Pack Secrets || WLW

Not Much Use

 My dad's making a calm down gesture, like he can read my fear through my expression. "I'll get Gray to unlock the cuffs. Just gimme a sec," he says, and shoves his hands in his jacket pockets as he walks toward the chaos on the other side of the parking lot.

I watch him skeptically. This isn't the person he was when I left town. I don't even remember what he was like when he was sober. A beer can had become a permanent fixture to his palm. His eyes were always bloodshot, his breath whiskey tinted, his words slurred.

The man walking back toward me with a set of keys in his hands is not the man I remember a year ago when I swore I'd never come back to Glassboro. He holds the keys up so I can see them and moves to unlock the cuffs but stops when my posture goes stiff.

"Would you rather..." He doesn't finish the question. Instead he just extends the keys to me.

I don't respond, only nod and take the keys from him. Unlocking the handcuffs with one hand is more difficult than I'd imagined or maybe it's because my hands are still shaking from everything that happened tonight.

"I've got some alcohol wipes in the back of the Jeep," my dad says, pointing at the crusted blood on my wrist. He shrugs. "Never know who wore those before you."

"Probably Ricky." I scoff. My body reacts late, like I was unaware of what was going to come out of my mouth until now. I dare to look my father in the eye, expecting him to lash out or at least call me a name and then storm off. A common reaction from a year ago.

Instead, he chuckles. "You're probably right." He leaves to his jeep and comes back with a small paper packet. He's holding it out to me when June pushes through the crowd of people in the parking lot, her head snapping left and right until her gaze falls on me.

I can see her body physically relax at the sight of me. As much as I hate to admit it, I feel it too. Seeing her with nothing more than a scratch mark on her cheek sends ripples of calm through my chest.

"Sawyer," she says, breathless as she jogs over to us. "I'm so glad you're okay." The last half of her sentence is muffled against my shoulder as she pulls me into a hug. She looks at my dad when she pulls away, her expression falling. "Mr. Harrison." She keeps her tone cordial but I can see the way her jaw clenches as she shakes his hand.

My dad motions between the two of us. "Are you two... uh... A couple?"

"No." I say it too fast. I can tell by the way June's eyes dart to the ground and my dad raises his eyebrows at me. "No, I still live in the city. I'm not... We're not... No."

"Uh-huh," he says, watching us skeptically. "What was all this tonight, June?" He gestures to the parking lot full of police cruisers and the local news van.

June pulls her shoulders back and smiles at him. Good ole respectful June. "Nothing out of the ordinary, sir." She shoves her hands deep in her pockets. "Just some wolves trying to move into the city. A product of climate change and warmer weather. Probably looking for water." She sounds like a politician, fielding his question professionally even though we all know this was nothing close to normal.

My dad watches her for a long moment and then lets out a breath. "Uh-huh," he says again, sounding even more skeptical than he had before. "Well. Be sure to let me know if there's anything I can do." He starts walking backwards to his Jeep. "Although... You know I'm not much use around these parts anymore."

My eyebrows pull together when I look at June. What the hell is that supposed to mean? Why would June know anything about my dad? Do they have history I've never heard of? I know my dad isn't a good guy, always drunk in public or committing some kind of petty crime but has he had a run in with June before? And, if so, why hasn't she told me? That seems like something I deserve to know.