Nothing I say can make up for the pain I’ve cause you or my failure to protect you from this world. But I pray that at the very least you have found someone who you care for as much as I loved your mother. So long as you have found that, I don't care if you continue to hate me. But I beg you; don't let your anger at me blind you to the worlds around you. There is happiness, there is love, and there are those who will love you no matter what.
His father’s handwriting became a little sloppier, no doubt because his hand had begun to shake.
I love you so much Leo. And I have always been proud of you, even if I didn’t ever show it. You are my son, and I want nothing but the best for you.
I can only hope that you believe me when I say that.
Your father
Leo closed his eyes willing himself not to cry. Inside him he felt guilt, pain, and shame well up in his stomach as he remembered how badly he’d treated his father. Behind him Minerva was still speaking; either oblivious or simply not caring about his emotion state at the moment. Taking a deep breath Leo opened his eyes and spoke sharply. “Minerva, SHUT UP.”
Instantly her voice died as Leo turned to look at her. Taking another breath Leo spoke again. “Just stop. I’m so sick and tired of listening to you blather on. Just stop talking. This is not the place or time for this, so just………”
His voice trailed off as a small wave of tremors shook his body for a moment. “He’s dead Minerva…….your son……my father….is dead. Can’t we just set aside all this anger and hatred…..at least for today?”
Minerva opened her mouth to peak but fell silent as all eyes in the room turned to look at her. Leo watched as her shoulders slumped and she bowed her head to look at the floor, her voice less than a whisper. “Fine.”
Taking a deep breath Leo turned back to Henry who was smiling at him. “Now that I have read the will you’re all free to leave. Leo if you would come with me I’ll help you move the box from my car to yours.”
Nodding Leo watched as everyone else filed out of the room; Venus paused for a moment, saying she would go and keep Alex company while Leo and Henry finished up. He smiled at her, thanking her for her help. Once everyone was gone Henry and Leo stood up before leaving the room and going out into the parking lot. As they walked Henry spoke. “There is something I did not tell you about this box Leo. When your father brought it to me…..he was sobbing uncontrollably. He made me promise to never open it, and that if anyone ever came around asking for it or about it; I was to burn the box without hesitation. ”
Leo raised an eyebrow. “Why would he do that?”
Henry shook his head. “I don't know, but I can tell you this. I’ve known your father for most of his life. Because of this I can tell you with 100% certainty that….”
They stopped talking for a moment as they got to Henry’s car. Henry turned to look at Leo. “Whatever is in this box caused your father a great deal of pain. Perhaps more pain then when your mother died.”
Leo felt his eyes widen at those words. He watched slightly afraid as Henry opened up the trunk of his car revealing the large cardboard box. The box was unmarking, showing no sign or indication of what might be inside it. Next to him Henry spoke again. “Your father wanted this box to be destroyed in case you didn’t come to claim it. I can only imagine that since you’re here for it he wants you to decide what to do with it.”
Leaning down Leo touched the box, before gripping the edges and lifting it up and out of Henry’s trunk. With Henry’s help Leo moved the short distance to his own car before putting the box in the back before closing the trunk and turning to Henry. “Thank you Henry…… thank you for what you’ve done.”
Henry smiled at Leo. “I was your father’s friend for 30 years Leo; it’s no trouble at all. Now if you’ll excuse me I have to file the will with the courts before they close. Goodbye.”
Watching and Henry walked back towards his car Leo took a deep breath before crossing the parking lot and moving back into the church to find Venus and Alex sitting in the front room talking softly. Alex looked up at Leo as he entered the room, smiling at him; only to cock his head in confusion as Leo dropped down into the seat next to him looking exhausted. “Hey…..are you ok?”
Leo remained silent for a moment trying to gather his thoughts before speaking. “He…….he left me the house…….”
Alex’s eyes widened at his words. “What?”
Leo nodded his head slowly. “I mean he left me other things to, a letter an old photo album of when my mother was pregnant with me and some kind of mystery box……but he……he left me the house.”
Alex shifted, slowly touching his shoulder. “Are you ok?”
Sighing again Leo nodded. “Yeah……I just………”
He turned to look at Alex, his sides shaking slightly as he spoke. ”I wanna go home.”
Alex smiled at him before gently squeezing his shoulder. “Then let’s go to home.”
Leo smiled weakly. “Ok.”
Standing up Leo said goodbye to Venus who smiled back at him before giving him a tight hug. “We’re family Leo. You’ll always be welcome at my home.”
Thanking Venus Leo had been about to leave the church with Alex when a voice called to him. Turning towards the voice Leo found that a large grey wolf was walking up to him. The wolf came to a stop in front of him, looking him up and down for a moment before speaking. “So you’re Leo. It’s good to finally meet you. My name is Miles Finch.”
Leo was silent for a moment before speaking. “Hello…….I’m sorry I don't recognize you. Are you a friend of my dad’s?”
Miles chuckled for a moment. “I don't think ‘friend’ is the right word but I knew your father, and we kept in contact for a number of years.”
Leo continued to look confused so the wolf elaborated further. “I’m a detective. I contacted your father because I was assigned to investigate the suspicious death of Robert Elifson.”
Leo felt his blood turn cold. He swallowed, a rock having formed in his throat before speaking. “And why…..did you contact my father?”
Miles shrugged. “Well when we first found the body we worked the case under the assumption that is was a robbery gone bad. So we searched the house to find out what had been stolen. We found a number of video tapes and journal detailing…….the sexual abuse of children. At that point the investigation shifted to a possible homicide; with the assumption that one of his previous victims or perhaps someone close to them found out and murdered him.”
Leo’s blood dropped several degrees colder at this. Nervously he clenched and unclenched his hands. In front of him Miles frowned at him. “That’s when things started to get really…..weird. You see, I had to go through and read all of the journals to find the names of the children in the tapes; and in the last journal he talks about you. But the thing is…..we never found any tapes of him molesting you, only the journals. Which leads me to two possible conclusions; one conclusion is that he was going to target you but never got the chance because he died first, and the second conclusion is that…..someone removed the tapes from the house before we got to it.”
Leo felt his eyes widen as miles continued to speak. “Thing is, I’m mostly likely to believe in the second possibility. You see the only reason we ever found out about Elifson’s death was because one of his neighbors reporting seeing a suspicious man leaving the house in the middle of the night.”
Again Leo swallowed, painfully aware of just how dry his throat had gone. He wasn’t sure if Miles was accusing him of something. “anyways I contacted your father because I wanted to talk with you. But he said you’d both had a huge fight the night before and you’d left early for college because you were angry.”
Leo nodded slowly, his heart still hammering almost painfully in his chest. “Anyways I call every now and then, just to keep in contact with him. Mostly trying to get into contact with you so I could interview you and eliminate you as a suspected…..but that never happened. The department labele
d the death as an accident and we destroyed all the evidence we had found. When I heard that your father had died……well……..I guess I just wanted to see him put to rest. I hope you don't mind.”
Leo shook his head, perhaps a little too vigorously. “No……no I don't mind. Thank you for coming.”
Miles was silent for a moment before chuckling. “I’ll be honest…..at one point I suspected you had killed him. I mean the last entry in the last journal was the night you left for college. But your father was very insistent. You’d already left and there was no way you were still in town when Elifson had died.”
Leo nodded, his heart beat becoming several beats faster as he watched miles continue to look at him for a moment before shrugging. “No matter. I’m retired now, and frankly anyone who can do those kinds of things to children deserves whatever fate they get. I just wanted to meet you and say hello. But I’ll let you get back to what you were doing.”
Nodding Leo watched as miles smiled at him again before walking off, leaving him and Alex alone in the front room of the church while Leo desperately tried to bring his heartbeat back under control. Next to him Alex spoke softly. “Leo….are you ok?”
Leo took several deep breaths before speaking. “I wanna go home.”
He felt Alex squeeze his hand gently. “Ok. Let’s go then.”
A moment later they left the church, before getting into the car, turning on the engine before pulling out of the parking lot and away from the church before turning in the direction of the house that Leo had grown up in.
CHAPTER 13
Alex watched as Leo shut off the car’s engine before slowly turning to look out the window at the house in front of them. Alex’s eyes scanned the slightly faded blue paint, the rose bushes that could do with some trimming, the windows which were covered in dust but were otherwise in good condition. The white fence that surrounded the front yard was well kept up, only in a few spots had the white paint flaked or chipped off. Slowly Alex reached out to touch Leo’s hand. “Leo……are you ok?”
He watched as Leo swallowed before speaking. “My mother loved her rose bushes. After she died…….I tried to so hard to keep them alive. I watered and weeded them and worked until the thorns had cut my hands till they bled……but no matter what I did they just kept dying……I…..”
Leo broke off as he shifted to grip Alex’s hand, his voice quivering with emotion as he continued to speak. “I felt like a failure. Like if I really loved her I should have been able to keep them alive…..but they just kept dying……but now…….”
Leo felt small tears well up in his eyes as he looked over the rosebushes that were starting to go dormant for the winter but had obviously been in full bloom during the summer. Next to him Alex spoke softly. “Leo….are you going to be ok?”
Leo nodded, sniffing slightly as he wiped away the tears that had welled up in his eyes. “Yeah…..I don't want to stay long…..I want to get out of town soon but…….but I……I need to do this. Ok?”
Alex nodded, gently squeezing his hand. “Ok.”
Slowly they got out of the car. Alex watched as Leo’s hands shook slightly as he reached out to pull open the small gate before slowly looking around the yard. The grass was short, the flowers were starting to go dormant, but there was no doubt that the yard and garden were well cared for; tended by someone who obviously had a passion for them. Slowly they moved walking up a few small steps before stopping in front of the front door.
Alex watched as Leo slowly reached out, his fingers touching the dark wooden door, as though he were unsure if he was really here. “The last time……the last time I touched this door……my father threw a bottle at my head…….he screamed at me that I wasn't welcome back in his home if I left…….I stormed out and never looked back. I never…..never wanted to come back. I just wanted to get away from here……as far away as I could get.”
Alex reached out, touching Leo’s hand; winding his fingers into Leo’s before giving them a small squeeze. “He didn’t mean it Leo…..he was just scared of loosing you.”
Leo nodded, sniffing back a fresh wave of tears as he did so. Slowly he knelt down, pulling back the welcome mat Leo smiled as he found that his father’s hide-a-key was in the same place it had always been all throughout his childhood. Picking up the key Leo paused for a moment as he ran his fingers over the small bit of metal, touching the teeth of the key he’d used so many times when he was growing up. shaking his head slightly Leo moved forward putting the key in the lock, feeling his heart speed up slightly as the lock clicked open as it unlocked. He looked to Alex who smiled reassuringly at him. “Ok…..”
He was speaking more to himself than anything else. Slowly Leo pushed the door open, feeling his heart clench slightly as the door gave a familiar creaking sound that he knew well from his childhood. Gently he squeezed Alex’s hand a little tighter as they slowly took the first step into the house. Slowly Leo’s eyes scanned the living room, taking in the TV, couch, table….all of it the way he remembered it had been as a child. Yes the furniture was different, yes the TV was bigger; but everything was in the same place it had been when he’d left, in a way nothing had changed. Slowly he looked to Alex who looked back at him for a moment before speaking. “What now?”
Leo was silent for a moment as the possibilities washed over him; one coming to the front of his mind. “I want to know what’s in the box.”
Nodding Alex followed Leo back out of the house and to the car, watching as Leo opened the trunk and pulled the box out before setting it on the ground and closing the trunk. As Leo worked a small gust of wind kicked up around them, making them both shiver despite their coats. “L….let’s do this inside where it’s warmer.”
Nodding in agreement Alex tugged his jacket closer to his body as he helped guide Leo who carried the box; back through the yard, up the stairs and back into the living room before setting the box down on the coffee table in front of the couch. Looking down at the box Leo frowned as he found that the box was sealed shut with several thick strips of duct-tape. “We’ll have to use a knife to cut it.”
Moving into the kitchen Leo pulled open the drawer that held kitchen knives before finding one that would work. Moving back into the living room Leo paused as a picture that hung on the wall caught his attention. He remembered when the photo had been taken. It had been at the town fair, he, his father and his mother had all gone; and had spent the day amongst the rides and stalls. In the photo a 5 year old Leo wore an oversized cowboy hat and boots while next to him his mother wore a huge grin, while his father was busy giving his mother a kiss on the cheek. Smiling Leo reached out, touching the glass that separated the photo from the world. He felt Alex move, coming to stand next to him and look at the photo too. “You were a cute child.”
Leo smiled but raised an eyebrow as he turned to look at Alex. “What do you mean were? I’m still cute.”
They were both silent for a moment before they both began to giggle. It felt good to laugh, to break the cycle of intense emotions with a bit of happiness and humor; it felt like he hadn’t done so in a VERY long time. Moving back to the box Leo worked, the thin steel blade easily slicing through the dozen or so odd layers of duct tape that had kept the box closed. Pulling the flaps of the box apart Leo frowned as he found another envelope sitting onto of a sheet of plain brown paper, which was obviously covering something up. moving to pick up the envelope Leo found that it had been taped to the paper; the effect was that when he picked it up the paper moved, revealing what was under it……..a dozen or so old VCR tapes. “Huh?”
Reaching down Leo picked up one of the tapes, turning it over in his hand. The tape was covered in dust, so much so that the label that had been written on it was almost unreadable. Wiping away some of the dust Leo began to read the label only to feel his blood turn cold as he found he recognized the handwriting. Instantly he dropped the tape, as though it had lashed out to attack him. Next to him he felt Alex move in, unsure of what was wrong but stil
l wanting to comfort him. “Leo…..what.”
But Leo cut him off, his voice cold and confused. “These are……HIS tapes…….”
Alex shook his head; still not sure of what had Leo so upset. “Leo…..I don't understand. What’s wrong?”
Leo forced himself to take a deep breath before speaking; willing his voice to not shake despite the trembling of his hands which had balled into fists. “These are the tapes……that were made of me…..when……I was…….abused.”
Alex’s eyes widened as he looked down at the box of tapes in horror. There were dozens of tapes, so many that he couldn't see any sight of the bottom of the box. Next to him Leo’s breaths had become ragged and pained, his entire body shaking as he looked down at the box. Inside Leo’s head a battle raged. Alex watched as slowly Leo reached down to open the envelope that had been inside the box with the tapes. Opening the white envelope Leo pulled out the letter and began to read it out loud.
I couldn't protect you from him; but I could protect you from his legacy.
After you left for college I went to confront him. Too demand to know if what you’d said was true. I found the backdoor wide open and found his body; and I knew what you’d said was true.
I’m so sorry I didn’t believe you.
I searched the house and found the tapes he’d made; I found all the ones with your name on it and stole them. Then I called the cops pretending to be a neighbor and said I’d seen a suspicious person coming from the house.
This box is a monument to my failure as a father.
Do whatever you want with it.
A moment later Leo crumpled the note in his hands before dropping it to the floor. Part of him wanted to run into town and throw these tapes at everyone who’d said he was lying; to rub this box of proof in their faces and scream at them that he hadn’t been lying; that he’d been telling the truth all along……but another part of him………
The Lives We Lead (A Student In Need Book 2) Page 20