Amore Mio ✓

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Alice's POV:

I stop walking and peek through the window seeing Randy's dad grabbing a handful of his mom's hair and pull it. He slaps her face. His mom was on the floor, covered with bruises and cuts, begging him to stop.

Quickly, Randy made his appearance, teeth grinding against one another as he clenches his fist tightly. "Don't touch her!" He screams and pushes his dad off.

He rushed towards his mother and held her trembling body with his own as she continued crying. His dad grabbed a glass cup and threw it against him, but I knew it intended for his mom. "It's your fucking fault that the cops came today! You fucking whore! Why the fuck do you scream so loud!"

There were glasses all over the floor and some on Randy's back. I watch as the blood oozes down while he shoots his dad a nasty glare. Randy's dad threw the alcohol bottle against the wall causing his mom to shriek a little, placing her hands over her head, crying into Randy's chest.

"I'm fucking out of here," he growls, grabbing a fresh bottle of alcohol from the fridge and his jacket, then slammed the front door shut.

Randy ignored the pain on his back and helped his mom, who was crying, get up and walk to the other side of the house.

A few times, cops drop by the house, and Randy's dad gets arrested, but in the end, he always gets released. Even when Randy went to them, they couldn't get enough to get Randy's dad put into jail for good.

Randy doesn't believe in the system anymore.

He said they abandoned him.

They couldn't get enough evidence because Randy's mom refused to accept that she is physically abused. She is too afraid of his dad to turn him in.

The fear, it ties people down, mentally and physically. It works on the mind as torture, elevating primal emotions, decreasing logic. Fear is a kind of madness, but it is useful if you know how it works.

Randy's dad knows how it works.

There is a part of me that believes that Randy is comfortable around me because I don't tell him what to do with his life. No, the real reason he is around me is perhaps I reflect the woman he holds dear.

I can see myself in her.

I release a sigh, grab some pebbles, and start climbing the tree towards his window. Leaning my head against the tree, I shut my eyes, hearing the noises of the neighborhood. Silently, I sat there, waiting for him to finish treating his mom.

When I saw his lights flickering on, I grabbed the pebbles in my palms and threw it until I caught his attention. His brows furrowed together as he lurked closer, opening the window. "Alice? What the actual fuck are you doing here? Do you know how damn dangerous it is around this type of neighborhood?"

Of course, I know, his neighborhood is infamous for having drug dealing, prostitutes, and criminals.

"I'm here to apologize," I whisper, dragging myself closer to the edge of the branch.

"And you couldn't shoot a damn text?"

I shrug, then grin. "I thought it would be more romantic for me to apologize in person." He chuckles and shakes his head, leaning half of his body out the door. "Your back okay?" I ask.

The corner of his lips twitched slightly as I sat there, staring at him, "You saw?" He said in barely an audible tone, and I nod. "I'm fine, used to it, you know," he replies, giving me a tight smile.

"I'm sorry," I said. The music boomed louder than ever.

"It's okay, Alice."

"No, it's not okay. I shouldn't have talked about your mother. That was wrong of me," I said, swallowing the guilt.