It All Started With a Diary

truth|part 1

I squeezed his hand for support as I watched him. I willed the contents of my stomach to stay in tact as I listened.

Kade sighed, his eyes falling to our hands. "Long story short, the teachers alerted the child protective services, and once my dad touched back down into Washington, he was arrested." He traced the lining of my finger with his own, his brows drawing in on one another.

"When I came home, I expected everything to be alright. But, when I went to Susie's room, she was crying. I didn't care enough to comfort her, or even ask why. I figured that she was sad about him getting taken away, but I don't know," he expressed, disgust obvious. "I thought the worst when Grandma Jacky flew down to us. She was his mother, so I knew it was hard for her to believe me, but she did. Without a second thought, she did."

His expression fell into a tangible state. "Susie sent me and Kacen to live with Grandma Jacky during the court case. Everyone knew our father, so we were in the limelight. Grandma Jacky did her best to shield us from it, though."

"When I first met her, I didn't want Kacen or I separated, so I asked her if him and I could share a room together. I was honestly scared of her, and how she would react when I requested it. A part of me expected her to hit me for it, or just send me away altogether, but she didn't. Instead, she gave us our own floor to make us more comfortable," his lips lifted into the smallest of smiles. "I'd never even met her before all of this, actually. Our dad had cut off all contact with her. But, even though he was her son, she still loved us."

Sighing, his smile fell dropped a frown. "Back with my dad, he wouldn't let me eat much, because he claimed that I was costing him extra money for groceries. So instead, I would make Kacen his dinner, then come back in the morning hours to sneak myself something to eat if I could. My dad caught me a couple of times, and you can guess how that shit ended."

That same frown began to lift. "I still remember the first couple of nights at Grandma Jacky's," he said. "I was honestly too scared to eat or ask for anything for myself if it didn't concern Kace. Even when she took us out to dinner, I thought that she was playing mind tricks like my dad used to do. He would always tell me that it was okay to do something, like eating, talking, shit like that, then knock my head off my shoulders when I did it. It was all a manipulation game with him."

"Kacen would talk and make friends with just about anyone, so him and grandma were best friends at first sight," he chuckled. "But, I didn't trust anyone honestly, especially her. I didn't trust nice, or anything good. So I didn't talk to her unless I absolutely had to. Honestly, I just tried to stay out of her way and to not be a bother."

"I still remember one night, it was two or three in the morning. Kace was sleeping, and I was pretty sure Grandma Jacky was too, so I snuck downstairs to the kitchen because I hadn't eaten all day. In the fridge, there was a wrapped up plate of food and cake," he said, brows pinching in thought. "Every single night, at that same time, she would have a new plate of food and a dessert, in the same spot of the fridge. I thought I was overthinking it at the time, but now I know, she was purposefully leaving food for me to heat up and eat, since she figured out I was too afraid to eat around her. I didn't know if she was playing with me, and if I should just leave it alone, but I was too hungry to find out so I ate it."

"She started to do the same thing with breakfast, too. I would sit with Kace to make sure that he ate, but that was it," he added. "Right after she started leaving the dinners for me in the fridge, she would claim that she was going to the store or something, then would wrap up the breakfast I didn't eat and put it in the fridge. It took me a while before I started to eat that too, but I did. It wasn't until Kacen left to play outside, then came back and told me that Grandma Jacky was actually in her garden, that I realized what she was doing."