Pitbabe S2, Chapter 34 pg 4
Pitbabe S2, Chapter 34 pg 4
“Seeing you like this makes me wonder why you don’t just race cars and have girls screaming for you all day. If you’re bored, you could dip into the industry and make more money than you’d know what to do with. Why go out of your way to make things hard for yourself?” Tony looked at me with weary eyes, like a parent at a loss for how to handle a stubborn son. He acted as if I were his kid, constantly causing him headaches, leaving him no choice but to send people to drag me back, tie me to a chair, and lecture me with love and concern.
“Your life already has everything. What more could you want, Charlie? I let you go live your life, so why do you keep stirring up trouble and coming back here?”
He spoke as if it was all my fault, as if I’d made things messy and forced a kind-hearted man like him to do terrible things he didn’t want to do.
“Among all the kids, I used to think you were the smartest. But looking at you now… you’re almost the dumbest, Charlie.”
What Tony said wasn’t entirely wrong. I was as foolish as he claimed. No one with any sense would willingly walk into a situation like this. No smart person would trade what they have for peace of mind. No intelligent person would let go of the most important thing in their life just because they thought protecting someone was more important than staying by their side until the end. Even now, with time running out, I’m still terrified that this disgusting world will hurt him. That’s why I’ve done everything to ensure this place is safe for him, even when I’m gone.
“I tried everything to stop you. But since you’re stubborn and won’t quit, as a father, I have to step in before you cause trouble for others.”
I think he’s obsessed with playing the dad role to a nauseating degree. I don’t know about the other kids, but for me, I never saw him as a father. Not even when I was a clueless kid. To me, Tony was just a boss—someone who gave me food, water, and a place to sleep. I never understood why so many kids saw him as their real dad, craving his love and approval, when this man has never looked at anyone or anything with love. Not once. So the dumbest thing is yearning for something that never existed in the first place.
“Others?” I scoffed. “The only one suffering here is you, isn’t it?”
“Exactly. What kind of good kid makes their parents suffer?”
“You’re not my dad.”
“Why not?” Tony flashed a creepy smile again. “I’ve looked after you, taught you, raised you this far. If we’re not father and son, what are we?”
“Dunno. Boss and lackey, maybe.”
“Speak to your dad nicely, Charlie.”
“I’ll try when I actually have one.”
Tony chuckled, pushing his cheek with his tongue—a sign I’d managed to get under his skin to some degree. For someone who can only move their mouth, that’s enough.
“If you can’t speak nicely, don’t speak at all,” Tony said before turning to nod at the people in white coats. They nodded back and started walking toward me, each carrying a suspicious bag.
“Wait,” Babe, who had been standing silently, suddenly spoke up. He raised his hand to stop the people who looked like doctors from approaching me. “Didn’t you say you were calling him here to negotiate?”
“We did negotiate,” Tony replied dismissively. “You saw how it went. What more do you expect, Babe?”
“That was negotiation?” Babe started to protest, his words and defiant attitude suggesting that Tony was breaking their agreement. “You haven’t told him anything. You didn’t even give him a chance to respond, and now you’re planning to do something else to him?”
Tony didn’t answer. The two doctors glanced at him, as if waiting for orders. When Tony nodded, they moved toward me again, but before they could reach me, they were blocked once more. Babe stepped in front of the chair I was sitting in, making it clear that whatever they intended to do, he wouldn’t allow it.
“What are you doing?” Babe asked, his voice firm.
“We just need to collect a blood sample,” the taller doctor said in a cold, calm tone. He seemed trustworthy when he spoke, but his demeanor wasn’t enough to convince Babe. “Please step aside.”
“No.”
“Why are you making this harder, Babe?” Tony said, sounding increasingly irritated. “I just need a little of his blood. I’m not trying to kill him.”
“For what?”
“I just want to know what’s in it.”
Babe seemed completely unaware of what Tony was doing or what he wanted. From the conversation and the situation, I pieced together that they had an agreement: Babe was supposed to bring me here under the pretense that Tony only wanted to negotiate, in exchange for letting us all go. But once Babe brought me, Tony ignored the negotiation and tried to do something beyond their deal.
“For what?” Babe pressed. “Why do you need to know what’s in Charlie’s blood? It’s just blood.”
“Don’t act naive,” Tony sneered. “Blood can do a lot more than you think. Blood is a code, a map of humanity. It’s the beginning and end of everything. Blood reveals more than you can imagine—especially the blood of someone abnormal like Charlie.”
Even though I could only see his back, I knew what kind of expression Babe had. His shoulders trembled, his fists clenched tightly in restraint. The situation was getting worse, but I felt a strange sense of relief seeing Babe’s anger. He was angry on my behalf, angry at Tony for breaking their deal, angry that I was in danger. I could feel how hard he was trying to protect me.
He didn’t hate me.
That was the best news of the day.
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