Page 63 of Accidentally Forever
“Aria is my girlfriend, Linda.” I squeezed Aria’s hand, and she gave me a soft smile. “I already have her and a few of her family members on the list.”
Aria widened her eyes as Linda smiled. “No problem. Let’s get you set up with a visitor pass, and the doctor should be out soon to talk to you.”
I ran my thumb along Aria’s hand, once again needing that anchor. “Anything I should know?”
“It’s just been a hard day.”
At that solemn response, we finished signing in and put on our visitor badges. Everything was laminated on nice chains versus a sticky note or anything like that. Only the best for this care center.
Once the doctor and two nurses came out to speak with us, I nodded along, knowing that they were only doing what they thought was best. Because my father was never going to get better. They had to have an inkling of the difficult relationship I had with that man, but they still told me the inevitable. Only I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to do with the information. Soon he’d have to be moved to another center with specialized care, but I didn’t want that decision in my hands. It should have been in my mother’s. I couldn’t help butthink this was another way for my mother to hurt me. It had taken me far too long to realize that. It was as if there was nothing left for me. The trainwreck of my childhood hadn’t fostered the adult sense of self that could carry this burden—but the ones I met outside my house of terror had been there nonetheless.
We made our way into the formal living room where my dad sat in his favorite chair staring out of the bay window. I did not know what he looked at, but he loved that angle.
He had thrown books, his food, and any item he could get his hands on earlier and had broken another window in the building. He had screamed and shouted, before finally calming down, and was only now allowed to sit here with two burly orderlies watching.
I nearly tripped over my feet when I realized that he wasn’t the only one in the room.
“It took you far too long to get here.”
As I hadn’t been expecting her, I flinched at the venom in my mother’s tone. She stood off to the side, staring out another window. She had on her pantsuit and high heels, her twenty-thousand-dollar bag on her elbow. I knew she had jewelry that was probably worth more than a small house covering her. As well as the two-thousand-dollar perfume she drenched herself in.
I liked nice things. I knew how to spend money.Hell, the jeans I wore were a couple hundred dollars because the cheaper ones I used to wear would wear out too quickly, and I decided to find a nice pair that would last. I knew my privilege.
But my mother lorded it.
I think what she wore bothered me because she was only skin deep. With poison beneath.
“I didn’t realize you could walk through those doors,” I volleyed back.
Aria squeezed my hand.
“Don’t get snippy with me. Your father needs you.”
“I do not.” I turned as my father stood up, vitriol on his face. Pure hatred. “You are no son of mine. For all I know, your mother spread her legs for some lowlife. My true son would have more meat to them. More dignity. Instead you’re covered with ink, paint, and have a whore by your side.”
I was moving forward before I even realized it, and Aria pulled me back.
“He’s not worth it,” she reminded me, and I froze.
Because beating up an old and feeble man when all I wanted to do was drown the memories themselves truly wouldn’t help anything. “If this is all tonight is going to be about, I am done.”
My father narrowed his gaze toward Aria. “I remember this girl. They tell me I don’t. But I do. Shewas always lapping at your heels. She probably wants your inheritance. Make sure she’s good in bed before you give her anything though. Just because they can suck your cock doesn’t make them worth a ring. She’s pretty enough, but not from good stock. She’s good for the side, but you need to marry well to keep the family name going.”
My dad continued on rambling, and I finally realized that I didn’t care. He could lash out at me constantly, but the moment he said anything about Aria, I was done. Completely done.
“Don’t call again.” I turned to head out, a quiet Aria at my side. I swallowed the bile rising in my throat and it was only Aria’s presence keeping me steady in this moment.
My mother’s voice brought me back to the nightmare that was my bloodline. “He might be sick, but he’s telling the truth. You have responsibilities to this family.”
I turned to her, chest tight. “You had a responsibility to raise me. Not to treat me like shit. Not to beat me.” She looked around since we weren’t alone in the room, but I didn’t care who saw her for who she truly was. “You hit me, slapped me. Pushed me down the stairs. You used Dad’s belt. You made me put my face over the steam coming off a boiling pot of water. Youand Dad did all you could to belittle me and torture me to the point that I had zero self-esteem. If it wasn’t forherfamily, I would be dead right now.” I gestured toward Aria, knowing she had her chin lifted by my side. “We both know that. Maybe that’s what you wanted, but from what I’m seeing, you want some kind of legacy? No. I’m not going to be your legacy. Fuck you. Fuck him. I don’t care what happens anymore. I don’t care what you want. Everything you have ever done to me, the lashes, the words, they took their toll. Fine, you went there. But I am done now. I don’t care what you try to take from me, because I have already made myself without you. I have who I need. So fuck you.”
“You are such a vulgar human being. Did you teach him that?” my mother asked as she turned to the woman I loved by my side.
“I’m pretty sure the words that constantly flow out of your mouth did that.” Aria raised her chin before I could defend her. “You are a sorry excuse for a mother. You are supposed to love your children. Protect them. But you couldn’t even protect him from yourself. And you’re still doing it. I get that you might be scared about what’s happening in your life right now, but hurting your son repeatedly isn’t the answer. So if you want to come at him again, you are going to have to comethrough me. And everyone in my family. You do not get to hurt him anymore.”
I moved forward and gripped her shoulder. “That’s enough, baby. We can go. She’s not worth it.”
Aria glared at me as my mother stared at us both, such anger in her expression I couldn’t process who the hell this woman was. But Aria wasn’t done. “You don’t have to defend me anymore because she doesn’t matter.”
