33. I want you to be my loyal dog

Should I be thankful to have met Haruka yesterday? Seeing myself murder someone and finding out it had presumably not really been me, had me gotten so shocked and relieved that I now felt able to handle the situation.

Looking through my missed calls, there were a bunch of numbers I didn't know, anonymous ones, and a few from my grandmother. Her, I called back.

"What have you gotten yourself into, you brat?"

"Isn't it illegal that they use my pictures?"

"Attorneys are already on it. The problem is it started on the internet, went viralilly, and then the press sprung up." 

"Viral, not viralilly. Pfft." I chuckled.

"You can still laugh while dirtying my family name!" She snapped at me.

"So even if they take it down, the damage is done." I stated, already knowing.

"It is. I have a ticket that brings you abroad; pack your stuff; in an hour there is a car."

"No way; that just makes me more suspicious. It didn't do a thing." I know how naive this sounds, but I can't investigate a parallel world from abroad.... I think.

"THERE ARE EVEN INNOCENT PEOPLE ON THE DEATHROW, YOU DUMB DISAPPOINTMENT!" She suddenly yelled.

"DON'T YELL AT ME, OLD HAG! I know. But I did a lie detector test, and in the pictures and videos is no tattoo visible, you know, on my back. They are all fake." Can't tell her too much, or she gets a heart attack and locks me up in a psychiatric hospital, personally.

"YOU HEARD HIM, FAKE, ALL FAKE, TATTOO!" She yelled at some other people near her.

"Thanks, grandma, but don't get so agitated; the attorneys are gonna do the job. How about you go abroad so that I don't have to bury you while being a suspect."

"You wimp, are you threatening me?" She shrieked chillingly.

"No, what the hell? I meant you are getting a heart attack because you get so pumped up. Calm down and get on an island and drink something."

"Maybe I do just that; why do I even care about you? Unthankful idiot." She hung up on me, and I chuckled. Not a minute later, she sent me a message with the number of my attorneys, saying that they had my number as well.

Not half an hour later, the next helping hand came.

I was just brushing my teeth after finishing the leftovers from yesterday when my door was nearly kicked open.

Looking through the blinds, I saw my father, and I became speechless. Unlocking the door, I had an inkling that it was a mistake when he slapped me across the face.

Wordlessly, he punched me after that, and I landed on the floor. Well, I still had the warmth of my friends and grandmother with me, so I thought it was only fair that the other side was coming for me.

"What did you do to the poor girl?" He asked me, his face contorted, looking like an ugly mask. I spat out blood, thinking that this was long overdue. I bet he wanted to beat me earlier, but his upbringing hindered him. Now, he had a real reason to do so.

"Nothing." I said while grinning.

"We should have never gotten you." He said while kicking me in the stomach. I saw his move coming and strained my muscles so that the blow wouldn't rupture my organs. Still, it hurt like hell.

"How could you? She was so young!" 

"My mom, or the murder victim?" I asked him, and that sent him really off. He slapped me again, so hard that my ear rang, while I still lay on the floor. A rain of blows, partly with fists and partly slaps, came down on me. 

It seemed as if he was not sure whether to slap his disorderly son, or to punch the guy who had cursed his wife.

He was back on kicking when I heard a woman scream.

"DAD, STOP IT!" Lauren didn't sound as plastic, when she showed up, holding my father back.

"YOU WILL KILL HIM!" She cried, and I felt as if I had fallen in some bad soap drama.

I was still on the floor, protecting my head, and rolled up so that I wouldn't get as injured.

My father was held back, but he still stared at me as if just that was what he intended to do. Lauren had a phone in her hand.

"GRANDMA IS ON THE PHONE!"

My father, so damn disheveled, I had last seen when my mother had died.

He took the phone and listened. I just heard the old dragon yelling something before he closed his eyes and left. Lauren gave me one look, hesitant, before also leaving.

"Haha." Damn. I don't know why, but it was somewhat liberating to see my father go berserk. I would prefer beatings to indifference anytime.

I laid flat on the floor and stared at the ceiling when I heard a noise. Turning in the direction, I found Henry standing in the still open door, looking down on me. He stared so intensely at me that it seemed he was savoring the view.

"Wanna take a picture?" I asked him, and he smiled. 

"Can I?" He questioned, tilting his head. His muscular body, clothed all in black, with his hair swaying to his shoulder, along with the bluest eyes I had ever seen—it was somewhat a stunning scene.

"Be my guest." I grinned back. I bet I am all bloody, but that was the point, wasn't it?

He took his smartphone out, and I raised my hand for a victory sign, as he snapped his picture.

"Henry. I have a question." It seemed he wasn't playing anymore; I have no idea what got him to change his plan; maybe he somewhat perceived that it wouldn't work on me anymore.

"Hm?" 

"What do I get from you, if it turns out, not that Kennith Howard is innocent, but that I, Kenny, the person you made a picture of just now, am innocent? What will you give me to repay what you have done to an innocent man?"

He looked at me with genuine mirth; he seemed sure that I was already finished.

"What do you want?"

"I want you to be my loyal dog for the rest of your life. I want you to kneel when I tell you and to spring when I tell you. Can you make this deal with me, a deal between two men?"

He laughed, mocking me, taunting me, and I saw excitement in his eyes.

"It is a deal, I promise you."