Don arrived home an hour later, two small children and a large overnight bag in hand. Kana swung the door open and invited the kids in, welcoming them to their home. They caught sight of Gen and Mika curled up on the sofa watching TV and rushed to them.
“Genya!” Ben shouted, throwing his arms around his new friend.
Mika and Gen grabbed up the kids and held them, relieved to see they were safe and unharmed. Four voices reverberated around the living room as the kids told them everything that had happened since Mika had left the night before. They also told Gen and Kana how Mika looked when he “got hurt really bad by Daddy”, and how scared they were.
Gen did not like having to listen to that part of the story. “Well, he’s all better now,” he said with a grin. “Just a little bruised, that’s all.”
Mika nodded. “I’m okay, guys, promise.”
Ana frowned. “You always say that.”
Mika hugged his little sister as she sat in his lap. “And I always mean it at the time, don’t I?”
She nodded, popping her thumb in her mouth. “Don’t get hurt again,” she said around the favored digit, laying her head against his shoulder. Kana came in and offered them a treat, homemade cookies. The two accepted them gladly.
“Hey, can I talk to Genya alone for a minute?” Mika asked them. They nodded, happily chewing Kana’s cookies.
Mika handed Anabelle over to Kana who set the girl on her knee and began talking to her about her pretty shirt and hair tie.
The two older boys left the room, going to the living room across the house. They landed on one of the couches, Mika holding his head in his hands.
“I’m sorry, Gen,” he moaned. “This is not how this day was supposed to go. We were supposed to have a fun date staring at giraffes and bored-ass lions, not dealing with my family’s drama for a second day in a row.”
“Third.”
Mika looked up at him.
“You escaped the house on Thursday because you hid the gun, remember?”
“Oh yeah,” Mika said.
Gen took Mika’s hand. “It’s fine, Mika,” he said. “Okay, so our relationship is starting off a bit weird, but I can handle it. We’ll just deal with it one day at a time. The bonus is I get you to myself for a little longer and I don’t see the problem with that.”
Mika’s eyes roamed Gen’s face, taking in the look of pure kindness and affection no one else ever showed him. His friends cared about him, sure, but not like this. The only one who had any knowledge of his family dynamic was Kelly and she did her best to stay out of it. She didn’t handle family drama well, especially since she was dealing with her own.
“But what do we do with them?” Mika asked, implying the children.
“Two options. Either we take them with us to the zoo, where they can run around freely for a bit and get some energy out, or they stay here with Kana who is going to spoil the shit out of them all day long.”
“Both aren’t bad options,” Mika said. “We can put it to them and see what they say.” He frowned. “But if they choose the zoo, are you fine with kids tagging along? I mean, it’s kind of our first date.”
“I did promise I’d play with Ben the next time I saw him,” Gen said. “This is the next best thing in my book. Besides, maybe it could be a good thing, maybe throw some good juju into the relationship, I don’t know.”
Mika laughed, the sound bringing a wide grin to Gen’s face. It was such a gorgeous smile, Mika thought. He leaned over and kissed him, this time briefly and tenderly. He would torment him again later, he decided. There was something else Kelly had told him about he wanted to try.
They stood up and walked back to the den, fingers intertwined. Ben noticed immediately and pointed.
“Hey, you’re holding hands!” he exclaimed. “Does Mom know you do that?”
“We just started doing it,” Mika said, “so, no, she doesn’t. And right now she doesn’t need to know, okay? She’s got enough on her plate to worry about.”
“Okie doke,” Ben agreed.
“So, we were wondering if you wanted to do something,” Gen said. “Me and Mika were going to go to the zoo today, since it won’t be crowded. Would you like to go with us, or would you like to stay here with Kana and play games with her? She has some pretty fun games, too.”
“We can also watch some anime,” Kana added. “Whatever you want, I’m down.”
Both kids looked thoughtful as they considered their options. Even they knew they had a tough decision to make.
Don walked in from the porch at that point and looked pointedly at Gen. He motioned for his son to join him. Gen told Mika he’d be right back and went outside with his father.
“What’s up?” he asked as soon as the door was shut.
Don put his hands in his pockets and said, “We have a problem.”
“What?” Gen tensed, expecting the worst.
“I just got off the phone with Jo. It seems not long after we left, Thomas came home. And I mean, minutes after we left.”
“Like he wasn’t far off the whole time.”
Don nodded.
“Did she call the cops to have him arrested?”
“That’s the problem…she said when he came home, he was ‘remorseful.’ He apparently felt guilty about what he did to Mika and did not, in fact, yell that he was pissed that he was alive, but scared that he had died and didn’t know what to do so he panicked and ran off again.”
“That’s bullshit.”
“I know it is,” Don agreed. “Either way, he convinced her to drop the charges and call off the hunt.” He lit up a cigarette and shook his head, blowing out a stream of smoke. “Joys of the job,” he muttered.
“What about Mika? What about the kids? We can’t just let them go back! He’s going to–”
Don shook his head. “Not our call, kid. However, she said the kids can still spend the day with us, but Mika does have to be home Monday after school, period.”
“Dad!”
“Eugene, I understand,” his father said in his calm voice. “Believe me, I don’t like it either but again, not my call. No charges have been pressed and there’s no documented evidence of his attack.”
“The fuck–it’s on his throat! Take pictures, make a report, something!”
“Did Mika tell you he wanted to do that?”
Gen fell silent.
“I thought not. If the victim refuses to come forward to make a report, then the police are powerless to act, visible bruises or not.” He paused, leaning against the house, smoking his cigarette slowly, his gaze off in the distance. “I did convince her to let him stay the weekend, though.”
Gen’s head turned his father’s way. “Wasn’t that the original plan, anyway? That he would be here for a few days?”
“She told me to send him home today.”
Gen’s stomach lurched. After what she had been a witness to, she was willing to still submit to that bastard that easily? There was no doubt in his mind that it was Thomas that wanted Mika home today, not Jolene. That bastard was going to finish the job and his own wife was going to let him do it.
Don saw the wheels turning in his son’s head. Knew that look of rage Gen sometimes got when he was faced with something that was unjust and wrong. His son knew what was going on, saw the truth behind the lies Jo had told them. Don still didn’t understand in moments like these why Gen had chosen not to be a cop. Don thought he’d actually be pretty good at it, since he could see through people’s crap better than anyone, given what he’d been through. He had spent years observing everyone and everything around him, so he knew bullshit when he smelled it.
“Don’t place your anger on Jo,” Don said. “She’s only following the script.”
“Thomas will kill Mika in front of her, damn near almost did, and she has to allow it? How is that okay, Dad?”
“It isn’t. It never is. I can’t recall the amount of murder scenes I’ve arrived at where that scenario played out that very way. That’s why I pushed to keep him over the weekend. If nothing else, it gives them both a chance to cool down and for Jo to do whatever she can to talk him out of hurting Mika again, if only for a little while.”
Gen looked into the house, at Mika who was on the floor with Benjamin playing some sort of hand game while Kana played with Anabelle on her lap, blowing bubble kisses and making the little girl squeal with laughter. It was such a contrasting scene to what he knew they would be returning to; fear and despair.
“Let them be happy today,” Don was saying. “That’s all we can do for them right now. You never know the power of one good memory.” He flicked his cigarette butt into the pot and headed inside.
Gen followed a moment later, determined not to ruin his day with Mika with his own agitation over the situation. He wanted Mika to be happy, to smile and laugh. He knew that no matter what, he had to send him back into that den of pain and hatred and there was nothing he could do about it. As he had told Mika before, if he did take him out of there without a plan, it would only spell disaster for his mother and siblings. In the meantime, even if it was just for a couple more days, he would make sure Mika was safe and that beautiful smile of his was as glowing as it was in this very moment.
He smiled and squatted down behind him, his chin on Mika’s shoulder. Mika turned to him, and asked if everything was okay. Gen smiled reassuringly and kissed him on the forehead.
“So, what’s the verdict?” Gen asked
“They have chosen…the zoo!” Kana said tickling Ana and making her giggle. “Because apparently, smelly old elephants are more fun than I am.”
Ben sighed loudly. “That’s not what I said at all.”
“No, no, it’s fine, I understand.” Kana put the back of her hand to her forehead, pretending melodrama. “I suppose I’ll just have to lay on the sofa and waste away with loneliness as no one will be around for me to amuse and pamper.”
“Right, like you won’t just pamper yourself, anyway,” Gen quipped, finding the kids’ jackets near Mika’s overnight bag. He handed Ben his and Kana helped Ana into hers.
“How long are you guys planning on being out?” she asked.
“Few hours, maybe,” Gen shrugged. “The zoo is thirty minutes away and pretty big.”
“Do you know if the Cat Ride is still going?” Mika asked.
Ben’s eyes went wide. “The Cat Ride! I wanna do that!” he jumped up and down, grabbing Gen’s hand. “Can we, Genya?”
Gen laughed. “Yeah, if it’s actually working these days, we’ll make it happen.”
“Yes!” the little boy whooped, throwing his arms in the air in celebration.
“Take the SUV,” Don said, handing Gen the keys. “Ana’s car seat is already set up and it’s one of those that’s a pain in the ass to handle. Plus,” he said, lowering his voice, “I don’t want to take any chances today.”
Gen nodded. As much as he hated driving the SUV, he had to admit his dad was right. His truck was just as safe, if not more so, but it was also highly visible and distinctive. Even if Thomas didn’t go out searching for Mika, it was better to be safe than sorry. The SUV blended in with no unique markings so they could drive around with less concern of being tracked.
Kana gave them a bag of snacks for the kids and sent them off with hugs and promises to make them something tasty when they got back.
As they piled into the SUV, looking every bit like a family going on an outing, Gen pulled out his phone and noticed his dad had wired him some money to his account. To treat the kids and yourselves, was the memo attached.
On the way, Ben and Ana chatted and played in the back seat while Mika and Gen talked about their classes and the upcoming final week before Spring Break. Gen even admitted he was still nervous about Monday, unsure if Mika’s friends would even be willing to talk to him. Mika assured him that everything would be fine.
“Hey, didn’t you say you had another class with Kelly?” he asked.
Gen nodded. “Besides the English Lit class? Yeah, statistics on Tuesdays. I don’t have classes with Riley or Marcus, though. They’re all in the regular Freshmen classes, I think.”
“How do you know that?”
Gen tapped his temple and grinned. “Perks of being a ghost. I see and hear everything.”
“That’s interesting,” Mika grinned. “What else do you know about them?”
“I know Kelly’s allergic to soy milk. She was complaining to one of the other girls in stats about it once. There’s a guy in one of my prereqs that goes birdwatching on the weekends, another guy has a thing for our history teacher, Ms. Darcy. Which is honestly kind of gross since she’s in her sixties and he’s our age.”
Mika laughed. “Age is just a number.”
“And a jail cell is just a room paid for by the public.” Gen chuckled. “Don’t get me wrong, if it’s two consenting adults, it’s fine. When it’s a kid, though…” he shook his head.
Mika went silent and looked out the window. “Yeah,” he said quietly, his voice barely heard over the music playing over the radio. Gen glanced over, worried about Mika’s sudden shift. Mika must have noticed because he looked back at Gen and smiled. “Sorry, just got lost in thought for a minute.” He took Gen’s hand in his hand kissed the back of it and the mood reshifted once again.
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