by Lexie Ray
Lucas had described the abandoned building, and how Haley had followed him to it, and she secretly wondered if she would have even gotten that far. He then said that he had escaped through the basement door and Haley had hurt herself while inside. She ignored the fleeting feeling that Lucas had been to the building before, and focused on the story.
Haley had apparently fallen once inside and then cut herself on a broken window. She hoped that she would have had the instincts that Haley had. She hoped that – despite her own physical pain – she would have been able to get to him. She wondered that because as she looked at Lucas’s poor physically corrupted face, she sat – at her desk – completely terrified and still. She wanted to rid herself of the image implanted into her mind, the image of her son, lying on the ground unmoving with blood splattered about.
She wasn’t even witnessing it firsthand and she could do no more than look at him in fear, worry, and horror. How was she expected to act if she had actually been there? She had to hand it to Haley. At least she could do something. Marissa was unsure of her abilities as a mother, and a human being, for that matter. Haley had always been the action-taker, and she wondered if her decision was wise to let her go. She should have thought about what was best for the children. Perhaps Preston should have as well, though.
Her stomach churned with a sickness she had never experienced. She honestly didn’t know what to do. Her mind was jumbled and moving from subject to subject – it was enough to drive her insane. Seeing Lucas under Haley’s arm’s grasp – protected – was enough to make her question her decision. It was also enough to make her resent Haley and Preston even more for putting her in the position.
And the fact that she had been just comparing herself to Haley made her resent them even more than that. She never compared herself to Haley before, because they each brought something unique to the family’s dynamic. Now though, it seemed almost like a competition, and she hated that feeling.
But disregarding all of that – her first priority was Lucas. Her stomach churned knowing what happened to him, and she didn’t know what to do about it. She could afford to take him out of the school if need be – but was that the wise decision? All she knew was that something had to be done. She knew that she had to fight for her son’s safety. But moreover, she wanted to know what caused all of this in the first place. Lucas had never had issues with bullies before now, so she wondered if there was more to the story.
She hated that Preston had known about it and hadn’t confided in her. Hell, as far as she was concerned, this was partly his fault. If she had known it was this bad, she would have never trusted him to take care of it. She would have never left the fate of her son’s safety in the hands of a busy-self-entitled-asshole-corporate-cheating-dickhead.
She knew the situation wasn’t great. Because he had come home with black eyes, but Preston said he had it handled – and she trusted him. Why the fuck she did that, she would probably never know. She honestly hadn’t thought the situation was that dire, but clearly she was wrong in her assumptions and made mental note to take matters such as these more seriously next time. She would have never forgiven herself if something had happened to him.
The question was, though: if it was this bad and Preston knew the situation – why was he willing to bet his son’s safety? If he knew – why wouldn’t he do anything? No matter how good his intentions were – if they even were good – there was no excuse for taking chances. Not on his son. Now, she knew she could really never trust him. Obviously not with their marriage, and apparently not even with the kids’ wellbeing.
Marissa continued to listen to Lucas’s tale, hoping that it was soon over but not wanting to interrupt him. If he wanted to go into detail, she was going to let him. She knew it was probably a lot more difficult for him to go through it again, as he retold the story, than it was for her to hear it, even though it was almost unbearable for her to hear. Besides, the story – no matter how disgustingly vile it was – may help her figure out what happened in the first place.
“Who did it?” she asked, really wanting to know the demon child’s name.
“Darren,” he responded flatly, looking at his feet. Darren – she had never heard of a Darren before. She wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She guessed it was good that he wasn’t a friend, but it made her even angrier because if she hadn’t heard of him, it probably meant Lucas didn’t even know him very well. Which also meant that Darren didn’t know Lucas very well either.
He talked about the other boys in the pack taunting him from behind the ape of a boy that beat her son. Their cheers seemed to influence the attacker more and give him encouragement to continue. He said that he felt a kick to his stomach at some point, and he wasn’t sure if it was from Darren or one of the other boys, but it caused his knees to buckle and his face to smash against a surface. Again, he was unsure of what surface – the ground or the stoop to the front of the abandoned building. All he knew was that it was hard, and harsh against his skin.
Marissa winced, nearly feeling the pain herself. She wasn’t just empathizing though; she was truly hurt. Someone had intentionally harmed her baby. Of course she was hurting. She couldn’t imagine her son writhing on the ground, gasping for air. Her stomach hadn’t stopped churning since she first set her gaze upon his face. She wanted to vomit – not because he looked hideous, but because she couldn’t believe the world could be as cruel as harm a young boy to that degree. And it made her sick to know she did nothing to prevent it – and neither did his father.
“This only started recently...what in the world is going on, Lucas? I know you told your dad, now I want you to tell me,” she said, rolling her desk chair to his parted legs. His hands rested atop his shaking knees, and she grabbed them for support.
“I’m not supposed to say...” Lucas trailed, looking down at her hands over his. His eyes were swollen purple already, and it was nearly impossible to tell if they were open or closed when he bent his head to look down. Her heart wept, and she couldn’t help but let her imagination wander to the idea of blood spurting from his mouth as he looked directly to his assaulter.
He was her own flesh and blood – her fucking son – and the thought of him coughing and gasping for air horrified her to no end. She didn’t think she could bear to watch the soft fall of blood land on the ground, or even his body crumpling to the ground.
She couldn’t understand why he wasn’t ready to talk about his assaulter’s motives and what drove them. She couldn’t understand why he was scared to tell her the truth. Pin the asshole kid to the wall, for all she cared! Why would he – the victim – care?
“What do you mean?” she asked, completely puzzled.
“Those guys have been giving me a hard time…” he started, and he had begun to look her in the eye, but before he finished his thought looked away, as if he was ashamed to say.
“Honey, anything you have done – I don’t care. I just want to know the truth so we can figure out what to do from here. I’m on your side no matter what. No matter what you’ve done, these boys had no right to do what they did,” Marissa reassured him, squeezing his hands tighter.
“It isn’t what I did… it’s about someone else,” he sighed.
“Who, honey? Sophie, maybe? Are you protecting your sister?” she asked, hoping that wasn’t the case. She couldn’t handle both kids being harmed.
“No. She’s popular for a fifth grader. It has nothing to do with her…” He shifted awkwardly in his seat. “It’s Dad.”
Marissa was stunned. What about Dad? What was Preston pulling?
“What do you mean?” she asked, sounding a little angrier than she had meant to. He caught it, too. He suddenly seemed a little more reserved – even more than he was already. He was afraid to tell her. She could see it all over his demeanor. There was something he knew. There was something he wasn’t saying.
“Darren’s mom worked at Dad’s office…” he began, but she sensed an unease as soon
as he spoke.
“And?” she urged.
“Darren said she got fired and he overheard both of his parents talking about the reason…” He gulped and tried to continue.
“What was the reason?” she demanded, not really caring if she sounded harsh, and not really caring if he was scared to finish.
“Darren said he overheard them say it was because her boss came onto her and she turned him down...” He breathed heavily. “Dad was her boss.”
Chapter 7
She couldn’t believe it. Preston had only been covering his own ass the whole time. Lucas talked about the kids calling him the “pervert’s son” at school. The worst of all of it, according to him, was that he actually liked Darren’s sister and was called a “rapist pervert” himself. Marissa didn’t know how she felt about him being romantically interested in a girl related to such a horrible kid, but she paid no mind. Middle school romances were hardly a concern to her.
She continued to listen to him rattle off all that he knew, and she could tell part of him didn’t want to – but she could also tell part of him was liberated. It was obvious it had been eating him alive.
It really was no wonder he had been such an asshole lately. He was being completely ridiculed at school because of his father’s disgusting antics. No wonder he was glad to be rid of him. No wonder he was so upset with him. No wonder he didn’t want to see his face. It really was no wonder.
She groaned when she saw him shift in his seat and cough in pain. He was still hurting. It was obvious he needed to go to the doctor. She didn’t care if nothing was seriously wrong; she wanted to have him checked out anyway. His body seemed to be impaling him with pain; she knew it was impaling her. It caused her great strife to see him so injured. He coughed again, and his arms began to shake on his lap. She wondered how emotionally scarring this would be for him. This was traumatic, indeed.
Lucas was in tears as he finished his story, and Marissa knew what she had to do. She had to develop a plan, just like she had told Haley before everything unraveled. They had been planning to do something about it when Haley blindsided her with the confession. It was time that the deliberated again – because something had to be done, and she knew that she could trust Haley enough to help. She trusted her love for the kids, and even if that was all that she trusted, it was a start.
She and Lucas both rose from their seats and walked in unison through the kitchen. He leaned against his mother, and her heart soared. It was the first time in a long time that he had leaned on her – for comfort, for support, for anything, really. She smiled. Through all of it, she smiled.
Gathering up every ounce of courage that she possessed, Marissa took a deep breath and swung open the door to the bakery’s shop. There they all were. Joseph was helping a couple of customers while Rachel and Haley sat, conversing quietly, behind him.
“Haley,” Marissa called, and Haley’s ears perked up instantly and her attention moved from Rachel to Marissa. Marissa wanted to thank her, she wanted to hug her for protecting her son, but she wasn’t sure she could. She wasn’t sure she could allow herself to be close to the woman again. She just wasn’t sure. Damn it all, she wasn’t sure of anything.
As she watched Lucas walk slowly and carefully to his aunt, she noticed the customers craning their necks to look around Joseph to behold the boy’s injuries. They were disturbed, she could tell. “Lucas, go with your Aunt Rachel – she’s going to take you to the doctor,” Marissa said sweetly, and quietly. The two customers – who were likely a couple – were older in appearance, and they looked on, eyes wide, before the man spoke.
“What happened to that young man?” He was concerned, but asked in a non-accusatory tone. She wondered what it might look like to an onlooker. She wondered what she might think had she seen a small child beaten like her son was.
She looked to Lucas again before she spoke but noticed something that she hadn’t before; she noticed that his face had been cleaned up – likely by Haley before they got there. She could only imagine what it looked like before. But because he was cleaned up it was obvious it hadn’t just happened in the back – in her business’s kitchen.
“Got into a fight with a couple of older boys,” she heard Joseph announce, just before she was about to respond herself. “The nanny brought him over here about twenty minutes ago so his mom could have a look.”
He spoke nonchalantly, as if he spoke with all of the customers on a personal level. “I hope you feel better, son,” the man said, before gently accepting his bag of baked goods. “Thanks, Jo. We will see you tomorrow.”
“Friends of yours?” Marissa asked, a bit confused. She knew they couldn’t have been regulars. She knew their regulars.
“Not really – my parents. They came into town to see me, and they love sweets, so they thought they’d drop in for a bit,” he said again before ripping up the receipt they had left behind and tossing the remains into the trash.
“Lucas. Rachel. Go,” Marissa shooed. She knew she should have taken him to the doctor herself, but she wanted to have a discussion with Haley, and that moment may be the only chance she would have. She wasn’t sure she was going to thank her, but she wanted to talk about what Lucas had just told her. It had surprised her, but she wasn’t sure why. All she wanted to know was whether or not it was true, and she wasn’t sure how she was going to figure that out.
~~~
Haley had listened intently to everything Marissa said. Lucas hadn’t told her anything of the incident, especially what led to it. She couldn’t believe it. Yes, Preston cheated on his wife, but taking it to the workplace was low – even for a simple cheater.
Perhaps she was naïve for thinking she was the only one he had eyes for, but she thought that they had held something very special for one another. She felt like he loved her. Truly and fully. She thought it, but if anything that had happened lately was any indication of her logic, then obviously it couldn’t be trusted.
Even the simplest logic could say that Marissa also thought Preston loved her truly and fully. If he could have done what he had done to her, then he could have done anything to anyone. Haley shouldn’t be surprised, from a logical standpoint. But she was.
Marissa had spoken so callously about it. She sounded unsurprised and overall just held a demeanor of plain indifference. The matter she was more concerned about was Lucas’s matter. She wanted to discuss a game plan for his bully problem. She was determined. Something was going to be done, and together they concocted a deliberation. They were going to get the school involved, and if the school didn’t settle it, then further action would be taken on some regard or another.
Since their discussion had ended though, neither spoke. Marissa had told her that she could stay until Rachel returned so that she could see Lucas if she wanted. She did want to see Lucas. She wanted to see how it went at the doctor’s office. She wanted to check on him before she left. But it was awkward – man, was it awkward.
She prayed for a spurt of customers to come rushing in, and it seemed like decades before they finally did. After that, it was easy breezy. It was all smooth sailing from there because they were no longer watching one another, and neither woman had to possess the ability to force words from her mouth just to make conversation. She tucked herself into the back corner of the seating area to the table right beside the bookshelf, and opened up the first book that looked interesting to her.
She loved the atmosphere of this bakery. The dining area was such an oasis of relaxation. There were tables strewn about in no organizational order, almost as if to intentionally be chaotic. It flowed nicely, though. There were even two plump blue couches at the opposite end of the seating area, more towards the ordering counter. It was a nice pop of color from the pink theme that seemed to envelope the entire room. It was nice.
Marissa and Joseph shifted around each other, helping customers, and she smiled at the way they seemed to work in such synchronicity with one another. They laughed, smiled, touched – if Haley
hadn’t know them and their friendship so well, she’d swear they were together. She could tell some of the customers thought that way. Especially when she heard an older lady comment to her husband how “cute” they were together.
She fingered through the pages of her book and read a few lines about love. Not just love, but romantic love. It went on and on about this man loving this woman more than he loved himself or his life. To Haley it was basically an unrealistic scope of what romance and relationships really were. No wonder women were so naïve, and no wonder no one was ever happy in their relationships. The standards were simply unreachable at best.
Why didn’t she just put the book down, though? Well, because what kind of torture could she inflict on herself if she had? She was enthralled, if she was being honest with herself. The main character was described as a muscular man, powerful in demeanor, with blonde hair and blue eyes, the perfect representation of a certain man that currently held her heart – though she didn’t know why.
Preston was a liar and a cheater, which was completely the opposite of this man. Maybe that’s why women seemed to lose themselves in these sorts of books. The romance was giving her some satisfaction, where there otherwise wasn’t any. This book was giving her chills – she ached for a romance like that. And though she knew it was unrealistic, it maybe was a good thing that some women’s standards were that high.
They deserve this kind of man. How was it women’s fault that men couldn’t live up to potential expectations? Now, Haley still believed that these books allowed for ill-perceived ideas about what a relationship was, but it didn’t mean that the men shouldn’t strive for this sort of character within themselves. The man she was reading about wasn’t at all on the spectrum of perfection, but he was loving, gentlemanly, honest, and his strength seemed to radiate off the page when he was around the woman he loved. She made him more powerful. She made him more of a man. So, no – don’t give her the unrealistic relationship – but why was the man unrealistic? Did women not deserve a man positive in character?