Chapter 27

The girls were, indeed, tickled to see Brock and their mother. Frank was less pleased--at least until he got the paperwork forgiving all his past debts. Then he was happier to see Leslie. He wasn’t sure about Brock and he was less so when both Jen and Mel gave him a warm kiss and a hug.

He had heard all about this boy’s trials and travails over the few weeks that the kids had been visiting. He wasn’t sure he liked the thought of this guy being too close to his family.

The month that Frank spent in jail every year had given him an idea of what that life was like. He couldn’t imagine prison--which some of the other convicts had told him was 10 times worse than jail. And he couldn’t imagine spending almost two years in a place like that. To be 15 years old when you did had to leave some permanent mental scars.

Frank vowed to warn Brock away from his ex-wife and his kids before his visit to Wyoming was over.

“I think it’s best if you stay away from my daughters,” he said a day later.

Brock did a double take.

“You folks from Corbly sure have an uncanny sense of irony,” Brock replied.

“What the hell does that mean?” Frank asked.

“It’s almost comical to hear you say that,” Brock said. “Because it’s almost word for word what your daughters say about you.”

Frank looked at Brock stonefaced.

“I can offer you some encouragement, if I need to,” Frank said as he cracked his knuckles.

Brock laughed out loud.

“Oh, you’re serious,” he said when his laughter subsided.

“I’ve whipped bigger men than you,” Frank said with a glare.

Brock nodded.

“Bigger maybe,” he said. “But I doubt you’ve fucked with anyone meaner. I’ve made far tougher men than you piss themselves in the corner because they knew they would have to go through me to the toilet. Hell, I’m so tough your ex-wife doesn’t even scare me. And believe me, she’s a pit bull compared to your terrier.”

Frank stepped closer to the much taller Brock.

“There won’t be a club around here to help you, tough guy,” Frank said.

Brock laughed again.

“See, that’s what happens when you get all your information from the internet,” he said. “The boy with the club was only paralyzed. The one I killed was hand-to-hand combat. And if anything, prison made me a little better at it than I was before.

“Look, pal, you lost most of your right to make decisions for your daughters when you snuck out of the house like a thief in the night 15 years ago. You left your family almost penniless so you could do what you wanted. I know what kind of man does that and it isn’t the type man who frightens me. So put your dick back in your pants before you find yourself in a situation you don’t want to be in. It would be awful tough to live your dream when you can’t walk any longer.”

Frank took a quick step back but continued to glare.

“Oh, yeah, I know all about the way you left. By the way, in case you haven’t noticed, your daughters are adults--or at least Mel is and Jen will be in a few months,” Brock continued. “Do you really think you’ll ever see them again when they aren’t forced to be here? If you do, you might think again.”

Frank took a step back but stared at Brock.

“Mel comes back because she wants to,” he said forcefully. “She hasn’t had to come here for two years.”

Brock smiled and shook his head.

“Mel comes here because she’s worried that Jen will run away the first day she’s here and create a whole mess of legal problems for their Mom,” Brock said. “You take a real hard look at them when they board the plane because it’ll be years before you see them again. In fact, call Jen over here and ask her if she’s coming back. Or better yet, offer to let her leave now if she wants to. Her bags will be packed and she’ll be waiting in the car before you can blink. Don’t kid yourself. You can’t whip me and you can’t decide on your daughter’s friends.

“Now if you’re done making a fool out of yourself, I want to spend some time with some people I’ve missed over the past few months.”

Frank made the mistake of offering to let Jen go home with her mother and just as Brock predicted the girl was packed and ready to leave within 20 minutes.

“I’ll see you next summer,” Frank told her as she was preparing to leave.

“I don’t think so,” Jen replied. “Today is the last time you’ll see me at this piece of shit you call home. Send me a letter sometime and maybe you can visit me. But I won’t be back next summer.”

Frank looked at Brock with hatred in his eyes.

Brock shrugged.

“I know your daughters better than you do, Frank,” he said. “It’s a shame, isn’t it?”

Brock sat quietly on the ride to the airport, just listening to the conversation the Miles family conducted.

“See you next summer, my ass,” Mel said. “See you in hell maybe.”

Leslie glanced at Brock for support but shook his head.

“You really shouldn’t be angry with your dad,” Leslie started. “I didn’t mean to pass my hatred on to you girls.”

Mel cut her off an instant before Jen could.

“He drags us out here to do what he wants to do,” Mel said. “We do the stuff he likes every summer. He never asks what we want to do. He never takes our opinions into consideration. This has nothing to do with you or how you feel about him.”

Jen said the same thing.

“I’ve hated it here since I’ve been forced to come,” she said. “If I had the choice at 16 I’d have made the same one. If I could stopped at 13 I would have. I’ve never planned to visit that man after this summer. And like Mel said, it isn’t because of you. It’s because of him.”

Leslie glanced at Brock again.

“What did he say to you this morning?” she asked. “He looked mad but you were laughing.”