“I would like weekly reports after meeting with these kids. Any single kid showing the slightest signs of abuse will come to me immediately, and I will make sure it goes through the proper channels. But other than that, the work you’ve done is invaluable. I have had students drop by my office all week to talk about you and the way you’ve helped them. None of them wanted to see you leave. And I know how to appreciate when I have someone valuable on my staff, but I also need someone here who is not a loose cannon.”
“I agree, sir. I do. And I really hope that going forward, you can see something like this will not happen again,” I say, nodding my head at him.
He reaches across the desk and shakes my hand, his grip firm but not bruising.
“Get back to work, and you come to me the second you need something. I mean it. My door is open, always.”
I stand up and thank him, turning and heading toward the door.
“Wait, Kane. Trevor’s grandmother dropped off this for you. It’s a letter,” he says, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a white envelope with a scrawledMr. Don top of it. “Spitfire of a woman, that one. Wouldn’t take no for an answer until I promised to hand-deliver this to you, with a promise that if I fire you, she’ll make sure I lose my job right after.” He chuckles, a smile on his face as if remembering the moment.
“Thank you,” I falter as I reach over and grab the letter, my hands shaking slightly.
I take the letter and make my way out of his office ina daze. I head to my office in the back, hoping to avoid everyone. As much as I appreciate the well wishes, I already feel exhausted from repeating the same things. I just want everything to go back to normal.
When I get to my desk, I throw my backpack on top and drop into my chair, my hands raking through my hair. I glance at the letter. There’s nothing significant about the envelope it’s encased in, but with the way I’m scared to touch it, you would think it was infected by some sort of virus.
Finally, after what feels like hours of staring at it, I reach over and open the top, careful as if I could somehow disturb the contents inside. Inside is a sheet of lined paper, some words visible through the back. I pull it out carefully and open it, my eyes immediately filling with tears at the contents.
Mr. D,
I stopped by to see you today, a couple days after the incident, and they said you would be off for a while. My grandmother (can you believe I actually have one?) told me that your girlfriend was hurt by my dad when you were just trying to protect me. I can’t believe you would do something like that. I’ve never had someone who was on my side before.
I learned how to tell lies before I knew how to spell my first name, and I’msorry I never gave you the truth. You deserved that much after everything you did for me.
I was ready to call it quits before you called me into your office and refused to give up on me. It was all too much. The beatings, the arguments, waking up every single day knowing two little girls counted on me to keep them fed and safe. That became my only purpose. School, friends and sports no longer had any meaning, because I was so close to death, I didn’t want all those things to miss when I couldn’t hack it anymore.
But you showed up again and again, even when I was a fucking prick (sorry, language, I know), and you kept showing me you cared. You got me help with school. You gave me Katie, someone who made it easier to just breathe and get through the days.
I wanted to thank you for all you did. I want to thank you for sticking up for me when no one cared enough to see me slipping through the cracks. If you ever need an oil change or any work on yourcar, you know where to find me, and I’d really like to thank you in person someday.
My sisters and I are safe. We’re happy. I’ve never seen two little girls get so spoiled. And I owe every day of this to you, Mr. D. Good look watching out. I’ll see you soon.
- Trevor Wilde
I put the note down after my third reread, the tears fill my eyes and threatening to spill over. The day hits me like a ton of bricks, and the exhaustion settles all the way down to my bones. Knowing he is safe and his sisters are cared for fills me up in a way I’ve never experienced before. I regret my actions and what the dominoes of that event caused, but I could never regret the end result: Trevor getting out of that situation and going somewhere better.
I pull a tack from my board and stick the note front and center, around all the pictures and other notes I’ve gotten in my career. When I look up at the board, I know this is what I’m meant to do with my life.
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
avery
ONE MONTH LATER
Iris – Goo Goo Dolls
The next four weeks pass in a blur. This morning, I got the all-clear from my doctor. She checked that my wound was fully healed and cleared me from needing any more physical therapy, and I’m so ready to move forward with my life.
Kane and I have scaled our therapy sessions back to once a week again while we continue to process what happened and work on our relationship. Since that day, we haven’t spent a night apart.
Tomorrow is officially move-in day, and I couldn’t be more excited, but a part of me is mourning living with my best friend and all the good times we had. I know this won’t change our relationship, but any sort of change has never been easy on me.
Kane has slowly been moving in over the past six weeks, all of his stuff causing my room to basically explode before he brings over his bigger things tomorrow. I’m so ready to have us living together, to get to spendforever with someone and have him love me back just as much. It’s more than I ever could have dreamed for myself as a little girl.
When my parents ignored me or left me alone yet again, I would sit in my room surrounded by books, dreaming of my own happily ever after with someone who would always choose me. Someone who would be my family not because blood deemed it so, but because they chose me. I never imagined I would meet my forever in high school and still be sitting against him with all my other chosen family beside me. And as I look around our table at The Grunge, I notice my family is all here.
Kane worked his last shift ever last night, and now we’re all here celebrating at our favorite place. It’s open-mic night, and after years of begging, Kane is finally going to perform. It may have taken some persuading—or a couple blow jobs—before I finally got what I wanted. I know Kane never plans to sing professionally, but he deserves to share his talent sometimes. Besides, I think this will be good for him. He got accepted into an early master’s program that starts this summer semester, so we only have a few months to let loose again before the chaos takes over. But this time, I know whatever we encounter, we will do it together.
