Page 26 of Rocky

He nodded as he spoke. “I’m okay, but my daddy hurt Mommy. Can you check on her?”

I stood and looked at Rue. Our eyes connected briefly, but she looked away.

“Sure, I can check on her. Would you and your aunts mind letting me talk to your mom alone?”

“Nope! Let’s go, y’all,” Sage agreed quickly, waving her sister and nephew out of the room.

Once they were gone, I headed to the couch.

“Your shoes,” Rue reminded me. I slipped out of them and continued in her direction.

Instead of sitting next to her, I kneeled in front of her and took her hand. She tried to avoid my eyes with her tear-filled ones, but I gently grabbed her chin and forced her to look at me.

“You okay?” She nodded. “Tell me what happened.”

Through tears, she shared the evening’s events. It was hard for her to talk about the parts that included Briar, but she managed to get through it.

“How often does he hit you?”

“We’re not together.” Her response was defensive.

“That’s not what I asked you.”

“He used to hit me a lot when we were together. My sisters didn’t know about it until it got really bad.”

“It was really bad the first time he put his hands on you.”

“I can do without the judgment right now.”

“I’m not judging you. I’m making a point.”

“Anyway, we broke up not long after they found out. I avoid him if at all possible, but…he still gets aggressive sometimes.”

“How often?”

“Just when?—”

“How often, Rue?”

“I don’t know. Maybe twice a month.”

“Does he hit Briar?”

She shook her head adamantly. “Never, but today, if I hadn’t jumped on his back, he might’ve.”

“Do you still have feelings for him?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive, but he’s Briar’s father, and I encourage him to maintain a relationship with our son.”

“If he wasn’t Briar’s father, would you want a man like him around your son?”

“Hell no!”

“Then why does him being Briar’s father matter? If you ask me, it makes it much worse. You don’t want him to think it’s okay to treat any woman, let alone the mother of his children, the way his father treats you.”

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