Page 53 of Scar

“It’ll bruise,” Tom said in that same gentle tone. “Can we put some ice on it, Grayson? It’ll help with the swelling.”

A very small, “Okay,” sounded.

Tally was going to go get it, but Tom stood. “I got it,” he insisted. “I want to get some towels and a cloth to help clean him up too.”

Tally nodded to her friend. “Thank you.” She walked over to her couch and sat. Grayson was over by her window and lounge chair now, so there was still a lot of space between them. “That was very brave of you, Grayson. Trying to stop that man like you did. But I wish you hadn’t. I’m sorry you got hurt.”

“You were easy to get food from,” Grayson said. “If your place is gone, it’ll be a lot harder for me to get food elsewhere.”

Her heart nearly broke at that. “Where are your parents, Grayson?”

“My mom’s in Heaven. I don’t know where that is, but Mrs. Pratt says she ain’t coming back. I don’t have a dad.”

“Who’s Mrs. Pratt?” Tom asked as he walked back into the living room.

“She’s the lady who takes me to different homes and comes to get me when I’ve been bad and puts me in a new home.”

Foster care, Tally deduced. “Is that where you live now, Grayson? You live with a new family?”

Tally heard the wetplopof something hitting water and then the droplets hit as it was wrung out. She assumed Tom was wetting a washcloth.

“I ran away,” Grayson told them. “I need to find Heaven and my mommy.”

“Aw, Grayson,” Tom said softly. “I’m sorry, but Heaven’s not a place you can find. We’ll need to call Mrs. Pratt and have her?—”

“No!” Grayson shouted. Tally heard something hit the coffee table and then the splash of water to her hardwood floor. “You can’t take me back! You can’t! He’ll make me get into his bed! I don’t wanna get into his bed!”

Tally didn’t try to approach her window, but she could tell from Grayson’s shouts that he had wedged himself between the back of her chair and the wall. The fear in his voice was very real, not that of a child scared of the monster under his bed.

“Who?” Tom demanded. “Who wants to put you in his bed?”

“Kyle! He’s their son! He tries to take my pants off and makes me get into bed with him! Don’t make me go back! I hate Kyle! I hate him!”

“Okay, okay, easy, son,” Tom coaxed. “No one’s going to make you go back there. Don’t worry. We’ll figure something out. Will you come back here so I can finish wiping you down? We really need to get you into a bath.”

Tally heard small shoes on her hardwood. They were tentative, little steps, but they were in the direction of Tom.

“You promise?”

Fuck, his little voice was so full of hope that it nearly broke Tally’s heart.

“I swear it,” Tom said with vehemence. “Why don’t you finish eating the cheese and crackers on this plate,” Tally heard the sound of ceramic touching wood and knew Tom had moved the plate to the end table closest to Grayson, “and I’ll go refill this bowl of soapy water?”

“I don’t want to eat them all now,” Grayson told Tom. His voice was closer, though, telling Tally he was no longer behind her lounge chair. “I don’t know where I’m going to get food now.”

“You willalwayshave food,” Tom answered before Tally could. “You will never go hungry again, Grayson. Eat. I’ll refill your glass of water too.”

There must have been a cup on her coffee table that Grayson had already drunk from. That was the hollow glass she’d detected a few minutes ago.

Tally heard crunching sounds from the other end of the couch and was glad Grayson was eating. “Why do you keep making that clicking sound?” Grayson tried to mimic the sound she made to use echolocation and ended up spitting cracker crumbs at her. “Oops!”

Tally just shook her head, smiling. If Grayson was as dirty as Tom said, then she’d need to have her couch cleaned anyway. “It’s fine, and, yes, that’s how I see. My eyes are fake. They don’t work like yours do. I click my tongue,” she made the clicking sound again, “and it shows me what’s around me. Like a bat. The sound bounces off objects and it sends a signal back to me that something is there.”

“Cool,” Grayson breathed out. “If your eyes are fake, do they pop out?”

Tally laughed. “I can take them out.”

“Will you show me?” he asked excitedly.

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