Page 69 of Pretty Broken Wings
“Get out!” I shout, feeling the tears creep up in my vision.
Buddy growls. I see Gage wince, and then he takes a step back.
“What—” Axel starts, but Gage whirls on him.
“Shut the fuck up.” He shoves Axel in the chest, pushing him back. “Just shut the fuck up!” Then he reaches back and slams the bedroom door closed.
I collapse against the wall, dropping my head into my hands. Buddy turns, licking my hands, the warm swipes of her tongue sneaking between my fingers and getting my face.
Then, the tears come. There’s nothing I can do to stop them, and I hate myself for that. Why the fuck am I being so weak? I shouldn’t have expected Gage to help me. I really shouldn’t have. But the fact that he didn’t still makes my chest ache.
Buddy brushes my thumb, and it hurts like a bitch, but I welcome the throb. It keeps me grounded. The wash of emotions is overwhelming.
“I hate men. I hate them, I hate them, I hate them.” I sob into my hands. Buddy aggressively nuzzles my hands, dislodging them, then dives in for my face. She gets one slobbery lick in before I dodge her. She’s persistent, though, and lunges her whole body at me, which just makes me laugh and cry. The laughing gets worse when I realize I have half a set of half-finished nails on, and one of them has torn. It looks ridiculous. Then, I start hiccuping, which makes things worse.
We sit on the floor for a long time, just me and the girl who stuck up for me. And it strikes me that, once again, a man hurt me and made me cry. Only this time, I have more than just a stuffed dog.
“Onyx?” I whisper.
Buddy licks my face. She whimpers, and I get a sudden wash of guilt.
She’s probably scared. I made her that way.
History is repeating itself, only this time, I’m hurting something real.
And that makes me cry harder.
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
14 Years Old
“Axel showed his penis to a teacher,” Mom’s voice hisses. I freeze in the hallway, just able to see Mom’s head. She’s talking with Rich in the kitchen.
I duck back just a little so she can’t see me.
Rich laughs, and I hear something shifting on the counter.
“This isn’t funny.” Mom’s trying to keep her voice quiet, but I hear it shake.
My gut twists. I never understand why Axel does the inappropriate things that he does. It’s like he fucking wants to get in trouble. He thinks it’s funny. Just like Rich does.
“It’s funny as hell.”
“He’s fourteen! It’s not safe. He could get in serious trouble!”
“You need to learn to relax. It was just a joke.”
Mom’s voice gets sharp. “Relax? You want me to relax about my son’s safety?”
“It wasfunny,” Rich emphasizes. “But if you want, I’ll talk to him…”
“Please.”
“You need to learn how to take a joke.” There’s a pause, and then I hear movement. I catch a glimpse of Rich coming up to Mom, smiling. He snatches her up, starting to tickle her.
Mom squirms.
“Laugh, honey. It’s not going to kill you to laugh.”
