now, and he was going to kill that fucking asshole—!

"Hawk, stop—!" Miguel's voice cut through Hawk's senses, as he felt a pair of hands gripping his arm, pulling him back.

"No! Let me go—!"

An animal growl left Hawk's lips, as he tried to struggle free, but Miguel's grip held. Demetri rushed to his aid, and together they tried to pull Hawk off Dad, and Hawk's grip on him loosened. Not hesitating for a second, Dad seized the moment and his kick landed in Hawk's gut, making him let out a pained groan.

From sheer shock, Miguel and Demetri let go of Hawk, and instantly, he was wrestling with Dad on the sand again, hitting him in the face in blood-red fury, but now getting punched too. Dad's fist met his cheek and he tasted blood—

"Enough! Stop it!" Miguel commanded, and grabbed Hawk again, pulling him back. Together with Demetri, he managed to get the kicking and writhing Hawk off Dad and drag him further until he was out of Dad's reach.

"Asshole—!" Hawk yelled, his voice breaking, hot rage burning his windpipe. "You fucking asshole! How could you do this? How could you do this to Mom? I'll fucking kill you—!"

Dad was groaning and spitting blood, trying to roll onto his side on the shoreline. A wave washed over him, soaking his nice pants and the collared shirt that was now stained and bloodied. The pretty, blond woman he'd been with, rushed to his aid crying hysterically, and her sneakers got wet in the shallow water, as she tried to help Dad up.

"Josh, Josh— are you alright? Oh my god, I'm calling the police—!"

Blood poured into Hawk's mouth - the soft inside of his cheek was scraped, the pain was piercing, but Hawk barely recognized it. He'd had worse. The pain wasn't what killed him. It was the sight of the young, pretty lady by Dad's side, that was carving out his heart. She looked so worried, she was clearly upset as fuck, crying rivers down her flushed cheeks, and—

Hawk's glance swept at her rounded belly, and a new wave of nausea hit him. That woman was very pregnant. Shit, if she went into labor because of this shock— Hawk swallowed hard, forcing himself to calm down. He wasn't prepared to deliver his Dad's bastard on a public beach, for fuck's sake.

"Let go of me— I'm okay," he groaned to his friends, who were still holding him back in their iron grip, Demetri hanging in one arm, Miguel in the other.

His friends did as he had told them, and Hawk drew in a deep, shaky breath watching how Dad crawled up onto his feet, aided by the pregnant woman. He was bleeding heavily from his nose, there were bruises forming on his cheeks and in his dirty, torn clothes, he looked pathetic, beaten, which gave Hawk some level of satisfaction.

"You can call the police all you want," he spat out the bitter words. "But you fucking piece of shit, you deserved this—"

"No— no police," Dad groaned. "Eli— I—"

"Shut your fucking mouth!" Hawk yelled, the rage breaking his voice. "I don't wanna hear anything you say! The fucking work trips? The late nights at the office? You were supposed to be in Toronto this week! This is not fucking Toronto! Mom's been waiting for you to call her all fucking week, and what the fuck— you were fucking this— this—" he stopped mid-sentence, lacking a fitting word. He was drowning in anger, in bitterness, he wanted to call that woman names, slut, whore, bitch— but he held his tongue.