Mind Games - Page 202

“Done, just done.”

He tossed books in the box, thought the hell with it.

He got up, went into his studio. He chose a guitar, plugged it in. And played loud, pissed-off rock to take the edge off.

The music made Bray even madder. Daddy didn’t care what he wanted. He didn’t care about his friends, about Bunk, about anybody.

He wanted Bunk. He wanted Thea and his friends and Grammie and Rem and Miss Hanna.

Still wearing his Mario pajamas, he put on his shoes. He could tie them now. He was a big boy, and he could tie his shoes. He could walk to Thea’s all by himself, and she’d let him play with Bunk and make him pancakes and he’d live in her house because his daddy was mean.

Choosing his blue monster truck, he went downstairs while the music rang out. He went out the front door.

* * *

Deep in the work, Thea nearly didn’t hear the knock on the front door. Bunk did, and ran for it.

“All right, damn it.”

Annoyed by the interruption at a critical point in her coding, she pushed up to answer.

When she opened the door, Bunk rubbed himself all over the little boy with teary eyes and a runny nose.

“I’m cold,” he said, and sobbing, threw himself on the dog.

“Oh my goodness, Braydon.” She shrugged out of her cardigan, wrapped it around him. “Is Daddy all right?”

“Daddy doesn’t like me anymore. I want to stay with Bunk. I don’t want to go back to ’delphia. Can I live in your house?”

“Oh, baby.” She picked him up and dug in the pocket of the sweater for a tissue. “Of course your daddy likes you. He loves you more than anything in the whole world. Did you walk up here all by yourself?”

“I’m a big boy.” He sobbed it. “I tied my shoes.”

“You are, such a big boy.” She swayed, she stroked, she soothed. “Your daddy’s going to be worried.”

“No. He says we have to go and I can’t have my school and my friends and Bunk, and you’re too busy.”

He wrapped his arms around her neck. “I don’t want to go away. I want my daddy. I want my daddy to like me. I want to stay here with my daddy.”

“Okay. It’ll be all right. Everything’s going to be all right. Let’s get you home. Your daddy’s going to be scared if he doesn’t find you.”

“I said I didn’t like him anymore.”

“He knows you didn’t mean that. It’s all right.” Crooning, Thea carried him to the car.

“Tell him we have to stay.”

“Don’t worry about that.” After she set him in the car, she buttoned up the cardigan. “Don’t worry.”

With Bunk in the back, she drove down the lane.

When she pulled up, rushed around to lift Bray out of the passenger seat, Ty bolted out of the back door.

“Braydon.”

She set the boy down, then stepped back as Ty sprinted over to grab him. “I couldn’t find you, I couldn’t find you. Don’t ever do that. I couldn’t find you. You scared me.”

He pressed his face to his son’s hair, breathed him in. “I love you so much. I’m sorry I yelled at you. I’m sorry.”