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I walk further into the room and slowly over to the bed. I sit on the edge, leaving a couple of feet between us.
“Do you want to talk about whatever’s bothering you?”
I don’t really expect her to reply. This is the first day she’s met me, so she has no reason to feel comfortable enough to open up to me. JW or Eden would be better people to get her to talk about whatever’s on her mind.
So, I’m surprised when she does begin talking.
“I overheard JW and Eden talking last night. They were saying you were hurt when you were a kid. Just like JW was.” She twists a hair tie with her fingers as she pauses. “Was it… your parents who hurt you?”
I take a moment to formulate my reply. I’m not sure what all she heard, and I don’t want to shock her by telling her more than her young ears should hear.
“No, it wasn’t my parents, but it was someone else’s parents who hurt me.”
Aziah doesn’t count, because he was forced to do the things he did to me. I’ve never counted him among my abusers.
I sit there and wait. It’s several minutes before she speaks again.
“It was my parents who hurt me. They hurt me the same way they hurt JW.”
My heart cracks for the little girl. Yesterday, Trouble told me that JW only recently found out that his older brother, Trey, the one who always tormented JW on Hell Night, was his father as well. Their mother wanted another child, but his father became sterile after an accident, so Trey volunteered.
From what Thea just said, I take it Trey and their mother didn’t stop at fathering JW, but also her as well. They also didn’t stop the abuse once they fled Sweet Haven. Thea doesn’t have to go into detail on what they did to her. I can see it written all over her face.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you.”
She looks away from the window and over to me. The sorrow in her eyes is heartbreaking. My chest actually hurts looking at her.
&n
bsp; “Why do you think they did it? Why didn’t our parents love us like JW loves me? Why did that man hurt you?”
There’s a burning question in the back of my mind. What happened to JW and Thea’s parents? Thea came to live with him somehow. I don’t see them giving her up willingly. That’s not something people like them would do. Were they put in prison? That seems like too easy a punishment for them, and I don’t see JW simply handing them over to the police. Whatever happened to them, I hope they are in a world of pain. There’s only one place for people like them.
Hell.
“I don’t know, sweetie. Only the people who hurt others know what’s going on in their heads. But I will tell you something I know for sure.” I wait until she’s looking directly at me. “There’s nothing you did wrong. There was nothing you could have done differently. What they did was because they had something wrong in their heads.”
Her chin trembles, and tears appear in her eyes. I don’t hesitate when I put my arm over her shoulder and pull her to me. Her head falls against my chest, and both of her arms wrap around my stomach. It’s strange to have the warmth of another body against me, but there’s no way I can deny the need to console Thea when she so desperately needs it.
I sit there with her wrapped in my arms, her silently crying, for several moments. I don’t speak, letting her take however long she needs, and gently run my hand down her hair.
When she pulls back, I swipe away her tears with my thumbs.
“JW wants me to talk to a doctor about what happened,” she whispers. Her voice is raspy from crying.
“It might help.”
“You really think so?”
I nod. “Yes, I do. A lot of people go to psychologists when bad things have happened to them. And most of the time it does help. I know it’ll be hard talking to someone you don’t know, but it might make it easier because they don’t know you.”
She thinks it over for a minute, then nods. “I might give it a try.”
I smile and tuck a piece of hair behind her ear. “That’s the best you can do. And if you don’t like it, you can always tell your brother.”
It’s not lost on me that I should take my own advice and talk to a psychologist. My problem is that I don’t do well when I go out in public. I may not ever get to a point where I can. Being in Malus is different because it’s a small town, so there’s not thousands of people I could potentially run into. Literally and figuratively.
A noise at the door draws my attention away from Thea. Glancing over, I find Aziah standing just outside the door. His gaze is thoughtful as he flicks his eyes between Thea and me. Thea notices him and offers a sad smile. He doesn’t say anything, just stands there for several seconds before he walks away.
