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“My parents had made me invite my boyfriend over for dinner. We had been dating since summer and they had never met him. Hell, no one really did. Not as my boyfriend. I’d been under no delusion about us, we’d even hidden from everyone until we got reckless. I knew better, see I’d grown up in New Bend, he hadn’t.” A sob escaped her.
Now, he knew this story was about to turn ugly.
“They didn’t know and I was afraid to tell them, but my cousin was on the team with him. Been bitching about him all season. How he was over hyped and shit.”
“He found out?”
“Yeah, Byron, that was his name, had a signing day. Like big time signing day with cameras and the local papers. Even one in from Little Rock because he’d signed with the University of Arkansas. We hadn’t had anyone that big from our school.”
“So, he was a five-star recruit.”
“Four, three to some, zero to my cousin because he never threw him the ball.” Topaz swallowed away some pain before continuing, “All the cheerleaders had to be there, lined up, as he made his announcement and signed. Well afterward we snuck off, down by the locker rooms because he was getting his stuff and we were caught kissing.”
“And your cousin told your parents?”
“So fast my head spun,” she said. “I’d wanted to get caught. I realize that now because Byron was the best man I’d ever known. He used to give me his letter jacket for after games. Like an ‘I’m coming back for it and you’ type deal and at first, I kept it in my car, then I started wearing it when I waited.” Topaz let out a long groan as she ran her fingers through her hair, curling into a ball before him as she sat on the chair.
He rubbed her back, hoping to clear away what was holding her here. They needed to leave, but he could spare a few minutes to regroup himself. “You invited Byron to dinner,” he prodded.
“I deluded myself. My dad making comments about the kid gonna be a Razorback, so I thought, maybe they’d make an exception.”
“Look past to see who he was, not what,” he said knowing by her reaction what happened to the kid set to go on to college and more.
She nodded. “Byron and I talked about what we’d do at school. How our world would be ours. He was so respectful, it was nearly Christmas when he signed and we…we weren’t in a rush about anything.”
“Really?” Onyx said. “Not sure I could pass you up if you were mine for too long.”
“Well, we hadn’t totally, but yeah, we had a few times. Enough that when it happened, I prayed for weeks I’d gotten pregnant somehow. Anything to still have a piece of him to hold on to.”
“Damn that sex-ed class and you using protection,” he said.
She nodded wiping away a tear. “Finally, I gave in and invited him over. He was on his way to college, had a full scholarship he was going places and taking me with him.” The last few words caught in her throat. Making her gag a bit and she held her now chipped manicured fingers over her lips.
“Topaz, it’s okay if you don’t want to continue.” He tried to reassure her.
Shaking her head, she wiped her face once again, the last of her makeup faded and smeared a bit from the hard day. “I want to tell you what happened.” She paused. “No… I need to tell you. He came for dinner and both my parents acted nice to him at first, but as the night went on, my father said and did things that I knew wasn’t like him at all.”
A cool rush of air ran down Onyx’s spine, but there was no breeze. The only consolation when it came to his leg was there was no build up. NotI shouldn’t be here vibe going on. It was quick, merciless and dirty.
“Then the night became a nightmare. We were going to leave, just something felt off and my dad said he wanted to have a man to man and my mom insisted I help with the dishes.” She let out a breath of air. “Byron nodded, knowing he was playing a game, but comfortable until I saw two of my cousins walk in carrying guns. First, they drug him outside and beat him up, but then finally shot him in the knee to get him to stop fighting back. My father held me back as I screamed at them to stop. Calling them every name I could.”
Topaz covered her left cheek with her hand, as if she were soothing an old scar.
“I yanked one arm free and my father dug his fingers into my other so hard, it was bruised for a week. He’d never so much as spanked me growing up and he slapped me so hard, I can still feel the sting. I begged, pleaded just to let him go. The worst I thought could happen was they break his throwing arm and—he may never walk right, but still I never thought…” Her eyes cut up to the beam and the rope dangling. “My father wrapped me in his arm so tight I couldn’t breathe. Crushing my lungs, more to silence me than anything, as my cousins made a noose and threw it over the old oak we had in the back. A tree that’d—that’d—” her voice trembled the words so bad he worried she could still feel her father’s arms around her. “Given me shelter from rain and even still had a tire swing on it.”
Onyx cradled her head in his hands and moved her gaze from the beam. Bringing her eyes back to him.
“He released me when Byron’s legs stopped moving. I ran to him screaming for an axe, anything to cut him down when all I could hold were his legs.” Topaz stayed silent for a moment. Tears stopped as she stared, blankly ahead. “I didn’t speak for days. Walked to my Nanna’s who moved me around the house as if I were an invalid. One who could walk, but barely ate and only when fed. Bathroom breaks she timed. The sheriff came looking for me, and all I could say was he’d been my heart. It was enough for him to go to my house. Guess after they cut him down, they buried him in the woods. I didn’t know what they had done to him until then. Even if my brain could function enough to understand what I’d witnessed, I couldn’t tell anyone. Dogs had searched the house and surrounding areas finding the shallow grave.”
Onyx held her tight not knowing what to do for her as he listened.
“His mother’s scream, I swear it reverberated through the town and woke me every night when I tried to sleep. Playing over and over in my nightmares. When they told us what happened, my Nanna stared at me, holding my hand. She knew, she knew I’d seen things. Things not in the report.” Topaz bit down on her lip. “The look of horror in her eyes.”
“Because you ratted out your family?”
“No, because they were monsters, my father too, in her mind. I didn’t know what had happened after I left. What I’d witnessed was enough for a thousand lifetimes worth of nightmares.”
“You came back, eventually,” he said. “What brought you back to the world?”
