Squeak

Daddy's Home

Erik

A Few Days Earlier

"Let's go, Chap. I'm tired of looking at your ugly face," Officer Newman demanded from my cell door. I chuckled and threw my wall calendar into the trash. I was finally getting out of this hell hole. My father was so gracious that he allowed me to be released a week early for good behavior—a true testimony of his mercy.

"Would it kill you to admit that you'll miss me?"

"I'll miss you as much as a hole in my head."

I followed him dutifully out of the 6x8 feet prison cell that I called my home for the last five years. An overwhelming peace washed over me with every step I took. Some of the inmates stood by the bars and offered me their farewells. I nodded in recognition and kept my eye on the prize—Squeak and Squirt.

I figured out my father's true intentions behind hooking Jezebel and Adrian together while I was incarcerated. Part of the reason was because Jezebel fucked with his ego, and he wanted to hit her with the rudest awakening known to man, but the more significant part was for his own sick, twisted entertainment. He wanted to see his sons battle it out, and to the victor goes the spoils. He wanted us to rip each other apart and to see how low we'd go to get the other out of the picture. Despite being locked up with him for four years, our father failed to realize how delicate Adrian's psyche was. Adrian would be on high alert as soon as he learned of my release. I wouldn't doubt if he and Jezebel started suffering relationship issues due to his insecurity. He'd be convinced she'd leave him in favor of me, and he'd be correct, but Jezebel's job was to reassure him and let him know that Erik Anderson King was in her past. He wouldn't believe her, and he'd be on pins and needles whenever my name came up in conversation, or I interacted with my daughter until he lost his fucking mind. I fully expected him to confront me—warn me to stay away from his "family." But what Adrian failed to realize was that he never had a family to begin with. It was all an illusion. He was still a fucked-up orphan with daddy issues that I didn't mind exploiting. And when all was said and done, and his world imploded, I'd point him in the direction of Jacob King. He could take his grievances up with him.

"Take care, Chap," Officer Newman wished me once the gate slid open with a groan.

"Be blessed," I replied with my back turned to him and the place that taught me how to play chess, not checkers. I smirked when I noticed Frankenstein waiting for me beside his brand-spanking new 2027 Ford Mustang GT, a I'm-sorry-I-used-you-for-five-years-and-fucked-you-over present from my wife.

"Frankie, it's been too long," I said, greeting him with a hug. I wasn't a hugger, but he was.

"I missed you, Erik."

"I do not miss sharing a cell with you."

"Why not?" he asked, clearly offended.

"Because I don't miss the sound of you trying to tear your dick off in the middle of the night. You gotta be gentler with yourself, buddy."

"G-get in the car," he stammered, holding the door open for me. I complied, not wanting to tease and subsequently frustrate Frankie too much. He'd start crying if you pushed him past his limits. The only tears I wanted to see were Jezebel's.

"Has Jezebel been taking good care of you?" I asked as Frankie exited the compound.

"I can't complain. She picked me up when I was released, treated me to a steak dinner, and took me to a strip club."

"Sounds like a good time."

"It was. Jezebel even paid for one of the strippers to sleep with me."

I chuckled. "That's my girl."