Before I could finish my sentence, a pair of long, slim arms wrapped around me from behind. I was shocked into silence as Christopher pressed his head between my shoulder blades and settled his hands over my heart.
“Sorry,” he whispered, and then, just like that, he was gone. But not far. He was pulling plates out of one of the cabinets.
Two plates.
“I like them over easy,” Christopher said softly.
I didn’t know what to make of any of it, but it sure did feel like a victory. I’d take it. I’d take any win with him that I could get.
By the time the food was done, Christopher had set places at the island for both of us. I was glad I’d had the foresight to clear the boxes off them during my mini cleaning of the kitchen.
Not a word was spoken as we ate, and Christopher mostly kept his eyes down, but I was okay with that. I could tell he was nervous, and if minimizing eye contact helped him relax, then so be it.
A soft meow caught my attention. Pip was trying to put his claws into my jeans, presumably so he could crawl up the fabric, but he couldn’t manage to hold his balance long enough. I leaned down and scooped him up, then stood and took him to the other side of the island and handed him to Christopher. I figured the kitten would soothe Christopher in a way that little else could. As both man and mini beast got comfortable, I began clearing the table. It was only when I turned my back to Christopher and began washing the dishes that I finally heard him speak.
“Did Uncle King tell you what happened the night he and I met for the first time?” Christopher carefully asked.
“Only that a guy was attacking you, but your uncle intervened and told you to take your sister and run.”
I glanced over my shoulder to see that Christopher had his eyes glued to his cat. I forced myself to keep working on the dishes.
“His name was Barry. My mom’s boyfriend, Ricky, used to pimp Uncle Micah out to men for drug money. I don’t know exactly how old Uncle Micah was, but he was still a kid. A kid raising kids.”
“He protected you,” I suggested. I’d given up on trying to finish the dishes. It didn’t seem to matter since Christopher was speaking freely.
“He did,” Christopher agreed. “He took Ricky’s beatings upon himself, he made sure me and Rory didn’t see all the stuff that went on in that house… the drugs, our mom prostituting herself. Uncle Micah gave us as normal a life as he could.”
“He loved you and your sister very much,” I said as I returned to my seat. Christopher had yet to look at me, but I didn’t care. I just needed him to keep talking.
“More than anything,” Christopher responded. He was silent for a really long time, the only proof that he was still caught up in the past being a single tear slipping down his face and landing on Pip’s fur.
“As I got older, I started to understand what was happening. The back room, all the men…” Christopher shook his head. “I never tried to help him. Not when Ricky was beating the shit out of him, not when he was being dragged to that back room. I just got under the covers with Rory and covered her ears so she wouldn’t hear any of it. When Micah came back to the room, I’d pretend to be asleep because I was too ashamed to face him. I was such a fucking coward.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but Christopher cut me off by saying, “Please Rush, I just need to get this out, okay?”
It went against my nature to let anyone, let alone the man I was losing my heart to, suffer through something on their own, but I knew Christopher was right. He wasn’t looking for platitudes about how he’d done the best he could. He just needed to purge all the ugliness inside of him.
“Okay,” I responded.
“One day, Ricky came and picked me up from school. I usually stayed in the library after classes were done and studied until Uncle Micah and Rory came to get me. Uncle Micah had told me to never leave the school without him and to never go home alone. Ricky didn’t give me any choice in the matter. He just grabbed my arm and pulled me to his car. I didn’t understand what was happening until Ricky led me to my bedroom, the one I shared with Micah and Rory. He told me to sit down on the bed, and then this guy, Barry, came in. Barry… Barry was one of the regulars who… who hurt Uncle Micah.”
I could feel the rage simmering through my veins, but I tamped it down. I already knew from King that Christopher had ultimately escaped the assault, but that didn’t mean he hadn’t been traumatized.