Defender's Heartbeat

Chapter 39

Pedro

As Enzo's new guardian, I received an email from the school. I was in the office when I opened it, and my jaw dropped to the floor at what I saw inside.

"Sir, are you okay?" I heard my secretary ask.

"Get out," I yelled at her. I didn't normally act that way, but I was burning with anger.

It was Enzo's report from all the years he had attended St. Anthony's School, the same school Louis and I had attended. It was the best school around here.

The principal mentioned that Mr. Gerado Perez had never responded to any of his reports and had never attended any parent meetings. I hadn't known that.

Reading Enzo's report made me want to return his custody to Papa immediately.

There were so many complaints against Enzo. I couldn't remember Louis or me ever behaving like this. We had been some of the best students at school.

I reviewed the complaints carefully, ensuring I hadn't misread them the first time. Enzo skipped classes, sometimes even while the teacher was instructing. He just walked out of the classroom, claiming it was boring.

He beat up other students, offering flimsy excuses like, "I don't like his face." Really, Enzo?

He was caught in the girls' locker room, kissing girls. Unsurprisingly, the girls had let him in willingly. They were obsessed with him. Enzo was strikingly handsome. But did they genuinely appreciate his personality? Was this behavior acceptable for these girls?

He even fought with teachers. What were you thinking, Enzo?

One day, he dove into the school swimming pool wearing only boxers, claiming it was too hot. However, the pool was meant solely for swimming practice. After he jumped in, his friends followed suit, and soon other students joined in, despite the teachers' repeated requests for them to exit the water.

He disrespected teachers, asking inappropriate questions like, "Miss, are you wearing short skirts to get attention from male students?" How mortifying.

"Mr. Price, are you having an affair with Mrs. Kim? I saw you two kissing in that corner," he announced loudly in front of a crowd of students.

And he even got caught drinking and smoking in school. Sometimes he was drunk with his friends. What the hell, Enzo? What the hell was this kid doing in school?

And the list went on.

I read more, and he had even unlocked teachers' car doors just to show he could do it. Then he fought with some male teachers just to prove he could. He was even caught using his phone during a lesson, which the teacher confiscated and gave to the principal. Later, he sneaked into the principal's office and retrieved his phone.

I was in my air-conditioned room, but I was sweating. I knew Enzo was a brat, but I hadn't known he was this kind of brat.

I took printouts of two pages from the ten pages. I couldn't wait to go home and kick his ass.

Enzo

I was chilling with Papa when I heard Pedro's bloody scream.

"ENZOOO, WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU, DOG?" He screamed like someone was dead. As long as my Papa (Manuel) was alive, I didn't care who was dead or not. So I pretended like I didn't hear Pedro.

"Do you hear Pedro screaming his lungs out for you, baby?" Papa asked calmly, stroking my hair.

"No," I said, without pausing the game I was playing on Papa's phone. I had my own phone, which was more expensive and had better features than Papa's, but I played games on his instead. Papa was mine, and everything he had was mine too.

"ENZO," Pedro burst into Papa's room like an evil monster, still in his office suit, sweating like he had run 500 meters.

"What's this?" He handed me two papers, and as I read them, I felt my cheeks burn. I was mad at the principal.

Papa looked at me curiously, then at Pedro. Pedro gestured with his head, and Papa tried to take the papers from my hands to look at them, but I quickly pulled them away.

Pedro snatched the papers from my hands violently and gave them to Papa, whose mouth dropped open in surprise.

"You did what?" Papa looked at me with surprise, anger, and disappointment.

"It's a lie," I said. "The principal is a fucking liar."

"Really? And why would he lie like this?" Pedro said, squeezing my cheek hard.

"Aw, aw, aww," I screamed in pain, and he quickly took his hand away like he didn't mean to do that. But I knew he meant to do that.

"Listen, you little shit. I'm not like Papa. You have to answer for all this bullshit one by one, and I'll be attending all your parents' meetings," he said, and I wished he hadn't taken custody of me.

He stormed away, pushing me hard against the wall. I looked at Papa, and he was staring at me with anger.

"I'm disappointed, baby," he said firmly.

Just disappointed. Thank God. I thought he was starting to hate me and wanted to leave me.

I smoothly sat beside him again.

"Can I play the game on your phone?" I asked in my most polite voice.

"No," he said, looking at me.

"Papa," I persisted, hugging his arm.

"Okay, fine," He sighed, handing his phone over and started watching TV. I leaned against his body as I began to play the game, sitting on the couch. I knew he was mad at me, but it wouldn't last more than a minute. Hehe.