Warren nodded. “Walk me through what happened that night.”
Luca began describing the events and how they’dactuallyunfolded, including the insults Tate had hurled at him, my reaction, and the way Tate had raised his fist at me which led to the clip everyone had seen.
Warren nodded again. “Wow, that’s quite a different picture than the one Mr. McCreedy has painted. Why didn’t you attempt to set the record straight before now?”
“Part of it was because I fell back into that thought pattern where I felt like nobody would believe my side of the story because they’d already decided who I was,” he replied. “But there was also a part of me that started to wonder if I somehow deserved what was happening.”
“How so?” Warren asked.
“I thought that even if I didn’t do what he said, maybe I’d not been as nice as I should have been,” Luca said. “When you’ve lived your life letting people tell you who you are, you eventually start to believe them. As all this stuff started coming out, it sent me spiraling backward.”
Warren steepled his fingers. “How are you coping now?”
“Um.” Luca exhaled slowly. “One day at a time. I’ve finally realized I’ll likely always have depression. I’ll probably always struggle with my sense of self-worth. This isn’t something that goes away so much as something I have to learn how to manage and live with.”
“And I imagine there’s a certain amount ofunlearning you have to do too,” Warren said.
“Absolutely,” Luca began. “There are so many false narratives we start to believe about ourselves. Maybe they come from society, or sometimes, they come from people in our lives. A lot of my issues stem from the rejection I felt as a kid.”
Luca’s eyes became misty as he continued. “My mother was an alcoholic who couldn’t be bothered to take care of me, and my dad was in prison. He never tried to have any sort of relationship with me. Neither of them were capable of being the parents I needed, and instead of seeing that for what it was, I internalized it. I felt like if I’d just been a better kid, they would have tried harder—that maybe they would have loved me.”
Warren paused for dramatic effect, allowing Luca’s words to hang in the air like a dense fog.
“Do you wish things could’ve been different with your family?” Warren finally asked.
“Of course, I do,” Luca replied. “But they’re not, and it doesn’t do me any good to think about what might have been.”
“Luca, I know we’ve been teasing a surprise message for you from someone in your past,” Warren said. His face was unreadable, and I held my breath. “When we started promoting this show, our production team received an email from your father.”
What???
The color drained from Luca’s face, and I could see his throat working to swallow.
“He’s out on parole now, and I had the chance to speak with him via telephone earlier today,” Warren went on. “I asked him if he had anything he’d like to say to you, and we’re going to play that audio for you and our viewers now.”
Grace reached for my hand, and we exchanged a worried glance as a man’s voice filled our ears.
“Luca, son, it’s your father,” he said, his southern lilt slurring slightly. “God, kiddo, you’re a grown man now. I know things were tough back when you were young. You were always causing trouble, and I guess you got that from me. I shoulda had more patience with ya. I didn’t try the way I should’ve back then, but I’d like to now that I’m out, you know? But I just…I need a little help getting on track. It’s hard to get a job when you're as old as me and been in and out of jail as much as I have. I ain’t getting any younger, son, and I’d like to see you. It’s been too long.”
The audio ended, and Luca’s eyes were glossy with unshed tears, his pale face frozen in shock. My blood turned to ice.
“How does that make you feel?” Warren asked, his voice laced with innocence as though he hadn’t single-handedly reopened a traumatic wound in front of the entire country.
I wanted to throttle this asshole.
Luca’s mouth opened but no words came out, and a moment passed before he finally spoke.
“I, uh, I’m stunned,” he said. “That’s the first time I’ve even heard my dad’s voice since I was seven years old. This is…it’s a lot.”
“You said earlier you wished things could have been different with your family,” Warren began. “And now they can be. It sounds like your father wants a chance to start over.”
Even from where I stood, I could see Luca’s hands tremble, and it filled me with anger.
“That’s not…that’s not how that works,” Luca choked out.
Warren pinned him with a challenging stare. “You said yourself that people can change. It seems like you want people to give you grace, but shouldn’t you be willing to do the same? Don’t you want to at least meet with him? See what he has to say?”
A tear slipped down Luca’s cheek, sending me over the edge. Howdarethis guy use Luca’s own words to gaslight him. Before I could stop myself, I stormed onto the set and sat beside him, taking his hand in mine.
