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“I’m afraid so. I have a business to run, Christy, and now that I know about you, it’s even more important that I make it a success. I gotta take care of my kid sister, haven’t I?”
“Oh, you don’t need to worry about that,” she says flippantly, grinning around a mouthful of buttered toast. “Once you sort your love life out with Roger, there’ll be no stopping you.”
“What?!” I blurt, choking on a mouthful of tea.
She gives me a slap on the back, laughing in that carefree way of hers. For someone who’s been through so much in her short life, I’m amazed by her sweetness. I hadn’t known she was burned in the fire that had also killed her mum. When she’d shown me her scars yesterday I’d felt so much guilt for not being there for her, followed by a well of hatred towards Carter for keeping her from me. The moment I realised he’d known she’d been in hospital fighting for her life and hadn’t once visited her made me feel physically sick. There’s no excuse for abandoning your own flesh and blood.
None.
A part of me, one that’s growing with every passing day, is glad he’s dead, because a man who is capable of ignoring a child in pain isn’t a man I’d want in my life. But right now, I can’t think about what could’ve been or the fact that if Carter was still alive I might never have known about Christy. I have to be grateful that she’s alive and well, andhappy.
“Don’t look so shocked,” Christy says, pushing her hair back off her face and giving me a knowing look.
“How do you even—?” I begin, then shake my head, because I already know how she seems to know things that no one else possibly could.
According to Sandy and Frank, Christy has agift. She can see things that haven’t happened yet. I’d laughed it off at first, but in the short time we’ve spent together she’s proven over and over again that she’s special. I can’t wrap my head around it, but it’s true.
“Roger…Beastdeserves a second chance,” she chatters on.
“You don’t know what he did,” I say, then chew on the inside of my cheek. Maybe she does? I hope not. “Do you?”
“Not exactly,” she admits, and the relief I feel knowing she hadn’t seen him murder our dad is huge.
“I do know that he hurt you, and I know that he’s sorry for it,” she says.
“You’ve seen something in my future?” I ask, still shocked at how odd this all is, but more so because I believe her.
“Yes, he, erm… He proves to you how sorry he is,” she says, looking sheepish.
My eyes widen, my mind running wild with possibilities. “Please don’t tell me you’ve seen things no twelve year old should…”
“No I don’t meansex—”
“Oh, thank fuck!” I say, then slam my hand over my mouth, pulling a face. “Sorry.”
Christy waves her hand in the air. “Fuck is just another word in the English language,” she shrugs.
“Not one of the better ones though.”
“Definitelyone of the better ones,” Christy says, rolling her eyes. I hold in a grin. There’s a sassiness about her that reminds me of myself. It’s weirdly comforting.
“What I meant was, he loves you, and he isn’t afraid to prove it,” she murmurs, absentmindedly pressing her palm against her birthmarked cheek. It’s something she does often, almost like a reflex, a way to comfort herself, or perhaps to cover up.
“I’m not easily impressed,” I say with a shrug, not able to get my head around the fact that I’m actually having a discussion with Christy about Beast. I’m not sure what I find more crazy, the fact Christy can see into the future, the fact that I believe her, or the fact Beast and I actuallyhavea future.
“You don’t believe me, do you?” she asks, rubbing her cheek as though trying to rub away her birthmark and the gift that is probably more of a curse, especially in this unforgiving world.
I take her hand in mine, curling my fingers around her palm.
“Ibelieveyou,” I say, lifting her chin with my finger and giving her a smile that I hope conveys how much I actually do. In the short time I’ve come to know her, I’m already fiercely protective. She’s my family, my flesh and blood, and I will do anything to reassure her that I accept her for who she is, no matter what, no matter how bizarre this all is.
“Thank you.”
“You know, you can always be yourself around me, Christy. Don’t hide who you are. Not to me.”
“And you know that the only person you can be your true self with ishim,” she replies, cocking her head as she looks at me with a sense of knowing that simultaneously chills me to the bone and puts me at ease. She’s an enigma.
“Maybe, but that ship has sailed.” I sigh, giving her a weak smile.
