The Bad Boy and the Other Bad Boy

Chapter 2

JAX
I didn't even know where I was until I unlocked the door in a daze. I stood there for a moment in the dark, hand on the doorknob. I shut it behind me quietly, kicking myself for coming here. My footsteps quiet, I made my way up the stairs slowly, watching the surrounding shadows for movement. I  nearly reached the top when light flooded the staircase and I froze. 

A large man stood at the top of the staircase. His massive arms, crawling with tattoos, were crossed across his wide chest. One hand held a cup of water. A neat beard covered the bottom half of his face. He was wearing sleeping shorts and a t-shirt, and a black leather Cobra jacket stretched across his enormous shoulders. 

He considered me, face impassive. 

"Hi, son. " 

I sighed and bowed my head. "Hi, Dad. " 

---

My dad watched me, from across the table, sipping on his water. 

I sat there, looking anywhere but him. 

The clock in the kitchen ticked loudly.

He put his water down and stared at me some more. 

I sighed again. "Dad, it's late. Can I go to bed? " 

He leaned forward. "Not until you tell me where you've been sleeping for the past two weeks. " 

I looked at the ground. Wow, we really needed a new kitchen floor-

"Jax. " 

I shrugged. "Um, you know, here and there ... "

My father' stony face softened a bit and he rubbed his beard tiredly. "Why don't you sleep at home, Jax?"

I finally met his stare. "You really just asked me that, huh."

It was my father's turn to look at the ground. 

"Every single night, I come home to you completely off your face, and that's if I'm lucky. If I'm not, I come home to you completely off your face with a bunch of Cobras also off their faces. I come home to a house reeking of weed, sweaty people I have never met getting it on in my bed-"

"The bed thing was a once off - " my father began - but I wasn't finished.

" - the house trashed, no food in the fridge, sometimes no electricity." 

My father's face was red. "Jax, you could've helped out too! You're 17 now. You could pull your weight sometimes - " 

I laughed derisively, eyes narrowing. "Are you kidding me? Don't you remember what happened the last time I pulled my weight? " 

My father glared at me mutinously. 

"I got a job, remember that? And I left you money for bills. What happened to that money, Dad? Do you remember? Or were you too high to remember? " 

My father stood, shoving his chair back.
"Don't you talk me like that, " he roared. "Don't you fucking dare. "

As he stood, I suddenly realised what he had been drinking before hadn't been water. It had been clear, hard liquor - the same kind which Denver had once filled my water bottle with then told a teacher.
But he wasn't drunk enough that he couldn't catch me - not that I tried to run. I just sat there, closed my eyes as his fist slammed into my face, hoping this time, finally, my father would see the bruises on his son in the morning and fucking wake up.
So I endured.
And when he was standing over me, breathing hard, as I held myself up on the kitchen counter, I looked at him.
I could hardly see - one eye was already swelling, and an earlier blow to my ribs made breathing difficult.
I kept looking at him. "Are you done." I said quietly.
He just stared at me, blinking.
I winced as I pushed myself off the counter, one hand on my ribs. "Goodnight, Dad. " 

A sleepy voice called down the stairs. "Honey? Jax? Is everything ok? " 

Too late. 

"Everything's fine, Mom, " I called back. "Go back to sleep." 

There was silence for a moment. 

"Ok, darling. Goodnight. " She called back.

Fuck you, Mom. Fuck you for not coming down the stairs. 

"Goodnight. " I said quietly. 

Dad was silent as I let myself out the door, didn't call out as I started my bike.

---

Ryan opened the door, thank god. I didn't want his mum fussing over me as I knew she would - didn't want his parents sympathetic looks or whispered sentences to each other. His parents knew my father - they were both Cobras.

Ryan took one look at my face and his expression morphed into stone.
We both remained silent as we climbed the stairs to his room. He disappeared back down the stairs and reappeared with two packs of frozen peas and pushed them into my chest. I  patted his arm in thanks as he sat down beside me.
We stared at the wall for a while then Ryan turned to me.
"Wanna play Fortnort?" he said quietly.
I scoffed and gave him a derisive look.
"You want to play Figgledite. Even after I smashed you into pulp last time. "
He turned to look at me, mouth hanging open. "You snuck up on and killed everyone of our team members then got dead in a trap."
I smacked him.
He smacked me.

--

Denver was still not at school the next day even though all his Wolverine friends were. They usually took up a large portion of the cafeteria, sitting on tabletops, like ugly black crows or something.
Though we couldn't say much. Us Cobras were probably similar in our corner on the other side of the cafeteria. Everyone avoided us, knowing that that corner was our territory.
Today, as usual when the bell rang for lunch, that spot was occupied by a group of people in black leather jackets over their uniforms - something which no teachers allowed but also something all teachers were to pussy to make a stand against. 

But this time, unlike usual, the patches on their backs were not cobras - instead they were snarling Wolverines.
I went straight up to Rio, a skinny Wolverine with a shaved head who lay lazily across my normal spot, my guys forming a protective shape behind me.
"Fuck you want, " I growl at him.
He swings around into a sitting position, elbows resting on his knees. The rest of the Wolverines turned to face us as well, gazes sharpening as they broke off from their conversations.
"Oh, I think you know, Prince Cobra. " Rio drawled, eyes sharp, gaze fixed on my face.
I sighed. "As much as I want to stand talking to you all day Rio babe, your boy's got things to do, places to be. So, if you wouldn't mind getting to the fucking point... "
Rio unfolded himself and stood up, face to face with me. The Cobras behind me shifted closer as he stared down at me threateningly.
"I'm not fucking with you, man." He spat. "There'll be fucking consequences for this. "
I smile at him fakely. "What are you on? Crack? "
Several Wolverines jumped up and held Rio back as he lunged at me. "Are you fucking Cobras trying to start a war? Where the fuck is he?"
I wasn't even mad at this point. "What the fuck are you on about? Where is who?" I yelled at him. Teachers were going to start congregating here soon.
Rio's eyes glared into mine. "Don't act dumb, you bloody tool! You think we wouldn't notice he's been missing for four days! Where is Rocco?"