"I'll tell you what's clear," Kyle snarled as
he hoisted Derek off the couch. "It's clear that you're still a
heartless bastard." Carting Derek out to the front door, Kyle
turned around and glowered at David. "You even think about causing
trouble for him and I'll personally see that you losing everything
you value."
"Don't threaten me, Kyle," David warned. "I
am not your enemy."
"Don't fucking tempt me, David," Kyle shot
back before glancing down at me, his expression softening. "Open
the door, baby." I obliged and Kyle shuffled me out first before
following with Derek.
"If I was heartless, I would have had him
locked up hours ago," David said in a condescending tone of voice
as he trailed after us. "Check your phone, Kyle. You'll see that I
made several attempts to call you. I am trying to mend fences with
you…Look at me when I'm talking to you, will you?"
Kyle didn't turn around. He kept his eyes
focused on his car, his jaw rigid. I hurried ahead of him, my feet
crunching on the snow and gravel, as I rushed to open the back door
of the car. With a gentleness that only Kyle was capable of, he
maneuvered Derek into a sitting position in the back seat before
fastening his belt. Kyle crouched down and began whispering
something to Derek as he cupped his cheeks and inspected his face,
but I didn't eavesdrop. It looked too personal.
Instead, I backed away from the car and kept
backing up until I hit something hard. Staggering slightly, I
steadied myself before turning around. I focused my gaze–more like
deer-in-the-headlights stare–on Kyle's father, who was standing
less than a foot away from me. His eyes locked on mine and I tried
to give him my best evil-eyed stare, but I wasn't feeling half as
brave as I had been earlier–when Kyle was standing next to me.
I ran through all the possible things I could
say to Kyle's father, but his cold stare was knocking the breath
out of me. When he folded his arms over his chest, stepped forward
and smirked I lost all courage and edged away from him. I could
have sworn I saw his lips twitch. He was enjoying this…He wanted to
scare me. "I don't like you," I blurted out, still stepping away
from him.
"I don't like you either," he said softly, so
softly I wasn't sure if he'd actually said it or mouthed the
words.
"I don't trust you," I countered, feeling a
little better when he remained where he was standing. "You're
calculating, deceitful and a very bad man."
"You're guileless, unkempt and annoyingly
bulletproof," he tossed back at me. "What's your point, Delia?"
I registered the sound of a car door banging
and footsteps approaching about two seconds before Kyle stalked
past me, not stopping until his fist connected with his father's
jaw. David's head snapped back as he fell backwards, landing on his
butt on the snow coated ground. "Say that again to her," Kyle
snarled as he towered over his father, his chest heaving, his whole
body shaking. "I dare you."
"Kyle," I yelled as I rushed over to him.
Grabbing his arm, I tried to pull him away, but the man was like a
rock. "You crossed a line when you drugged my friend," Kyle roared,
eyes fixed on his father's in menace. He didn't even seem to feel
my hands pulling him. "But you crossed a goddamn continent with
her." His hand shot out and he grabbed his father by the collar of
his shirt before pulling him to his feet. "You think you can insult
my woman? Talk to her like she's a piece of shit? The mother of my
child?" Kyle shook his head. "Not fucking happening."
I heard another door slam and watched in
horror as Kyle's step-mom, Anna, came rushing towards us "Kyle,"
she said in stern tone of voice. "Let your father go."
Kyle didn't answer her.
I didn't think he could even hear us.
He had flipped.
Pushing David back, he threw another punch
and hit David directly in the nose. "There will be no fences
mended," Kyle spat before hitting him again and then again. "I am
not your son."
Oh god…
My stomach churned at the sight of the blood
spurting from David's nose, dribbling down his face. Droplets of
blood landed on the ground, darkening the snow, and bringing with
it every tormenting memory of that night to the surface of my
mind…
I was bleeding, my hands, my stomach… I could see a
river of dark blood, spreading over the fabric of my red
dress...
The steady flow of blood coming from the back of her
head, staining her golden hair, pooling on the kitchen floor...
"Kyle, stop," I screamed as I forced the
images of that night to the back of my mind and focused on the
present. Kyle didn't even twist his head in my direction.
"I hate you," he snarled as he punched his
father again and again. "I fucking hate you."
Dammit...
Coming around behind him, I jumped and
grabbed onto his shoulders before hoisting myself onto his back.
"Let go, baby," I whispered into his ear as I wrapped my arms
around his neck and my legs around his waist. "Please stop, Kyle,"
I begged. "You're scaring me."
Kyle's body shuddered, his whole frame
sagged, and he dropped his hands to his sides for the briefest of
moments before moving them to rest on my thighs. "I'm sorry,
princess," he whispered, bowing his head. "Lee, I'm so fucking
sorry."
"Shh," I coaxed as I tried to calm him down.
"It's okay."
"It is
not
okay," Anna shouted as she
helped her husband to his feet. His face was swollen, his nose was
bleeding heavily. "You need help, Kyle," she snapped. "You need
anger management treatment. You could have killed him. Your own
father." She shook her head and pointed a manicured fingernail at
us. "I have a good mind to have you arrested for this, Kyle
Carter."
Wiggling down Kyle's back, I stepped up to
his side and took his blood encrusted hand in mine. "Don't you dare
speak to him like that," I growled. My words caused Anna to blanch.
"Don't even think about threatening him," I snarled. "You two are
disgraceful and if you even think about calling the police on him,
I will have your husband arrested for drugging my friend."
Anna's eyes darted towards our car at the
same time as Kyle's head snapped up. He gazed at me with a look of
pure astonishment. His eyes…oh god, the pain in his eyes just about
broke my heart.
This had been about more than just David
insulting me and drugging Derek. Kyle's outburst had been
stimulated from twenty-three years of neglect and abuse, and coming
here was his trigger. Others might not understand–and obviously
Anna didn't–but when a human being has been consistently wronged,
from infancy through to adulthood, the pain, anger and resentment
that builds inside eventually comes to the boil. I understood
exactly how he felt.
"Stay out of this, Lee," Anna warned, but her
voice wavered slightly. "This isn't your concern. This is a family
matter."
"
He
is my concern," I spat. "He is
my
family." Turning to face Kyle, I reached up and cupped
his face before whispering, "Walk away from the pain. Leave it all
here, okay?" He nodded slowly, his eyes locked on mine.
Tugging on his hand, I led him back to the
car, ignoring every red-flag warning my brain was tossing at
me.
He's dangerous.
He's just like your father.
He's going to destroy you…
I blocked it all out and concentrated on my
heart, and my heart was screaming for him.
My heart trusted him.
That was enough for me.
"I wanna go home," Derek mumbled from the
back seat of the car as Kyle tore off, speeding like a lunatic.
"Take me home…Thirteenth Street."
"No way, Derek," I said in a stern tone of
voice. "You're coming home with us, isn’t he, Kyle?" I stared at
the side of Kyle's face, willing him to back me up. "Isn't he,
Kyle?"
Kyle didn’t answer me.
He didn’t even glance in my direction.
Dread filled my gut when I realized the
direction we were going.
"Kyle, you can't," I begged. "You can't take
him back to Thirteenth Street."
****
Lee
"What am I going to do, Linda?" I
whispered.
We were in the kitchen of our house and I was
close to climbing up the walls with worry. Kyle was in his
office–where he had been with the past six hours. He hadn’t come
out once and I wasn’t sure what to do with him. When we left his
father's house this morning, Kyle had driven Derek back to
Thirteenth Street–against my wishes–in complete silence. When we
got home he went straight into his office, locked the door, and
hadn’t come out since.
Linda had stayed with me all day and I was
grateful. Kyle was in catatonic mode…
Was it me? Had I done something? Was he
mad?
Should I have done what Anna said and kept
out of their business?
Oh god, not knowing what was going on with
him was killing me. I felt like I was about to burst with panic…I
paced the floor with Hope in my arms. "He won't answer the door to
me…" My voice broke and I brushed away a tear from my cheek as I
bobbed around with Hope in my arms. Hope was fussing and I knew it
was because she could sense my fear. "He won't talk to me."
Linda stood slowly and made her way to the
kitchen door. "Go and settle Hope down, Lee," she mumbled. "That
child's exhausted. I'll deal with her father."
****
Kyle
I couldn’t face her.
How the fuck could I look her in the eye
again?
I was no better than her father.
I promised that girl a life free from pain
and violence and I'd let her down.
My behavior…Jesus, Anna was right. I needed
to see someone.
I didn’t regret hitting David and I never
would. I regretted losing control around Lee. I always knew I had a
temper, but in all my life, I'd never felt as out of control as I
had this morning. I knew Lee was worried about me, and that made
the disgust that was pooling in my stomach grow. I didn’t deserve
her worry. I didn’t deserve her, period. And Derek…I'd let him
down, too. I should have brought him home with us. I shouldn’t have
left him in that state…in that house.
"Please stop, Kyle. You're scaring me…"
My whole body shuddered and I dropped my head
in my hands, my elbows resting on my desk.
How the hell could I make this up to her?
If Lee hadn’t stopped me, how far would I
have gone?
I wasn’t sure and that terrified me…
The loud rapping noise on my office door
stirred me from my self-wallowing. "Kyle Anthony Carter, you better
open this door now, boy," I heard Linda say in a stern tone of
voice. "Or so help me, I will knock it down."
I had no doubt that Linda would do exactly
what she threatened. Pulling myself up, I walked over and unlocked
the door and took a deep steadying breath before opening the door
inwards. "Good boy," Linda said with a smirk, patting me on the
arm, as she marched into my office. "Thought I was gonna have to
get a chainsaw."
"I screwed up today, Linda," I mumbled. "I
messed up so bad…"
"Tell me something new," she chuckled before
coughing loudly. "Never would've classed you as a coward,
Kyle."
"I'm not a coward," I growled as I closed the
door and sagged against it. Letting my head fall back, I exhaled
heavily. "I'm a fucking liability and she's been through
enough."
"Yes, you are, Kyle," Linda agreed, her voice
wheezy.
My head snapped up and I narrowed my eyes at
the woman who had spent the past eleven years of her life bailing
me out of trouble. "Yes, I'm a liability, or yes, I'm a
coward?"
"Yes on the former and the jury's still out
on the latter," Linda countered as she leaned against my desk, eyes
locked on mine. "Verdict depends on you getting your sorrowful butt
out of this room." She shook her head and shuffled towards me. "Lee
filled me in on what happened with David…and there's only one thing
I'm having a hard time getting my head around..."
"Oh yeah, and what's that?" I asked in a
weary tone.
"I'm confused as to why you're hiding from a
woman who is so deeply in love with you that she has spent the best
part of the day worrying about you, fretting over you, and to be
quite frank, crying her damn eyes out because you've pushed her
away."
"I'm ashamed of myself," I admitted quietly.
I was ashamed of myself. I was fucking disgusted with myself. "I've
spent months pushing her about her mother…not listening to her
pleas or point of view…" My voice trailed off and I clenched my
eyes shut as remorse filled me. "Lee…she stood up for me today,
Linda…the girl is afraid of her own shadow and she defended me…even
when I was wrong." All the times I'd pushed Lee about her mom,
bullied her…Jesus, I'd never put myself in her shoes.
Until now.
I opened my eyes and stared at Linda. "How
the hell am I going to make this up to her? Why the hell is she
still with me?"
"Kyle," Linda chuckled as he stepped closer
to me and stroked my arm. "She's with you because she loves you,
and you're going to make it up to her by holding her in your arms.
That's all that poor girl wants. She just wants you. It's that
simple, kiddo."
"You make it sound so easy," I muttered.
"It's as easy or as hard as you make it," she
replied as she pushed me aside and opened the door. "Now, go and be
with your family. I'm tired and I'd like to get some sleep before
your next drama. I'm getting too old for this."
"Linda, wait," I said as I grabbed her arm.
Another type of fear was building inside of me and looking at
Linda's withered face intensified it. "What's wrong with you?" I
reached out and touched her cheek. "Are you sick, Linda?"
"I am fine, Kyle," she said with a smile–a
fake as fuck smile. "Stop worrying about me, will you?" she
chuckled softly. "I told you before, you're gonna give yourself
wrinkles."