Rosewood Institute

Keeping Him

He nodded he had tears in his eyes that he quickly wiped away and said, "She broke me, ya know? I dealt with her constantly screaming hurtful things at me, throwing vases and anything she could get her hands on at me."

He pulls up his shirt sleeve to reveal a large gash that had scarred over on his forearm, it looked jagged and unkempt, like it was never properly treated.

My heart hurt as I looked at it and asked, "Can you tell me about that scar or would you rather not? It's okay if you don't, you're in a safe space here."

Arundelle gave me a small smile and nodded and said, "I got it on the last day I saw her, the very next day my father sent her away. He never really told me where she went, I thought it was a mental institution like those you see on the news, with the white walls and patients screaming constantly. I don't know why that comforted me but it did."

He took a deep breath and said, "She was screaming at me for the usual things, being a disappointment, being too quiet or for moving something I didn't, but on that particular day I had accidentally broken one of the breakfast plates she had gotten from her deceased mother and she went off on me."

I could see his finger tremble before he tightened his hands into fists and said, "She pushed me to the ground and I fell on the broken china that was on the floor on my arms, she then took a large piece of it and slashed my arm so bad it looked like I was bleeding a river."

He sniffled then said, "Then she sat on the floor and yelled at me to clean up my mess, but not before she threw bleach on me because I was a disgusting child, then made me wrap my arm up so I wouldn't bleed everywhere. My father found out about it when he came in from work, they fought about it all night as I hid in my closet. I could hear their screams, I sometimes still do. The very next morning the nurses came to take my mother away and I've never seen her since, I kinda hoped she rotted away in there."

I was so filled with sadness, anger, but most of all disbelief. Why hadn't his father done something before then?

I knew Arundelle could read what I was thinking when he said, "My father did his best to help her but he didn't make the best of money back then. He was overjoyed when a friend of his knew about your institution of sorts that accepted patients free of charge, that all he had to do was sign away his parental rights. I'm glad I'm not there anymore, if I was, I'd probably be dead by now."

I winced as he said that and proclaimed, "Don't talk like that, it hurts all of our hearts to think we might not of had you in our life... and your fantastic cooking." I tried to joke, but it came off flat, me trying to lighten the mood.

Arundelle gave a small laugh and replied, "As long as it's not Roman cooking, that twink burns everything!" He got up from the couch and opened the living room door only to have all the boys fall through the opening but Xavier, Paris, and Hades who were leaned up against the wall.

Roman immediately popped up and yelled, "Hey! I don't burn everything, just most things!"

Birch popped his cute little head from underneath Jewel who was blushing in embarrassment of being caught.

Birch whined and said, "Daddy save me from the big boy sammich (sandwich), me feel like jelly."

I smiled at him in affection and easily pulled him out as the other boys rolled away and got up, me holding Birch on my hip as he played with the stuffed cat in his arms.

As the boys we're about to leave I raised my brow and said, "Hold it there, boys, what in gods green earth possessed you to think it was okay to listen in on our private conversation? Especially when it involved sensitive material?"