Back to You (Sequel to Take Me Away From Here)

Chapter 28

"I'm guess Tim manned up and told you." He releases, while I try to catch my breath. Faith runs her fingers across the picture. "I was too drunk to remember much, but I bumped into him a couple hours later, and I made that asshole shut his mouth." He continues, while I shut my eyes. I knew it... 

"What did he say?" She asks, somehow remaining calm. 

"He told me to keep my trashy son away from his daughter." He answers. 

"What did you say?" She pushes further, while I brace myself. 

"I told him that it wasn't his son he had to worry about." He says before taking another drink. Faith still seems steady. "He got upset, and said I wouldn't dare, so I told him I already did. You should've seen how mad your Daddy got. He wasn't man enough to throw a punch though." He remarks, while I grip onto Faith's hand. She somehow is completely calm, while I feel like I'm losing my damn mind. He glances over toward me, before clearing his throat. 

"Was that the only interaction you had with him?" Faith asks, as a slight frown emerges on him. Something in my head tells me that I don't want to hear what he has to say. 

"The day after you two got married, he showed up in my front yard, drunk as hell. He told me he was going to make things right." He replies, seeming oddly tense. I stare at him, while not understanding what he means. 

"What do you mean, exactly?" She questions, while he leans back and looks at the coffee table in front of him. He seems uncomfortable, which is something I've rarely seen. He's normally either full of rage, or oddly euphoric. Discomfort isn't a color I've seen on him too often. 

"He told me he was going to take things into his own hands and do what was right in the eyes of God." He says, rolling his eyes a bit. Horace has never had a close relationship with God. Honestly, neither have I. I let the words repeat in my head for a while, before slowly realizing what he means. 

"He was going to kill us?" She asks, while he nods slowly and takes a deep breath. "How did you respond?" She says quietly, with the precision of a hostage negotiator. I have no clue how she's actually getting him to talk, but it's working. 

"I told him that if he laid a damn hand on either of you, that I'd send his ass straight to hell. Then I grabbed my shotgun and he got of my lawn pretty quickly." He says to my surprise. He glances over toward me, like he's almost embarrassed. He bites his lip, before I notice tears in his eyes. "I know I haven't been the best father... I've made my share of mistakes... but you will always still be my son, and I'll be damned if any son of a bitch tries to cut in and hurt you or your family." He says, his voice breaking a little. Faith looks my way, before squeezing my hand. I nod, trying to conceal any emotion. "That goes for you too." He says toward her. She nods, before looking at her knees.

"Why'd you..." She starts, before clearing her throat.. I can feel her heartbeat in her fingers. 

"Why'd I hurt you?" He finishes for her, while she nods, tears emerging in her eyes. He looks down shamefully, before looking up at me. "Your father was a pastor here, and Tim's mom always tried to get them to go to church. His sister was in grade-school at the time, and he convinced Betty to let her join a group for young kids in church, I guess like a Sunday school." He says, bringing up Cindy for the first time in a long time. "The class was supposed to end at six, but she started coming home around eight, and I had a gut feeling something was wrong. Betty took her out shopping for school clothes, and noticed bruises on her arms and legs. When she got home, we talked to her about it, and she said that your father would ask her to stay later, and they'd play games..." He explain, making a knot form in my throat. I never knew about this... Faith shuts her eyes, before tears slip out. 

"He..." She starts, before he nods. 

"He was molesting her. He had been doing it for a couple months before we learned about it. She said that she would tell him it hurt, but he'd force her down and do it anyways." He says, before clenching his jaw. "As a father, there is no worse feeling... Betty had to go to work the next day, so I sat around the house and drank, trying to think of a way to fix things. I was damn near blackout drunk when you knocked on the door..." He adds, while I shut my eyes. "I told you to go upstairs, and then a sense of rage came over me. My judgement was clouded, and the alcohol wasn't exactly helping, so I made a very bad decision. It wasn't right, or fair, but the only thing in my mind at the time was revenge. I came back down to earth the moment Tim walked in, and I panicked, which only made the situation worse." He says, while I force myself to breathe. I reopen my eyes, and watch Faith wipe her tears away. "I regret that more than anything... You had nothing to do with the actions of your father, and there was no reason you should pay for them." He concludes, before clearing his throat.

"That's why Cindy..." I start, before I run out of air. He nods slowly, as I notice a tear slip. 

"When she turned twelve, she began to understand what happened. She overheard you arguing with me one night, and heard a remark about what I did to Faith. It was just too much for her to handle, and she just couldn't take it... She took off that night, then we found her a week later." He says, before placing a hand on his chest. I remember leaving town the day after her funeral. I just couldn't handle this damn town anymore. I had no clue what the reason was... I always thought it was the middle-school bullies, or Dad being too harsh. Faith stares down at the ground, seeming a little confused. 

I never told her about what happened to Cindy. She always figured that I just didn't keep in contact with anyone associated with Horace. She was his little shadow, and the only person in the house who could stop a fight within seconds of walking into a room. She was six years younger than me, and biologically Horace's, making her almost immune to his abuse. He'd raise his voice with her occasionally, but the second the tears appeared, she'd be in his arms. That said, she was often terrified when she witnessed Horace and I fight. She'd normally wind up huddled in a corner somewhere in my room, shaking and crying on the nights where our screaming would shake the walls. I'd always have to coax her out, and reassure her that he was just drunk and didn't mean what he said. 

I will never forget the night she disappeared... Mom sat in on our argument, and grew too disgusted to stay. She rushed upstairs to grab Cindy, and was preparing to leave for good. I was packing my bag when Mom rushed into my room, tearing through the areas where Cindy would occasionally hide. She suddenly burst into tears, saying that Cindy's window was wide open, and she was nowhere in sight. I drove around the entire night looking for her, while Mom sat with the police. 

A week later, a cop showed up at our doorstep. They'd gotten a hit from a search dog along the creek. I remember hearing Horace scream when they brought him to her body. He was incoherent for the days following, and was almost too drunk to stand at her funeral. I remember looking down at her casket and knowing that I had to get the hell out of here. I ran home, packed a bag, and left without ever changing out of my funeral clothes. 

"She jumped from the bridge on Church street. Autopsy said there was blunt force trauma to her head, and then water in her lungs, so they believed that it was a suicide." He tells her, making her cringe. She looks at me, a clear display of pity in her eyes. I shut my eyes and try to forget the words. It's taken me decades to get that memory out of my head...