Page 69 of The Puck Stops Here

He took a swig of beer and grimaced as he swallowed, rubbing at his chest.

‘It’s okay, Blake,’ she assured him, his vulnerability making her own chest ache. ‘Whatever it is, you can trust me with it. I promise.’

And she meant it with her all.

He gave a small nod, his eyes probing hers. ‘What did Aiden tell you about our father?’

‘He told me that he was mean. Abusive to you all. That he’ – she swallowed, gripped her pencil upon her notepad as she read – ‘that he beat you.’

She wet her lips, her scribbled note urging her to add, ‘He also implied it was worse for you than it was for him.’

He gave a harsh laugh. ‘And that’s my brother being kind.Tookind as usual. Which is him all over once you scratch beneath the surface, forever making excuses for me.’

Not what her karma-conscience needed to hear. ‘How do you mean?’

‘Iwas the one who made it worse for me.Iwas the one who couldn’t keep a lid on my anger.Iwas the one who reacted to Dad’s physical abuse with more of the same and almost robbed us all of the chance to escape.’

She frowned, her gut giving the smallest of rolls. ‘I don’t…’

‘No, he won’t have told you that, will he?’ He threw back more beer. ‘My brother has the most amazing ability to just shut it down, you know. Keep his cool no matter what.’ He clenched and unclenched his empty fist in his lap, a rhythmic pulse that she sensed he wasn’t even aware of. ‘God, I envied him for that. Still do.’

‘It doesn’t make you any less of a man. Any less?—’

‘You don’t understand,’ he interjected, his eyes colliding with hers. ‘We were so close to getting away, the contracts were being drawn up and everything was on track. But that night…’

‘What night?’ she pressed as his voice trailed off, his eyes too as they landed on her phone, and he gave a rapid head shake.

‘I told you I wouldn’t share anything you’re not happy with.’ She paused the recording. ‘And I meant it.’

His blue eyes lifted to hers, the fear and the torment swirling in his depths, a sea of pain that she could feel herself drowning in as she held his gaze and waited.

‘We were late getting home from the rink. Mom had dropped Aiden with… with a friend and Dad was steaming. Going on about dinner not being on the table. And I don’t know what was different about that night but Mom just… she snapped, told him he knew where the oven was.’ He gave an unsettling laugh, his eyes glazing over as he stared at the beer in his hand. ‘She was fierce and I loved her for it… then I saw him flip, the back of his hand sweeping through the air, and my only thought was to get to him first.’

‘You can’t blame yourself for that.’ She pressed against her pencil with her thumb until it hurt, desperately trying to contain her own emotion while absorbing his. ‘You were defending your mother.’

Sweat beaded across his brow as he gave a slow nod. ‘But I couldn’t stop. I was so mad. Years of watching him beat down on her, on us, and now he was down, and I wasn’t letting him get back up. I guess a part of me was terrified of what he’d do. We’d never fought back before. In my head I kept thinking if he gets back up, we’re dead.’

‘My God, Blake.’ It was a whisper, one she wasn’t even sure he heard.

‘When I was certain he was down for good, I grabbed Mom. She’d been screaming before, but she’d stopped. She was silently sobbing, rocking, her eyes pinned on his body. She couldn’t look at me. I called for an ambulance and told her we needed to go, get out of there but she was all scrunched up, frozen in place. I was carrying her out the front door when the police sirens came. The neighbours had called the cops.’

‘Thecops?’

He nodded. ‘Aiden rocked up just as they were hauling me in.’

‘But your father was the one…’

‘He was still out cold. I was the one with blood on my hands. He hadn’t struck Mom because I got there first.’

‘It was self-defence.’

‘Our word against his.’

‘But…’

‘I was already on their radar. The entire gang I hung around with were. They were itching to convict me of something, and I’d just handed them the perfect charge.’

‘But you weren’t charged?’

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