Point Of View 2 [*Do not read until you've read the same chapter of ATW]

Chapter 133 My Everything

*James*

Trevor Tremont has taken me under his wing a little. He's a good man with integrity and is really smart, like Donovan smart. He sees something in me. I may not see it but this guy does. 

I've never thought of myself as a smart person. I'd try hard in school- because I had to. If I didn't get straight A's I was physically punished for it by Joe. Sometimes my sisters would help me with my homework or even DO my homework when I couldn't wrap my brain around something- desperate to prevent their brother from being abused.

By the time I hit high school things got harder. School got harder. Demands put on me by my father became harder as well. He wanted me to pull my weight more. Get a job. Get two jobs. Support mom and my sisters while he went out galivanting around town with women and whiskey. Spending his money on others instead of his own wife. What gets me is- Mom is a beautiful woman. More beautiful than any of the women I've seen my father with. I don't get it. I never will. But other women came easy to Joe. They'd fall head over heels for the man. His good looks always fool them. Joe didn't have to say a thing and women do what he wants when he wants. He has no respect for them yet they still to this day bend over backwards for him. It's sick. He's a fucking monster.

Anyways- Trying to balance two part time jobs and school was hard for a teen. But I did it, though I was abused more because my grades slipped. I wasn't sleeping, barely had time for a decent meal in between shifts and when I WAS home, I was either protecting my sisters or working out so I could continue to protect my sisters.

I told Trevor a little bit of my story without going into details. Bits and pieces here and there over coffee after a session or in the cafeteria.  Paul escorts Julia to and from everything she needs to be with and since she doesn't really partake in counseling with Trevor yet, I've taken up space to make it worth his time. Julia will come around. Eventually.

Right now, Trevor and I are in the Avalon Library. I didn't even know this place HAD a library! It's this massive bright room with walls lined with books from floor to ceiling. Aisles filled with all different genres you can think of. From mental health help books, to fiction, nonfiction, documentaries, magazines, religion, you name it. Just like a public library. Every corner has big, oversized fabric chairs to sit and read. In front of the enormous floor to ceiling windows are love seats and couches. All a light eggshell colored leather.  With pillows and end tables with little lamps. Oriental carpets overlap one another to give the polished wooden floors more warmth. Huge sparkling chandeliers hang from the ceiling. It's what you'd expect to see in an extravagant place like The Avalon.

In the middle of the room are rows of four long wooden tables with chairs.  Trevor and I sit next to each other, each with a cup of coffee next to us in the surprisingly empty room. You'd think more patients would want to come here. To escape from their reality a little. Get lost in a book, in another world, away from the pain they are in right now. But the library is usually empty when we pop in so I'm not surprised today is no different.

On the table in front of me is an open medical book Trevor wants me to read. It lies flat on the hard wood table for me to look down and read without having to hold it and I give a slight nod when it's time for Trevor to turn the page for me. I always try first but I became too frustrated today. Grasping the thin paper in between my index finger and thumb has proven to be a fine motor skill I had lost with my head injury. My coordination just isn't there and I'd either end up ripping the page accidentally or becoming too frustrated with myself I'd push the book away and give up completely.

But Trevor won't let me give up. And he has all the patience in the world. Which is why he is still here, patiently waiting for Julia to come around, and hasn't given up and moved back east where he is from.