Total pages in book: 62
Estimated words: 60482 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 60482 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 302(@200wpm)___ 242(@250wpm)___ 202(@300wpm)
I drop to the ground, knees in the mud, sobbing so hard I think my chest might actually cave in. Travis kneels beside me, wraps his arms around me, presses his forehead to mine. “I’m sorry,” he says. “God, I’m so fucking sorry.”
We stay like that for a long time.
Just two ruined pieces, trying to glue each other back together in the rain.
“OH, HONEY.”
I rush into my mother’s arms, crumbling into her. Behind me, Travis stands under the porch light, his face bloody, his eye swollen. She ushers us inside, not a single question asked. She wordlessly points Travis to the dining room, and he obeys, dropping into the nearest chair like the fight has scrubbed all the bones out of him.
“You stay right there. Violet, go get towels and the hydrogen peroxide from above the sink,” she says, and I move because I can’t not. My hands are trembling so badly that I have to press the towels to my chest, so I don’t drop them.
Travis is holding a tea towel to his face when I come back, spots of blood soaking through over his cheekbone. My mother, goddess among mortals, grabs his chin so gently I can’t help but smile. “You always did know how to get yourself into trouble, Travis.”
He huffs a tiny, grateful laugh. “Yeah, so I’ve heard.”
She dabs the wound, batting away his protests. Travis flinches as she pours hydrogen peroxide onto a washer and wipes it against his wounds. “Jesus.”
“Do you want an infection?” she says, not even smiling, but nothing about her is cruel.
She’s the kindest woman I know.
She tapes a butterfly bandage over the worst of it and finally looks at me and asks what went down. I had called her on the way here, telling her Chief and Travis got into a fight, but now I give her every single detail, feeling like I don’t take a breath until I am done. She listens without a single ounce of judgment.
“He said we can’t ever go back,” I whisper at the end, and tears burst forth again.
Mom’s eyes soften. “He doesn’t even know how to live a life without you, honey. But you might have to give him a minute to remember that.”
“She’s right,” Travis says, voice hoarse. “But I should have told him. I fucked up.”
It’s quiet then. So quiet that I hear a car engine grumble past, slowing at the curb, tires sending up a swan song of rainwater. My mother’s eyes flicker to the window, but she doesn’t move.
“He hates us both.”
“No, he doesn’t. He’s a good man, under all that noise,” Mom says. “He wants what’s best for you. It’s just—he doesn’t know what that is anymore.” She gives me a look that finds every hidden child in me. “He loves you more than life itself.”
I know it’s supposed to help, but hearing it only sharpens the ache. Because I love him too.
The doorbell rings, catching us all off guard.
For a second, I think I’ve hallucinated it, but Travis’s whole body goes rigid in his seat. Mom stands, hands the peroxide to me, and tells me to stay there. Then she disappears toward the door. I hear the murmur of voices. I know that sound. I know the tone before I hear my name, “Violet!”
Chief’s in the house.
He fills the kitchen in seconds, his face still bent with rage. His boots are still caked in mud, jeans stained up to the knees, hair soaked. “I am going to speak to my daughter, alone.”
Travis stands, his fists clenched by his side. “No.”
“Don’t push me, boy. I will make that other eye so fucking black your rockstar days will be over.”
Mom steps between them. “I’m quite certain we can do this in a civil manner. Everyone needs to sit down.”
They do as she asks.
My mother has that calm control over people.
Chief turns to Travis, his jaw tight. “You want to tell her the truth, or should I?”
“I have told her. Every fucking thing.” Travis sets his jaw. “Stop making this about you, because it’s not about you. It’s about so much more.”
Chief slams his fist on the table. “You think this is about me? You think I like this? I’ve been down this road, kid. I’ve seen what it turns people into.” He jabs a finger at Travis. “I have pulled you out of the darkest fucking moments in your life, moments she doesn’t even know about. Maybe your girl here believes your shit, but I don’t. I’m not going to let her get dragged through your dirt.”
“What are you talking about?” I whisper, shaking my head in confusion.
“He ever tell you he was a full-blown fucking addict?”
I look at Travis. I’m looking for a denial, a flinch, a protest. Anything.
He exhales, running his hand through his hair before looking at me. “I went through a dark time.”