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“Damn. You can’t drive yet.” Mia’s eyes were as worried as they were impressed. We hurried inside, and Zach turned on the car. “Avoid the main street, there are cops there sometimes patrolling the area. Mom and Dad are gonna be pissed,” she mumbled from the back seat.
“They won’t. They’ll understand and fix this.” He was already the calm leader, even if his bruised knuckles gripped tightly the steering wheel. “Let’s just get home and tell them everything.” He glanced at me pointedly. “Everything.”
I held my duffel bag tightly on my lap. I tried so hard to hide that shameful side of my life. I didn’t want them to pity me, and I feared the day they’d see how dangerous it could be to be around me. Michael had already taken so much from me; I couldn’t let him take away my family again.
“Maybe they won’t notice anything wrong.” I pivoted my body, hissing from the pain, and looked at Mia with my one good eye in disbelief. I wasn’t any better, but she was a sight, bleeding from the gash over her eyebrow, her shirt striking red, and dry blood surrounding her little nose. With a mischievous smile on her lips, she was already trying to lighten up the situation. But her truthful eyes were too round to be calm.
“I’m sure they won’t. One can always expect three kids to come home all banged up.” Zach sighed deeply and glanced at me before looking back ahead. “They’ll know what to do, don’t worry.”
It was impossible not to worry. My still dizzy and aching head was running a mile a minute, thinking about everything that could happen. None of the scenarios I came up with were good. It was one thing to show up being hurt, another one was to have your devil father hurt another kid.
I felt my throat constricting as I realized that was most likely the last time I spent with my two favorite people. I wished the distance to their place was longer, so I could steal a few more minutes with them.
Once again, my wish wasn’t fulfilled, and Zach was already parking as we reached what had become my haven. Dreading the separation I thought was coming, I was the last one to get out of the car. Zach picked the duffel from my hand and gave me a reassuring smile. Mia followed us to the front door, an uncharacteristic somber look on her bloody face. At some point during our route, she tried to clean it, and I didn’t have the heart to tell her it made it worse.
When we reached the top step, before we could sneak in, Jackson opened the front door. “Where were—” His eyes widened like saucers. “What happened?” He stepped back, letting us inside, looking paler and paler as he saw each one of us.
“Thank God they’re back.” Rosie came hurriedly from the kitchen, a worried look on her face, then gasped, staring at us. “Oh, my God.”
“Would you believe us if we said we saved a frail old lady from a bear?”
“I don’t think now is the time, Mia,” Zach mumbled.
Realizing I wasn’t gonna answer Jackson, Zach stepped up. “Michael attacked Ben, so we had to intervene.” He left it vague so they wouldn’t know Mia was irresponsible enough to ride on her bike to that hell all alone.
“We look bad, but you should see how we left him.”
“Not now, Mia,” Zach warned her quietly.
Taking me by surprise, Rosie touched my face carefully, her eyes already filled with tears. She pulled me into a tight hug, grabbing Mia’s arm and motioning to Zach to come closer so she could hug us all. “My babies, my poor babies.” Feeling emotional again, I held back my groan of pain. I needed her comfort more than I needed to take a painless breath.
Jackson was cursing quietly as he rubbed his hand over his mouth. “Let’s go to the kitchen. We need to talk.”
We all followed him, and my heartbeat sped up. I was too afraid to talk. I wanted to be kept in Rosie’s hug until everything disappeared. We sat at the dinner table as she prepared some tea and cookies for us to eat. Not that we could stomach anything; maybe she just needed to keep herself occupied.
“Now explain.” Jackson’s order was directed to the three of us. We stayed quiet for a while, and not even once did he lose his patience or urge us to go faster.
“I didn’t realize he was there.” I hadn’t spoken since I left Michael’s house, and I hadn’t anticipated my voice would be so hoarse. “He punched me, and Zach and Mia helped me get out.”
“I’m gonna need more than that, son.” Jackson’s voice was surprisingly reassuring. I didn’t wanna implicate any of my friends, so I just kept opening and closing my mouth, looking for the right words. I didn’t know how to deal with a loving and worried parent, and I was afraid he’d go off the rails and prove to me all fathers were like Michael.
He’d be in his right to be furious, but I couldn’t be the one to push him over the edge.
“I need the full story from the three of you. No trying to cover for the other. What. Happened?”
After a moment of silence, Zach started making origami out of a paper towel. With all his confident calmness, he resumed.
“Mia and I were worried because Ben hadn’t come on time, and we knew he wanted to go on the trip with us. He wasn’t answering his phone or responding to the texts, so we knew something was happening. I should’ve known she was going to him, but I was too late to realize that.
“She rode on her bike and got there before me. I’m not sure what happened, but I know by the time I arrived, Michael had already hurt them both, but they were fighting back. I stepped in to help, then we got out and came home.”
Jackson nodded his head, absorbing what he’d just heard. His jaw was clenched, but he was keeping his composure. He looked at me. “How did it start?”
I took a deep breath but regretted it immediately, especially when my wincing made Jackson curse and Rosie gasp again. “He punched me when I was turned away. It was a mistake to turn my back to him.”
“His violence isnoton you. You’re not to blame for being assaulted. He’s the only one responsible for what happened.” I was too ashamed to acknowledge what he was saying. “Look at me, son.” His voice was firm yet supportive as he leaned on his arms, which were placed on the table. “Do you understand what I’m saying? This is not your fault.”
I just nodded, not trusting my voice as my throat was constricting again.
