Page 96 of Breaking My Silence

I’d talked to my dad a couple of times since Ian and I had started dating, and I’d told him a lot about Ian. Since I’d never dated anyone else, my having a boyfriend was pretty huge news to my dad. But, unlike my mom, who was looking for reasons to hate Ian, all my dad was concerned with was whether or not Ian treated me well and made me happy.

I nodded. “Yeah. Ian, this is my dad, Mark.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Mr. Strong,” Ian said. “Ky’s told me a lot about you.”

“Same. I kind of feel like I know you already. This is a surprise, Ky. Were your ears ringing? Jody and I were just talking about you.”

I let out a weak chuckle, sniffling a little. “What about me?”

“Trying to figure out what to get you for Christmas. Do you have anything you want or need? Maybe something for college?” he asked.

“Um…” I trailed off, and a few tears started trailing down my cheeks. “Dad, I…I need to talk to you about something. Do you have time?”

“I always have time for you, honey,” he murmured, standing up and going into another room, then shutting the door behind him. “What’s wrong?”

“Um…God, I don’t know how to say this.” My voice broke.

Ian tightened his arms around me and planted a kiss on my shoulder. “You’ve got this, baby. I’m right here.”

A lump started to rise in my throat, but I swallowed it down. If I started crying now, I’d never be able to get this out. It was getting easier each time I had to tell my story, but telling myfatherthat I’d been violated like that was a different thing altogether.

“Take your time, pumpkin,” my dad encouraged me. “It’s okay.”

I took a deep breath, then proceeded to tell him everything. About what those monsters did to me, about what they werestilldoing to the people I’d trusted with my truth, and about how my mom had reacted when I’d told her about it yesterday. I also told him that I was staying with Ian now and only had about a week’s worth of clothes with me. I knew I needed to figure out how to get back into the house when my mom was at work, but if I knew her at all, she’d probably had the locks changed already.

My dad had tears streaming down his face by the time I was done talking, and it looked like this conversation had aged him about ten years.

“I…I wish I knew what to say, sweetheart,” he finally said. “But I’m so proud of you for speaking out about what happened to you. Do you know how brave you are?”

“I don’t feel brave.” My voice was thick with tears. “I feel like I don’t have anything left. I know I need therapy, but I couldn’t go because I couldn’t tell Mom why I needed to. And now she took me off her insurance, so I can’t afford it.”

His face hardened. “She said that to you? She told you she took you off her insurance?”

I nodded. “Yeah. And she threatened to report my car as stolen too.”

“Ky, you’ve never been on her insurance. You’re onmyinsurance plan. That was part of the child support agreement,” he told me. “And I will happily pay any out-of-pocket costs if you find a therapist you want to work with.”

I froze for a second, unable to process what he was telling me.

“She…what? I’ve never been on her insurance plan?” I sniffled.

“Nope.” He took a deep breath, wiping his face. “You’ve never seen your insurance card?”

I shook my head. “Mom keeps it. I asked her for it when I started driving just in case I got into an accident, but she refused to give it to me. She said I didn’t need it because my info was on file at Olathe Med.”

And now I knew why she’d done that. She’d always told me that my dad never paid any child support and that he wassupposedto have covered my health insurance costs, but she’d had to put me on her plan because he’d dropped the ball. But with the way she tried to gatekeep my access to my dad at every turn, it didn’t surprise me in the slightest that she’d lied to me about the extent of his financial support.

My dad rolled his eyes and shook his head.

“Why doesn’t that surprise me?” he muttered, then took a deep breath. “Listen, honey, I’m going to come out there. I might not be able to do much to help you with the battle you’re facing pressing charges against the boys who hurt you, but I can at least help with your mother. I’m going to look at flights as soon as we hang up.”

A fresh round of tears welled up in my eyes. “Really?”

He gave me a sad smile. “I can’t just stay here and do nothing after the conversation we just had, Ky. Do you mind if I tell Jody what’s going on so she knows why I’m dropping everything to get on a plane?”

I nodded. “Yeah, of course.”

“Okay,” he sighed. “I’ll send you a text and let you know when I’m flying in. I love you, kiddo.”

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