Let It Fall

Chapter 9

"That day, when I stared at her, she gave me a small smile. It was my queue to leave them. I took Amy's hand and went into our room.

"They fought that night. Not with words. It's not usually a fight, though, when you are getting beaten up by someone, without even trying to shield yourself." He paused, then exhaled shakily. "He kept hitting her, and I could feel her keeping down the screams so that we wouldn't be affected. But we did. We heard everything. I was so scared. Amy had plugged her fingers into her ears. She was eight at that time, I think. She was confused. Scarred.

"I knew it was different that day." He stilled, then let out a loud breath as he was punched. "I ran out of the room and into the kitchen. I can't forget--" His voice cracked.

Giselle's body shuddered. She got up from the rock and walked around it to the front. She knelt on the grass and looked up at him.

He didn't look at her. Instead, he kept his red eyes on the floor beside her as he continued, "I can't forget what I saw." His face scrunched in pain. "He'd grabbed her by her hair and he--" He exhaled. "He punched. He kicked. She was bleeding."

"Why?" Giselle whispered.

He didn't look at her. "I don't know. What's a good reason to beat someone? Maybe he was asking for the money she'd earned after working odd jobs. Maybe my spineless father wanted it for his addictions. Maybe he was angry she was friends with this Uncle Bobby. I don't know.

"I didn't know what to do..." He looked at her. "You don't know what it did to me! Something snapped inside me that day! No one will ever understand!"

Goosebumps formed all over his visible skin. Giselle's eyes filled up with tears but she tried to blink them away. He looked away again and inhaled deeply. 

"Then he pulled out the gun. I took his hunter's knife from the utensils' stand and ran! But I was too late! I should've reacted sooner! He fired the gun and everything went silent. I don't know how but I buried my knife in his back repeatedly. I must have blacked out but... It all happened in a blur! Both my parents were dead before I could process any of it."

He got quiet for a few moments, never once glancing at her. She stared at him, unsure of what she felt.

He continued, "I buried my parents in the cemetery nearby with Bobby. He took care of everything. He said he owed it to my mom. The places she worked at checked in after a few days, but I told them she died of fever, just like Bobby had told me to say. Nobody cared enough to investigate more, so it was all under the rug.

"I don't remember how I told Amy that our parents were dead, but by the time she turned fourteen, all the bad memories were forgotten. Time passed. Bobby took care of us for a few years, then he disappeared." Xavier shrugged. "Still don't know where he is."

Giselle licked her lips, praying that the story ended here. 

"I'd saved that knife and the gun. I needed something to protect my little sister with if the time came. I didn't hope for it, though. Because life was good. I'd started working in a restaurant as a waiter. Amy had her friends in her school. It was working out."

Giselle managed a smile. She wanted to meet his sister.

He pursed his lips, stared at the ground for a while, and exhaled in defeat. "Life was good until that one night. We'd thrown a bachelor's party for a friend at the beach that summer. It was gonna be a bit wild. So, I left her home. She told me she'd spend the night studying and that for once, I should just enjoy myself without worrying about her."

His eyes snapped toward Giselle, taking her by surprise.

"When I got back home that night, I didn't find my sister! What I saw was a dead body. Her clothes were shredded. Her skin... She was bruised so..." He squeezed his eyes shut, his body shuddered, and he grunted as if he was experiencing physical pain. "...so..." His breath quivered. "She was bruised so bad that I thought for a moment maybe a fucking animal had attacked her.