Ethan shrugged.
“It’s no secret. They were shit families. I ran away from the first two, I got removed from the third one, and the last one was decent. Then, I was free. I was glad that I aged out, and I was able to go home—if I could call it that.”
Gene was curious.
“Why did you get removed from the one?” he asked, picking up on the one that seemed more alarming.
Ethan stared straight ahead.
“I held the‘dad’at knife point for trying to slide into my bed and molest me in the middle of the night.”
That hung there between them, and Gene was reminded that his life and Ethan’s wereNOTthe same.
Not even close.
What did he say to that?
“I’m sorry, EJ.”
He glanced over.
“It’s okay. I survived,” he said. “What doesn’t kill us makes us stronger, right? He had his license stripped from him, and I was the last kid his family got to make money off of andmolest. What he didn’t realize was that I’m a fighter. I was born to fight my way out of bad situations.”
That hurt Gene’s heart. So much so, that he took his hand in his.
“I know you don’t talk about it,” he began.
Ethan actually laughed.
“Uh, I don’t talk about it because no one asks about it. Everyone tiptoes around it, and I don’t bring it up because it’s a pity party waiting to happen. I don’t want one of those. If someone asks, I’m more than happy to tell them it was Hell on earth. I’d rather be at Gabe’s mercy for the next twenty-five years than spend my two years back there.”
Well, that said it all.
Gene went there since his partner said he’d talk about it if someone genuinely asked questions. Curiosity got the best of him.
“What happened at the first two?”
Ethan shared.
Because he’d not been lying.
No one ever asked until just now.
“The first two families were neglectful, and I barely got fed. I figured out that running away was the easiest way to get moved to another family, and I kept trying to find one that wasn’t a shithole.”
That made Gene want to rage and hurt someone for breaking this man.
Ethan kept talking.
“I got lucky. The last one was nice. She was a sweet woman, and she and her husband couldn’t have kids. So, she was the first one to treat me like I was human. I had my own bathroom, and the food wasn’t restricted. She’d help me with my homework, and didn’t sneer at me for being half-white.”
Gene didn’t say anything.
Instead, he just let his man talk.
“I wish I would have gotten placed there earlier. Her husband was this guy who always wanted to do something. It was like idle hands were the devil’s workshop, but for fun things. For the first time in my life, I went to amusement parks. I got actual clothing and shoes, and I never went hungry. They were the unicorn in the foster system.”
When Gene didn’t say anything, Ethan looked over. That’s when he saw him.
