Chapter 11

Chase's POV

There's a knock on my door, but I ignore it. I'm sure it's Uncle Kenny. I don't want to hear anything he has to say. The door opens and it turns out to be Aunt Karen. That's a relief. "Chase? How are you holding up?"

"I'm fine. I'm surprised you're still here." She closes the door and sits down on the bed.

"Of course. You thought Kenny was going to kick me out?" She chuckles.

I shrug. "Well...yeah. I mean you told his deep dark secret."

"I'm his baby sister, he wouldn't leave me out on the streets with nowhere to go!"

"I guess he makes sure that everyone is safe and sound under his roof except me..." I mumble.

"You're here so obviously that's not true."

"But I should've been here!"

"Well now that the truth is out, I'm sure you'll use that to your advantage, right?" She winks at me.

"I don't know..."

"You don't know? You were raised by his brother for 17 years! He owes you!"

I raise my eyebrow. Sounds like she's up to something. "I'm listening..."

Aunt Karen laughs. "It's so easy to run a guilt trip on Kenny. Your dad...err Kevin and I have been doing it ever since he became successful."

"How?"

"Whenever we need money or a place to stay, we let Kenny know that we're family and everything we've been through. Or in Kevin's case, what he did for him. He immediately feels guilty and gives us whatever we want and never asks for anything in return."

I take in the information she's given me. "Interesting. I had something else in mind, but I like the idea of guilt tripping him."

"What did you have in mind?"

I shake my head. "It doesn't matter now. Thanks Aunt Karen!"

She pats me on the back. "Anytime! I'm here if you ever need anything. You know that, right?"

"Well there's one thing you could do for me right now."

"What's that?"

"Introduce me to your dealer."

"If you want weed, just call your grandpa, I mean...Mr. Marsh."

"I'm looking for more than that if you catch my drift." I wink.

Her expression immediately goes from a smile to a serious look. "Chase, remember I just got out of rehab. That wasn't my first rodeo either. I don't want to see you go down that road."

I shake my head. "I'm not trying to get high, I'm trying to sell."

She raises her eyebrow. "Oh?"

I smirk. "That's what I did in Albuquerque to make money. I'm broke in South Park."

She laughs. "No you're not. You have Kenny's money."

"I want some of my own too. Are you going to introduce to your dealer or not? I thought I was your favorite nephew?" I bat my eyes at her.

She sighs. "Fine, but don't you dare tell Kenny about this!"

"My lips are sealed!" I smile. Good, this is all a part of my plan…

Kenny's POV

I'm over Stan's house hanging out with him and Kyle. I told them what transpired. Of course Stan already knew the truth, but it's a complete shock to Kyle. "I can't believe Chase is your son! I guess I should've suspected something, he looks just like you!" Kyle states.

"Well Kevin and Kenny look alike, they just have different hair color." Stan adds in.

"Yeah, but Chase is literally Kenny all over again. I guess I just never thought it was a possibility and assumed the McCormick's have strong genes." Kyle looks at me. "Don't you feel better now that the truth is out?"

I shake my head. "Not really. Chase is extremely pissed off."

"Dude, can you blame him?"

"No, but he's angry at Connor. He should be mad at me. I'm the one that abandoned him."

"You didn't abandon him, you made sure he had a better life." Stan tries to reassure me.

"He doesn't see it that way."

"So what are you going to do?"

I shrug. "I don't know. But if he puts his hands on Connor again…"

Kyle shakes his head. "Don't take sides when it comes to them."

"It's not about taking sides. Chase is in the wrong. He's almost 18 and Connor is 12. I'm not going to let him bully my timid 12-year-old son!"

"But you're going to cause more resentment between the two of them if you get involved."

"So I'm just suppose to sit back and let Chase bully Connor?"

Kyle nods. "Yes! Boys will be boys! They'll work it out eventually."

I can't believe he's saying this. "I can't sit back and let Chase beat the crap out of Connor. He would've did it the other day if I didn't step in."

"Then let them fight. Connor needs to learn to fight his own battles."

"Dude, I'm not going to do that to him!"

"Why not? It may be good for him."

I glare at him. "You met Connor, right? You know he hates confrontation."

"I understand, but it happens. You can't protect him from everything, you know."

I look at Stan and he shrugs. "He has a point Kenny. Everyone has been saying that you baby him too much. Let him stand on his own for once."

"May I remind you two that Chase is in a gang. He could send someone after Connor!"

"You really think he would do that?"

I sigh. I don't want to think that, but Chase is very unpredictable. "I don't put anything past him at this point." My phone rings and I see it's Connor. "It's Connor calling me now." I answer the phone. "Hey buddy!"

"Dad..." He sniffles.

"What's wrong?"

"You're going to be so mad at me..."

"Why? Whatever it is, you can tell me."

"It's my guitar." He says through sobs.

"What about it?"

"It's broken."

"What do you mean broken? Did a string come loose or something?"

"No, the neck is broken and the rest of it is split in half!"

My eyes widen. "How the hell did that happen?"

"I don't know! I was very careful with it! I put it in my closet and I thought it was safe. Dad, I'm so sorry!" He sobs.

"Shh! Calm down. We'll figure it out when I get home, okay?"

Connor sniffles. "Are you mad at me?"

"Of course not. I'm sure there's a very reasonable explanation for this. Is Chase home?"

"I don't know. I went straight to my room as soon as I got home."

"Okay. I'll be home soon. Get started on your homework, okay?"

"Okay dad. Again, I'm sorry about the guitar."

"It's okay. I love you."

"I love you too dad." I hang up and turn towards the guys. "I'm sure you guys heard that."

Kyle folds his arms and shakes his head. "I guess you're going to blame Chase?"

I shrug. "It's something he would do."

Kyle slaps his forehead. "Kenny…you haven't listened to a word I've said."

"I did listen, but what else am I supposed to do? Now he's breaking shit!"

"You don't know that it was him."

"I'm pretty sure it was."

"He's innocent until proven guilty."

"Dude, let's just say Chase did do this." Stan steps in. "Don't you think that maybe he did it to get your attention? Go easy on him." This is why he behaves the way he does, everyone wants to go so easy on him.

"But make sure he's the guilty party first!" Kyle adds in.

I sigh. "I hear what you guys are saying, but I already know what happened. I'm going to put a stop to it!"

"Can you at least calm down first? You're going to make the situation worse if you go there angry, especially if you're wrong about Chase."

"Fine…" I tell them. I already know I'm right about Chase. If he did this, he's not going to get away with this!