Please let Kelcie forgive me.
Kelcie
My sleep routine is so messed up. It’s already midnight, and my mind won’t come to a rest.
I can’t stop thinking about Levi. Tonight is especially bad because I keep remembering the memories he shared with me.
That family was horrible to him long before his brother destroyed my life.
Half brother.
I grip my phone tightly, my heart beating faster and faster as I think of calling him for the hundredth time.
As much as I’m upset about him keeping the truth from me, I’m also worried about how seeing his mother has affected him.
Unable to stop myself, I unlock the screen and press dial on Levi’s number. The instant the call connects, my heartbeat speeds up drastically.
Listening to the ringtone, I begin to second-guess my decision, but as my thumb moves to cut the call, Levi’s voice suddenly bursts over the line. “Hi.”
My lips part, and when the words don’t come, he asks, “Kelcie? Are you there?”
“Uh-huh.” I squeeze my eyes shut when the urge to cry hits hard.
I wish I could run into his arms right now. I need comfort so bad, and he’s the only one who can make things better.
“Hey, baby,” he murmurs, his tone gentle. “How are you holding up?”
“Not good,” I force the words over my lips. A second later, a sob sputters from me.
“I’m here.”
I curl into a small ball and keep the phone pressed to my ear as I soak in the sound of his voice.
“Want to talk to me about what happened?” he asks.
“No.” I suck in a trembling breath. “I want to know how you’re doing after seeing your mother.”
“She’s not my mother,” he says, tension creeping into his tone. “I’m doing okay. I’m more worried about you.”
I keep quiet for a few seconds before I ask, “Memory for a memory?”
He lets out a sigh. “I don’t think tonight is a good time for that.”
“Please.”
“Okay. Do you want to go first?”
“No.” I clear my throat. “You go first.”
Levi’s quiet for close to a minute before he talks again. “I would always walk home from school, whereas Wesley would take the bus. One day, he didn’t get off the bus at the stop, and when I got home thirty minutes later, Rene was hysterical. We searched everywhere for him, and eventually, the bus driver brought him home. He fell asleep in the back, and the driver only realized when he walked through the bus.” Levi takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “Dennis, my stepfather, was so pissed off with Wesley, but instead of taking his anger out on his own son, he came after me. He made Wesley watch while he whipped my back with a belt. While the buckle tore up my skin, he told Wesley I’d be hurt like that every time he messed up. I was lying in a puddle of blood by the time he stopped, and when Dennis walked away, Wesley just stood there smiling at me as if he was reveling in the sight of me beaten half to death.”
“Jesus,” I whimper.
“Anyway, as soon as I healed enough to walk, I left.”
Levi suffered so much at the hands of those people.
“I’m sorry,” I say, my voice hoarse.
