The Bad Ones

Ch. 12: Bursting At The Seams

"Well, at least you only broke his nose," Mar said plainly. She wasn't looking at anything or anyone in particular. "Could have been worse."

Drey nodded, "Yeah, I mean, I would have killed him."

They weren't helping. After Mason told me that his dad- Mar's real dad- was the guy that killed my dad, I lost it. I beat the crap out of him and broke his nose. Other than that, he'd just have one hell of a black eye and a cut lip. What made things worse, is that he just let me hit him. He didn't resist or push me away. It was like he knew he should just let me get the anger out.

"Hi, girls."

I looked up from the waiting room chairs to see Dr. James frowning at me. "Hey, Melissa, how is he?" I asked her, standing up and using her name. Yeah, we were in the hospital. Carson found out that I know and decided to keep her distance; she was with Mason.

She sighed, "Bailey, this is assault, whether or not it was in your own house. Sweetie, so many of us in this town are trying to keep you out of jail but... One of these days, any one of us being a close friend of your father's isn't going to help."

She was right. "Yeah... Yeah, I know but, Melissa, he- his dad-" I was at a loss of words, a rare thing for me.

"His dad killed our dad, and I'll kill him is he thinks he can come anywhere near our house ever again," Drey snapped, standing beside me now.

I glanced at Mar and felt my heart sink. She's taking this harder than the rest of us because she never knew her real dad, who is in prison for his DUI record, and the only dad she's known was dead because of her real one. I knew that Drey saying Mason and Carson aren't allowed in our house was affecting her because they'd all just gotten close.

"Mar... I never meant to put you in a place like this," I frowned as I sat beside her and held her hand.

She turned to me slowly and her eyebrows furrowed together. "Mason and Carson may be my blood family, but you and Drey are my real family, Bail. What those two did... Not telling me wasn't right, with something like this, they should've told me the second we had contact. Besides... Their dad is not mine. DNA or not, my real dad is the man who raised me: Our dad," she clarified with certainty.

Melissa smiled sadly and placed a hand on my shoulder. "I have to get back to work. You girls will be fine, I know it. Your dad raised three of the smartest and most compassionate tough women in this town, why do you think everyone is complacent with the bad things you do," she winked. "Try and stay out of trouble, sweethearts."

When she left, I turned back to Mar. "I get it. I know you're mad at how they lied, clearly I was, too, but... They are your family, and I'm willing to hear them out about why they kept it to themselves. You're not losing them when you just found them, Mar," I said.

"What? Hell, no! They lied to us, Bail!" Drey objected.

"And what? If you had a chance to meet a sister you never got to talk to, would you tell her you're technically responsible for her dad's death?" I replied sharply.

"If anyone from my blood family found me, I wouldn't leave you guys like Mar left us!" she fired back.

Mar and I blinked at her in surprise. The whole time I thought she missed Mar, she was actually mad at Mar.

"Drey, I was never going to leave you guys for good," Mar said firmly.

"You shouldn't have left us at all!" she hissed back before storming away down the hall.

My eyes met Mar's, and she just shook her head and leaned back in her chair, looking guilty and distraught. Immediately, I called Niko at the house (I made them stay so they couldn't hurt Mason even more after I had) and told him to keep an eye out for Drey. Of course, he asked why, so I gave him a quick recap of what happened.