Page 31 of I Never Stopped Loving You

She brushes the hair away from my face, then gently grabs my wrist to look at my arm. You can see the bruises in the shape of Daddy’s hand. That’s why I haven’t gone to school this week. On Sunday, after church, the Lions lost. Daddy was mad because he said he had a lot of money riding on the game, whatever that means.

Mama was at the store with Auntie Liz. When she came home, she found me sitting outside in the backyard. The snow was red from the blood dripping from my nose. My one eye still hurts when I try to open it. Stupid Lions. If they had just won their game, then Daddy wouldn’t have lost money. He wouldn’t have hit me.

“I need you to do me a huge favor, sweetheart.”

She stands and hands me a pair of my jeans and a T-shirt. Then she grabs my big puffy winter jacket from my closet and sets it on the end of the bed.

“I need you to get dressed as quickly as you can. Grab your Ariel blanket and put it inside your pillowcase.”

“Can I bring Mr. Snuggles?”

He’s my favorite stuffed rabbit.

“Of course you can bring Mr. Snuggles. But I need you to hurry up because we need to leave now,” she says as she turns to walk to the door.

“When are we coming home?” I ask quietly.

She stops. I can see her rub her hands on her face, then take a deep breath before she turns back around.

“We aren’t coming back. We’re going to find a new home.”

“Is Daddy coming?”

“No.”

No? But Daddy always comes with us when we go on trips.

“I need you to trust me, Willow. Everything is going to be okay. You’re going to love your new home.”

“Where is it?”

“Texas.”

“That’s so far. What about my friends?”

“You’ll make new friends.”

“But…”

“Please, Willow. We need to go. If Daddy wakes up..."

I can see that she’s starting to cry. I hate it when she cries because then I want to cry too. I quickly get out of bed and run over to her, wrapping my arms around her waist as far as they will reach.

“I’m sorry, Mama. Don’t cry.”

She wipes her tears before cupping my face to have me look at her. She kneels down in front of me and brushes her thumb across the mark on my cheek from Daddy. It still hurts a lot.

“You’re going to love your new home. You just have to trust me.”

CHAPTER 16

NOAH

NOVEMBER PRESENT DAY

“So, you like Purgatory then?” I ask as she takes another bite.

The sounds she’s making…Fuck. I don’t think she even realizes what she’s doing to me.