Trying To Move On

Chapter Four: Forgiveness

"Why the fuck would I be okay? My wife's dead along with my son, heaven knows where the hell my daughters are." He said, his voice cracking occasionally.

Does he not know Valerie's dead? Oh god. I need to tell him.
"Is it possible that I can meet with you? At your house? There's a few things I'd like to talk to you about."

"Why the hell not. I don't have anything else going on." He sighed.

He gave me my address and I grabbed my keys from the marble island in the kitchen.

"Where are you going?" My brother asked.

"I'm going to go find Cadence's dad. Can you keep an eye on her while I'm gone?"

"Why don't you just take her with you?" He asked, curiously.

"Because her father is batshit crazy and unstable. I don't want her getting hurt." I explained.

"Then why are you going?"

"Because I need answers. Only he can give them to me."

Anthony sighed, knowing he couldn't get me to change my mind.

"You have my number on speed dial. Call if anything goes wrong." He demands.

I not and head out to my car.

I drove to the address I had been given, which took about fifteen minutes, but I got to the house.

The atmosphere around the house to dark and dreary.

The grass was long and unkept with some dead patches here and there.

There we're pots on the porch with dead flowers in them.

I looked to door that had red chipped paint and a silver knob.

I knocked a few times before a man opened the door a crack.

The man had a stubble on his jaw with brossy messy, unkept hair and clothes that made him look like a bum.

"Are you Kylee?" He asked lowly.

I nodded.

He opened the door wider and walked away.

I'm assuming he wants me to follow him.

He lead me to a living room and turned on the light.

His blue eyes were bloodshot and had dark spits under them.

"What do you want to talk about?"

"First of all, I want to know why Mark's gang hated yours."

"Because we captured and killed most of his men." He said calmly.

I was taken aback by his statement, but replaced it with seriousness again.

"So to get back at you, he took your children and killed your wife?" He nodded and tears arose in his eyes.

"Did You know Mark died?"

He nodded.

"Did you know my brother took over the gang?"

His eyes hardened and he glared at me, pure hatred shown in his eyes.

"Xander is your brother?!" He yelled.

"Yes. He's dead. He died a month ago. That bastard got what he deserved."

Greg nodded again.

"My cousin knows the story of your children. Do you want me to ring her?"

Greg's eyes lit up and he nodded quickly.

I rang Kinsey and she said she'd be here soon.

She walked through the door twenty minutes later and sat next to me on the couch.

She told Greg the story of how Valerie was raped by Mark and how Zachary was forced to kill her boyfriend in order for his sister's safety.

She explained how Zachary was killed by the hands of Xander and what he did to Valerie three years after he found her after she escaped.

Greg shed a few tears during the story while clenching his fists, trying not to scream and release his anger.

"Do you know if my daughters are safe?" He asked through clenched teeth.

I stared at my lap.

"What?" He snapped.

I sighed.

"Last month, Xander took me Kinsey, Jordan, Valerie, Cadence and Tilly to a cabin to have us as his family. I managed to get ahold of my other brother and he came with the cops. When they came, Xander shot Valerie in the head and Tilly in the stomach. Valerie died, Mr. Rodriguez." I whispered.

Greg screamed out in anger and threw the wooden coffee table across the room.

"What about Cadence, is she hurt? What happened to Cadence?" He asked frantically.

"Cadenece is with me. I'm taking care of her."

Greg calmed down.

"Thank god. Bless your soul." He smiled.

"I know I'm not mentally stable to take care of my children. I'm not putting the life of my last living child in my care. I think she's better off with you. I'm pretty sure she also hates me alomg with her siblings for me being the reason they got in this situation in the first place." He cried again.

"Please guard Cadence with your life. This is my only request." He smiled slightly.

I smiled lightly and nodded.

"I will, Mr. Rodriguez."