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“I can’t go home. I can’t go home,” he cried. “I won’t go back.”
“You won’t have to.”
“What if they make me?”
“My parents aren’t going to make you.”
“The police.”
“They won’t,” I promised him as I swallowed hard. The severity of what was going on finally hit me in the gut. “Where’s your biological mom?”
“I don’t know. She left when I was little. I can’t go back home.”
“You don’t have to.”
“What if they make me?” he asked again.
He was barely able to hold himself up anymore and leaned the weight of his body against mine. I carefully took hold of the sides of his face and pulled it up so he’d look at me.
“Look at me, Patrick.” I paused so he could look into my eyes. “If fucking anyone tries to make you go back there, you and I will go somewhere together. I won’t let anyone ever touch you again. I promise you.”
“You can’t run away with me. You’re Hollis ‘The Dragon’ Ward. I can’t take you away from all of that. You have everything going for you.”
“And you’re coming with me. I will always be Hollis Hawkins to you. You’ll always be my best friend, Patrick.”
“I can’t go home,” he cried again.
“I promise you’re not. Do you trust me?”
He nodded. “You’re my only friend, Hollis.”
“Let’s go to my house. My parents will help.”
I helped him back into the jacket of his gi so he wouldn’t have to strain so much. I carried his gym bag for him and made sure to walk slowly because I assumed it wasn’t comfortable for him to move. As we walked to my SUV, I thought about the movements he made during the promotion today. All his stiff movements made perfect sense now. He was in a lot of pain with every move he made.
His knee bounced nervously as we made our way toward my house. I was nervous too because I really didn’t know exactly what would happen. But I knew for certain that I wouldn’t let him go back to that fucking house. I’d never wanted to physically hurt someone so much in my entire life as much as I wanted to hurt his stepbrother and father.
I drove through the gates to my neighborhood and could only muster a fake smile for the gate attendant. I always smiled and waved to them, but I couldn’t do much right now. After I pulled into the garage and shut the engine off, I leaned over and set my hand on Patrick’s forearm and lightly jostled him.
“It’ll be okay. I promise.”
“I’m scared, Hollis,” he admitted. I could only imagine how much of his life he’d lived in fear.
“My parents will help. They’re not going to let you go back there.” I pulled the key out of the ignition and unlocked the doors. “Come on. Let’s get you taken care of.”
Patrick followed me inside. Even though he’d been over to the house several times, this time he hung really close to me. I could hear Chase talking in the kitchen. I stepped into the walkway between the kitchen and great room and looked in the direction of the TV. Dad and Morgan were watching the Dodgers game, and Mom and Chase were standing at the kitchen island, spooning cookie dough out of a bowl and arranging it on cookie sheets.
“Hey, boys,” Mom said as she looked up. She only looked back down for a moment before she looked back up again. She could tell something was up.
“Boys, hello.” Chase saluted us and then popped a piece of cookie dough into his mouth.
“Mom, Dad, can we talk to you for a few minutes?” I asked.
I glanced at Morgan, silently begging him to take Chase out of the kitchen. It was like Morgan just knew what was coming. He and I had these conversations here and there, and both of us felt something was always off with Patrick. Dad stood and shut off the TV when he saw us, and Morgan walked into the kitchen.
“Sweetie, go upstairs and play a game with Morgan while we chat with Hollis and Patrick,” Mom said as she pulled the spoon out of Chase’s hand.
“Come on, Chase, let’s go play Nintendo,” Morgan said as he put his hand on Chase’s upper back and guided him out of the room.
