Page 85 of Skid
Chapter 28
Grace
Sadie and I went tothe outlet mall in Lincolnville, and she dragged me from store to store, insisting Dalton would want me to have an entire wardrobe. I didn’t like shopping, but spending time with her was fun. Kelly, and a few other girls I lost touch with years ago, were the only women I’d ever spent time with. Being around Sadie, I realized what I’d missed out on all those years.
A friend.
“So, what did my stupid brother do to upset you?” Sadie asked as we sat down at a table in the food court with too many bags.
“It wasn’t him. It was just some crap from my past that I thought was buried.” I kept my response vague, hoping she wouldn’t push too hard.
Sadie was beautiful with the same piercing blue eyes as Dalton, and I was comfortable around her. She had tattoos up and down her arms, and I envied her ability to be herself. I always hid, not wanting to stand out, and I started thinking about getting some ink.
“Can I tell you something personal?” she inquired as we ate our slices of pizza.
I shrugged, not sure what she was going to share. “If you want to.”
She pulled her lips together and exhaled a deep breath before leaning closer to me and lowering her voice. “When I was fifteen, I was attacked on the street.” I gasped, and she smiled sadly, shaking her head. “I survived, and for years, I hid what happened, not wanting people to look at me with disgust or pity.”
“I can understand that,” I mumbled, and she nodded.
“I can see in your eyes that you do, and I’ll never ask you what you survived. But know this. You are not alone, and the anchor you carry with you, dragging you back into the painful memories, isn’t so heavy if you share the load.”
She took a sip of her drink, and I looked down briefly before meeting her eyes. They gave me the same comfort as when I looked into Dalton’s, and I whispered, “I was taken advantage of by my foster father for four years, and he . . . brainwashed me into thinking it was okay.”
It was the simplest truth I could say, and amazingly, it felt good to admit it. She reached her hand out and touched mine, grounding me as I felt another piece of the shame fall away. The pain wasn’t as severe, and I hoped, with time, I could move past it all and not look back.
“I’m sorry you lived through that but look at how strong you are now. You survived, and that’s all any of us can ask for,” she explained as we gathered our bags and threw our empty plates away.
“Does it get easier?” I asked as we left the mall and walked to her vehicle.
She opened the trunk, and we shoved the countless bags of clothes and personal items into it before she replied. “Time can lessen a wound, but it’s always there, just under the surface. The memories will fade but still linger deep in your mind. What you survived shaped you, but it doesn’t have to define you. Be the person you want to be, Grace, and let the past stay where it is. Behind you.”
We got into the car, and as she pulled into traffic, I looked over at her. “You’re pretty amazing. You know that, right?”
She giggled, and I joined her as she said, “I try to tell Dalton and Jacob how awesome I am, but they still don’t see it.”
On the drive back, we talked about club life, and she filled me in on the troublesome upbringing she and her siblings existed in, and how the Death Hounds saved her. Dalton saved me, and I was grateful for the woman sitting next to me who raised him to be such an honorable man.
As we drove through Portstill, she pointed out a few of the businesses that the club owned, telling me a little about each but not going into too much detail. Dalton explained the club business wasn’t my business and I understood there would be secrets he had to keep that didn’t affect me. I could live with that if he was honest with me and told me so.
