Alone This Holiday

“Next we have Scotty Haner!” His teacher said, she sounded as though she were speaking to a bunch of fucktards. She was my teacher when I was in kindergarten, she shouldn’t still be teaching. But she is, sadly.

I smiled proudly as my son came out from the side of the stage. He body was covered in fake tattoos, as well as a fake nose ring on his left. The jeans he wore were a pair of dark skinny jeans, that were still too big on his tiny frame, a grey muscle shirt was on his torso, that I recognised as one that we both bought at a strange ‘father-son-shop’ in Canada. He was wearing one of my fedoras, a bandanna underneath, and black streaks under his eyes.

I couldn’t help but laugh as I saw he was holding the guitar that we’d had ordered especially for him for his previous birthday. It was an electric guitar that was the same as my black one with the white stripes.

The teacher lowered the microphone on the stand so he could reach it.

“My name is Scotty, and I am dressed up as my Daddy who plays guitar in, um,” He looked to the side and shrugged. There was a little laughter as Val came out and whispered in his ear that it was. “Oh, Avenged Sevenfold. He teaches me how to play the guitar. He taught me how to play some of his song called ‘Solo’,” I smiled but that was short lived when he pointed to me. “Can you come help, Daddy?”

The crowd was in aw when he said that. He looked like a four year old; still, he was only small. Nodding I stood up and went onto the stage, Anna and Val were at the side, holding my guitar, I smiled and plugged it in. When I stood next to him I crouched down to his level, a kiss was planted on my cheek.

“You ready, Scotty?” I asked, he nodded. He wasn’t playing the guitar solo; he was playing some tabs I wrote for him that go with the shortened version of Guitar Solo. It was still pretty advanced for a kid of his age, but he was much like my Dad. Always out doing himself. At the end of the song, I picked him up, as the audience clapped, and held him on my hip with one arm. “I’m so proud of you, Scotty,”

After the show, I took Scotty out for dinner at McDonalds, just the two of us. We used to do it every week, from the time he was a newborn, to around the time I began to cheat on Anna. That’s when it turned into an every few weeks thing. I decided now, though, we’d do it every week again.

“Did Uncle Zacky help you at all practise that song?” I asked, opening the sauce for his chicken nuggets. He shook his head and dipped one in before taking a bite. “You practiced by yourself?”

“Yeah. Mum said that I was going to be just like you when I get older,” As much as it pained Anna sometimes, I think, I am a lot like Scotty. We look the same, talk the same, and have about the same level of table manners. Aedan is more like her though, and the quads are a mixture, except for Riley who looks so much like Anna you’d think they were the same people.

“Well being like me isn’t that bad, is it?” We ate in silence for a little longer; he was concentrating on his thick shake rather intently.

“Um, Dad?” He asked after awhile.

“Yeah?”

“Can I live with you?” He asked, putting the empty container on the table and scratching his head nervously. “Cause I don’t like Luke, and he’s moving in soon,”

“Why don’t you like him?” I asked, taking his hand and leading him out of McDonalds. When we got to the crossing, I picked him up and started to carry him to the car.

“He likes to play weird games,”

“What kind of games?” I asked, worried about that type of ‘weird games’ he’d been playing with my son.

“It’s hard to explain,” He started, I told him to try, and take his time telling me, and to make sure he says the truth. “Okay. Well the other night, he was in my bedroom while I was trying to sleep. He was watching me. I don’t know why, but his hand, it was in his pants-“

“Has he ever touched you?” I asked, seriously. “Has he?”

“No,”

“How about we pack a bag for you, and you can come live with me, right now?” Scotty nodded and agreed without a seconds hesitation or thought. I could feel my blood boiling beneath my skin, I pulled over at my house and turned to Scotty. “I’ve just got to make one call, okay?”

We went inside, where Scotty started to play with my new dog Pinkly. The little fluff ball loved playing with Scotty. Quickly, however, I dialled the number of Zacky’s mobile.

“Hey, Syn,” He greeted. I explained what happened, what Scotty had told me. Zacky started to curse, not even bothering to hesitate with the words he used. “I’ll go there, and get the kids, now,”

An hour later, Zacky was pulling up in the driveway, with all the kids in the car and a pissed off looking Anna in the front seat. She slammed the door shut and walked to me.

“What the hell is going on, Brian?” She yelled. “Why the hell did you and Zacky organise to walk into my house, and take my kids away?”

“Scotty told me that Luke goes into his room while Scotty is supposed to be asleep and touched himself! He masturbates at the sight of our son!”

Anna stood there, wide eyed. She clasped her hand over her mouth and tears welled up in her eyes. Shaking her head.

“He said he’d leave h-him alone,” She sobbed, breaking down on the ground. “He said if I did what he said he w-wouldn’t go near the k-kids,”

“Anna has he been abusing you?” I asked, holding her hand gently. “You can tell me, I’ll keep you safe,” I promised, she looked up to me and nodded.

“He seemed like a good guy, then after the f-first date, he changed. We went to my house, and h-he…”

“He raped you?” She nodded. This was all Zacky and I needed to hear before we got everyone inside, and left the house again. We made a detour to get the other Baker, Matty, and sped to the house where Luke was.