Page 68 of Tough Love
Evan’s hand stills. The hesitation hurts worse than any memory I could retell.
“I was seven weeks gone. I thought my period was late because of stress. It’d been really erratic since he started raping me, so at first I didn’t think much of it.” I turn to look up at Evan, my heart in my throat.What if I disgust him now?“Nobody knew that except our family.”
“That’s why he beat you,” he murmurs, realisation dawning in his features.
“Yeah.” I look across at the ashen face of my best friend, and all I feel is ashamed. For something that wasn’t my fault. How twisted is that? “He wondered why I started pushing back, why I didn’t want him to be too rough with me. It didn’t take long for him to put two and two together.”
“So he forced you to abort?”
“He did more than that. He made sure I could never have my own kids again.” I twitch involuntarily, the recollection ofhowhe achieved that sending memory pains through my abdomen. “He quite literally tore me up.” A violent shudder rips the length of me. “I’m sorry. I … I can’t say any more.”
I lean forward and pour myself another drink, my hand shaking so badly I have to rest the neck of the bottle against the lip of the tumbler to ensure I don’t spill it.
“Amelia left his house that afternoon and tried to walk home,” Evan explains to Jess, reciting what he’s heard. “Her house was on the opposite side of town to his.”
The hot asphalt.
“She made it to the end of the main street before she passed out from blood loss.”
The bench seat.
“A shop owner called an ambulance and got two locals to help carry her somewhere more private.”
The buzz of the refrigerator.
“Her heartbeat dropped so low she was almost declared DOA.”
The lights.
“Her parents were advised to prepare for the worst.”
The crying. All the fucking crying.
“And yet he never got charged?” Jess asks.
Evan’s nostrils flare, his face contorting with anger before he stands abruptly and paces to the other side of the room. I shrink into my seat while he runs his hand over his head. “He had some shady alibi. Swore Amelia threatened to hurt herself if he didn’t break up with Kath for her. Made out she’d done the damage as a cry for attention.”
“What a goddamn maniac.”
“At the very least, yeah.” I chuckle awkwardly, my hands still shaking, my stomach still hurting as though it were yesterday. “He convinced my sister that he was telling the truth, told her I’d begged him for the money to pay for a private clinic, and when he refused, lost the plot. She believed him, because in her mind, Iwouldwant to abort to hide the fact I’d been fucking her boyfriend behind her back.”
“Oh my God.” Jess looks between Evan and me, as though hoping somebody’s about to twist this tale for the better.
But we can’t. There is no happy ending.
“He walked. I was looked down on by half the town as some crazy delinquent whore, and pitied by the rest. Life was hell, so I left, and then a few years later is when you met me.”
“No wonder you and your sister never spoke.” She gets off the armchair, gathering a handful of my favourite lollies on her way over to the sofa.
I chuckle as she drops down beside me and offers them up in her palm. “Thanks, hon.”
“The only thing I don’t fully understand though, is, other than the fact you didn’t get to clear the air with your sister, why you’re thinking about this again?” She frowns. “Is that it? You feel bad because things never got straightened out?”
“I wish.” I sigh, watching Evan as he rubs his palms over his face. “The guy, Tristan…”
Jess frowns, eyeing me intently in my periphery while I continue to watch Evan, locking my gaze with his clear blue eyes after he drops his hands.
“…is Briar’s father.”