Chapter 9

Kenny's POV

Kelly and I arrive at Craig's only to see a pissed off Craig, a distraught Lucy, and a police officer that has Chase in handcuffs. "Craig, what the hell is going on?" I ask him.

Craig points at Chase. "That little bastard raped my daughter!"

"Don't call him that!" I look at Chase. "Explain yourself!"

Chase rolls his eyes. "Nothing happened Uncle Kenny! We were just kissing!"

"He was on top of her half naked! Before I came in the door I heard Lucy screaming "stop"!" He looks at the officer. "I want him thrown under the jail for forcing himself on my daughter!"

"Dude, we can work something out..." I tell Craig just before pulling Chase aside. "What we're you thinking?" I ask him. "This isn't the first time you've been caught in a compromising position with Lucy."

"Why do you care? It's not like you ever have two shits about me! That's why you got rid of me, isn't it?"

I let out a sigh and walk over to Craig. "Can you please drop this? He's not in his right mind and it's my fault."

"So I'm supposed to ignore the fact that he raped my daughter!"

"Daddy, he didn't rape me!" Lucy finally speaks up.

"Quiet Lucy! You don't know what you're saying!" Craig yells at her.

She nods. "I do!"

"Can you tell us what happened?" Kelly asks her.

She nods again. "Chase wanted to have sex and I said no. He told me he was upset because he found out that Mr. McCormick is really his dad. He felt that since he opened up to me about his situation that I would change my mind about sleeping with him. I said no and he grabbed me and got on top of me and started kissing me and unzipping my pants. That's when daddy walked in. He didn't rape me and he wasn't half naked. He never took his clothes off." She glares at Craig.

"We all know what would've happened if I didn't come home when I did!" Craig adds in.

Kelly looks at Chase. "You do understand that no means no, right?"

"Fuck you bitch! I don't want to hear anything you have to say!" He snaps.

"Chase..." I give him a warning look. I'm really not in the mood for his shit right now.

"She's always coming down hard on me! I told you she hates me!"

"I don't hate you Chase." Kelly steps in. "Rape is a serious crime. I don't want to see you throw your life away because you're angry at your dad."

"He's not my dad!"

"Officer, can you please take the cuffs off him? He didn't rape her." I ask the police officer.

"Lucy, are you absolutely sure about this?" The officer asks Lucy.

She nod. "Yes Officer. If he did rape me, I would say so."

"I guess my work here is done." He takes the cuffs off Chase. "You better be on your best behavior from now on. You may not be so lucky next time! You all have a good evening."

"You keep him the hell away from my daughter!" Craig tells me as he pulls Lucy closer to him.

I nod. "I will. I'm sorry this happened."

"Just wait until Tweek finds out about this! He's not going to be as nice about it!"

"Again, I'm sorry." I turn to Chase. "Let's go!" I grab his arm, but he jerks it away.

"I don't want to go anywhere with you!"

"Now isn't the time for this shit! You're in enough trouble as it is!"

"Don't try to act like my father now!"

He's really pissing me off. "Boy, don't test me! Let's go!"

Once we're back home, I'm trying to get through to Chase, but he's choosing to ignore me. "What the fuck were you thinking? Huh? ANSWER ME!" I scream.

"Kenny, yelling at him isn't the way to get through to him." Kelly whispers to me.

"He keeps fucking ignoring me!" I don't know how she can be so calm.

"You're the adult in this situation, so you have to keep your emotions in check."

"Fine." I sigh and sit down beside him. "Chase, talk to me. Why are you acting out like this?"

He looks at me before scooting away. "I want to go home..."

"You know that's not an option. If you go home, you can't graduate."

"At least I would be with people that actually want me around instead of someone who got rid of me and treated me as an afterthought!"

I look at Kelly, she mouths "go ahead" to me. I nod. "Listen, when you were a baby, I couldn't give you the life you deserved. I was only 15."

Chase glares at me. "What about when you got married and became rich?"

"You were attached to Kevin and Shelly. It would've been wrong to uproot you from your life."

"I could've been living the life of luxury instead of your spoiled ass kids! Why did you deny me that opportunity?"

"We were going to tell you when you were 18. It was best to keep things the way they were for the time being."

Just then, Connor comes in the room. "Hey dad, can you help me with my homework?"

I can see the anger in Chase's eyes. He points at Connor. "You got rid of me, but you kept this weird little fucker? What the hell is so special about him?"

"Chase, leave him alone! This isn't his fault."

"Umm...did I miss something?" Connor asks.

"Connor, just go to your room, your dad will come up and help you in a little bit." Kelly tells him gently.

"No, don't go Connor!" Chase walks over to him. I follow behind him as I fear what Chase may say or do. He and Connor are now face to face with Chase towering over him. Poor Connor looks terrified. Chase snickers. "Must be nice! You grew up in this big house, with servants, all the money in the world to make your dreams come true. Fancy private schools, your dorky music lessons! I really understand why you have your one little friend…if they even really exist."

Connor looks Chase's shoulder at me. "Dad...?"

Chase moves Connor's head so that he's looking at him. "No, don't call your daddy to rescue you! You're dealing with me right now!"

"W-what did I do?" Connor slowly starts to back away. I have to step in, I'm not to let him intimidate him again.

"Connor, you didn't go anything. Go upstairs!" I order him.

Connor tries to leave, but Chase stops him. "I'm not done with you! You had everything you ever wanted! You stole what should be rightfully mine!"

"I'm sorry..." At this point Connor is in tears.

"Save the tears! That may work on your parents, but not me! You're so lucky you're only 12! I'd kick your ass if you were my age!"

Connor wipes his eyes. "But why? I didn't do anything and if I did, I'm sorry!"

"Apparently that man," he points at me, "is my dad too! You have been living the life that was meant for me! I hate you! I fucking hate all of you!" He shoves Connor to ground.

"Hey! That's enough!" I kneel down beside Connor. "Are you okay, buddy?"

"Dad, is what Chase said true?"

I nod. "We'll talk about this later." I wipe his tears away. "I promise daddy will talk to you about this later, but I have to finish talking to Chase first." I kiss the top of his head. "Kelly, please take him upstairs." Kelly nods.

"I'm sorry Chase! I really am! I didn't know!" Connor tells Chase just before he and Kelly head upstairs.

"Spoiled fucking brat…" I hear Chase mumble.

I glare at Chase. "You had no right to shove Connor! He's the innocent one in all of this! If you want to be angry with someone, it should be me."

"I AM angry with you!"

"Then shove me! Hell, hit me of it will make you feel better! But don't you dare take your anger out on Connor! He's just a kid!"

Chase laughs. "You go out of your way to defend him. I'm your first born son. Have you ever gone to bat for me like that?"

"If I needed to, I would. You clearly can take care of yourself. Connor can't."

"You're a fucking joke! Maybe you did me a favor by not raising me! I could've turned out like that loser!"

I slap him. "That's enough!"

"Did you just hit me?"

I let out a sigh. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lost my cool like that. Stop talking about Connor like that! You're directing your anger at the wrong person!"

"Stop telling me what to do! I don't care what the truth is! You're not my father and you never will be!" He storms up to his room.

"Chase!" I call out after him, within seconds, I hear the door slam. Kelly comes back downstairs.

"I guess you still can't get through to him, huh?"

I shake my head. "I didn't even get a chance to finish telling him the story."

"He's not ready. Give him time to sort out his emotions. This is a lot for him to take in."

"You're right. How's Connor?"

"He's going to be okay."

"I better go talk to him. I want to make it clear that none of this is his fault. I'll try to talk to Chase again in the morning."

"Let him calm down first. If you try to force the issue, you're just going to push him further away."

"Fine, I'll give him some space." I kiss her. "God, I love you. What would I do without you?"

"You'll never have to find out." I kiss her again. I tell her I'm going to check on Connor and turn in for the night. I hate that he had to feel the wrath of Chase's anger. I have to try to make things right with them, I'm just not sure how at the moment giving that Chase is so angry.