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“I owe you guys,” Nyx tells her.
“You spoke to Prez? Maddy asks him, sounding concerned.
“He wants to see me at church tomorrow.”
“Try not to worry, Nyx, the man’s not a monster.”
“You’ve only seen his good side. He’s fucking furious, Mads. You saw the way he looked at me. He ain't gonna forgive me for this, and I can’t lose them. They come first now. Look what happened the last time I left.”
“It’ll work out,” I hear Maddy assure him. “I’ll stay with these guys, why don’t you go take a shower?” I feel the mattress lift as Nyx gets off the bed.
“Just promise me that no matter what happens tomorrow, you and Jessie will look out for them,” he says.
“I promise,” Maddy whispers before I hear the door close again. I try to piece everything I’ve just heard together in my head. It sounds like Nyx is in trouble. Maybe that’s why he left in the first place? But if that’s the case, why is he back? I decide to take this time alone with Maddy to try and find out. Faking a stir, I open my eyes and see Maddy sitting in the chair in the corner of the room. she smiles at me when I focus.
“Hey, where’s Nyx?” I ask, pretending I hadn’t just heard their conversation.
“He’s just grabbing a shower, do you need anything?” she asks.
“I’m good. Thank you.”
“Jessie got you some stuff from the drive and buy, we’re gonna have to send Nyx out to grab more stuff tomorrow though. I didn’t realize how much stuff such a little person needed,” she says, lifting her head to peek fondly at my little boy.
“You really think we’re gonna be able to stay here?” I ask hopefully. Crazy as it sounds, I feel safe among these people.
“Oh, Hunny, you can count on it.” She wears a huge smile. “It’s about time I had some decent female company,”
“And Nyx, you think he’s gonna struggle to deal with all this?” I ask, seeking out assurance as I find a more comfortable position in the bed.
“Hey, you don’t need to worry about Nyx, that guy’s crazy about you,” she tells me, moving closer and touching her hand over my baby’s chest. “He’s gonna be crazy about this little guy too, even if he was a shock.”
“What’s he been doing all this time? Why did he just vanish, when he got out, why didn’t he come for me?”
“That’s not my story to tell,” Maddy says softly, sliding her hand over to mine as she sits beside me.
“But I promise you that if he’d had a choice about it, he wouldn't have and I can tell you he’s been hurting real bad the whole time you’ve been apart. You guys need to talk about a lot of things.”
“I’m worried he’s gonna do something stupid,” I admit, trying to hold back tears.
“Stupid?” Maddy looks at me confused.
“He knows who did this,” I lift up my fingers to stroke at my sore cheek, it all seems so long ago now. Yet it’s only been hours.
“That could be bad,” Maddy admits, the look on her face, suggesting she knows how Nyx can be. “You wanna talk about it?” she tilts her head sympathetically,
“I can never go back,” I tell her. “And if I told Nyx everything that happened, no one would be able to stop him.” Tears slide onto my cheeks and I use the back of my hand to wipe them away.
“You’re safe now. Whoever did this can’t hurt you anymore.”
“I was trying to run away. I knew I had to before this one came along.” I look down at my sweet little boy.
Maddy nods like she understands,
“I knew it was coming, he’d been looking at me weird for years, and then…” I suddenly stop myself from saying any more. The words are too sick for me to say out loud.
“Ella did he…” Maddy sits up a little straighter, and I see how she’s trying to prevent the disgust from finding her face.
“I managed to get away,” I assure her, “but there were times before… times when he’d touch me. I knew it was wrong, but he knew how to threaten me. My Mom isn’t exactly stable. He abuses her, I still shouldn’t have let him do what he did to me.” God, it feels good to finally tell someone about this, and I don’t know what it is about Maddy but I’m drawn to trust her.
