Page 49 of Cannon

“I dunno. Daddy yells a lot. Mommy cries.” Hunter shrugged like this shit was normal. “Sometimes he slams doors.”

I gripped the steering wheel tighter, feeling the plastic groan under my fingers. My jaw clenched so hard my teeth might’ve cracked.

“Uncle Cannon, you okay?” Josiah’s tiny voice pulled me back.

I forced my face to relax, meeting his worried eyes in the rearview. “Yeah, lil’ man. I’m good. Just thinking.”

When we pulled up to their house, I helped the boys with their backpacks and walked them to the door. The house was quiet. Empty. I fixed them some sandwiches and got them settled with homework at the kitchen table, all while my mind raced with dark thoughts.

An hour later, I heard keys in the front door. The boys perked up.

“Mommy’s home!” Josiah yelled, jumping from his chair.

But when Reese walked in, my whole world went red.

She had a bruise. Dark purple against her light brown skin, blooming across her left cheekbone like some sick-ass flower. She froze when she saw me, her hand instinctively going to cover it.

“Cannon,” she started, her voice already pleading. “It’s not?—”

I was on my feet before she could finish, crossing the kitchen in three strides. Gently, I moved her hand away from her face,tilting her chin up to examine the mark. Fresh. Probably from this morning.

“Did that motherfucker do this to you?” My voice came out deadly quiet.

The boys were watching us, eyes wide. Reese shot them a nervous glance.

“Boys, go to your rooms for a bit,” she said, forcing cheerfulness into her voice. “I need to talk to Uncle Cannon.”

They hesitated, but Hunter eventually took Josiah’s hand and led him upstairs. Smart kid. He knew something was wrong.

The second they were gone, I exploded.

“I’ll fucking kill him,” I snarled, pacing the kitchen like a caged animal. “I swear to God, Reese, I’ll put that nigga in the ground.”

“Cannon, please,” she grabbed my arm, trying to hold me in place. “It was just a fight. It got out of hand.”

“Out of hand?” I yanked my arm free. “He put his fucking hands on you! There ain’t no ‘out of hand’ about that!”

Tears welled in her eyes. “It was my fault. I said things?—”

“Don’t.” I cut her off, my voice low and dangerous. “Don’t you dare make excuses for him. Ain’t nothing you could say that gives him the right to touch you.”

She collapsed into a kitchen chair, shoulders slumping. “What am I supposed to do, Cannon? He’s their father. They need him.”

“They need a father who don’t beat on their mother,” I spat.

“I gotta go.”

“Where are you going?” Reese’s voice rose in panic.

“I’m handling this.”

“Cannon, no! Please! If you go after him, it’ll only make things worse.”

“Worse than this?” I pointed at her face. “This ain’t the first time, is it?”

Her silence told me everything.

“I’m gonna kill him,” I said simply, like I was commenting on the weather. “I’ll make it quick if he’s lucky.”