Page 22 of His Untoward Hate

The rest of the ride was spent in a heavy, profound silence, with Sky lost in thought. It looked as though the weight of the world rested entirely on his shoulders.

“So, what are you going to do with Julius? I still have no contact with him.” Kevin broke the silence the moment they arrived.

“He knew the rules. He’s not a kid anymore.” Sky responded coldly and got out of the car.

Sky took another stick of cigarettes from his pocket and lit it right away.

“What if he ran away?” Kevin asked, keeping his pace behind Sky.

Sky’s steps were normally long, so Kevin had to run practically. Sky did not answer his question, and the silence between them re-emerged. Not long after, the house of Julius appeared in view. Their house sat in the middle of vast cornfields, with neighbors a kilometer apart. Sky doubled his trance while clenching and unclenching his fist occasionally in his left pocket. His mind stayed fixed on Julius’s negligence, the frustration lingering in him. He deserved a beating.

“Fuck, these shits.” Sky cursed under his breath when some leaves of the corn blocked his way and hit his face.

The house seemed so quiet. He listened very carefully, even from a distance, observing for any sound of movement inside, but there was nothing. He knocked loudly on the door, and a child screamed afterward, likely startled awake from a nightmare by the sudden sound.

“What the hell! Wait motherfucker!” Rain cursed at the top of her lungs, Julius’s live-in partner.

“Easy, man,” Kevin whispered.

Sky threw the half-consumed cigarette and spat a ball of saliva beside the porch steps. His patience was running out very badly, and the sound of the baby crying skyrocketed his irritation.

“What?!” Rain shouted as she opened the door a few minutes later, only to freeze when she saw them.

“Sky…” she murmured under her breath, still holding a crying three-year-old Alex sideways in her arms, the child’s sobs refusing to stop.

Sky looked at the baby, and Alex stared at him; her crying suddenly stopped, studying Sky Granger as if he were an animated character, or, plainly, she thought of Peppa Pig. There were droplets of tears on her pink, chubby cheeks, and Rain wiped them using her bare hand, gently bouncing the baby in her arms in an attempt to keep her from crying. Sky took his gaze away and shifted to Rain.

I hate babies. Sky said in his mind.

“Where’s Julius?” he asked, trying not to release a firm voice or sound angry, but it always ended up in his usual tone.

“I’m supposed to ask you that. Where the hell is he? He’s not been home for three days!” she started raising her voice, but worry dominated her expression. “Alex is already running out of formula and diapers, for fuck sake.”

Sky glanced at Kevin, who was as quick as a shadow, already searching inside the house, and Kevin looked at him in failure. Sky looked back at Rain and scanned for any hint of lies on her face to see if she was hiding something, but he saw that she was telling the truth.

Fuck!

Without answering her, he turned his back on her and retreated to the car. Kevin, behind him, secretly slipped some cash and handed it to Rain.

“Hey! Sky! Where the hell is Julius?” Rain shouted, but he did not bother to look back or answer her.

Alex began crying once again.

“Goddamn it! Don’t tell me he ran away. We are screwed up! What are we going to do?” Kevin asked in panic as he hurried after Sky.

“Will you shut the fuck up?! We won’t get screwed if no one talks.” Sky said in annoyance, practically out of control.

“How could I shut up, dude? We are his friends. Whether we like it or not, we are involved with all of this. Well, we hope Julius will not incriminate us. Even if he knew the rules, he couldn’t just take all the blame on himself.” He said it while gasping, his voice filled with worry.

Sky’s blood boiled instantly, his vision seeming to darken with fury.

“So, were you saying I was part of his fucking crime?” Sky stopped walking and grabbed the collar of his shirt. “Was that what you were trying to convey?”

Sky’s glare was keen enough to feel like daggers, catching Kevin completely off guard and leaving him tongue-tied.

“Fucking, bullshit! We all know the very first rule of the organization. Do I still have to state it for you?!” Sky seethed, trying his best not to rip his throat out.

Kevin looked terrified as he realized what he was saying. He tightly held his collar, closing the space until he choked him out of breath, before he harshly let go of him. He coughed so hard that his face turned red, including his ears and neck.