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Chapter Twenty One – Kevin

Addy glanced and me and then back at the comforter. She took another deep breath.

“I told my dad I was in a car accident,” she said in a voice barely above a whisper. “But I wasn’t.”

I had figured that much, but I didn’t interrupt. I just watched her quietly from my chair, my fingers flexing for lack of anything else to do.

“It was probably my fault,” she said with a bitter laugh. “I should have listened to my roommate. To the rumors…”

At that point it was like a dam that had been built over a decade ago broke. The story poured from her lips as fast as the tears fell from her eyes. She didn’t look at me; she stared straight ahead as if trapped in the clutches of the deepest layers of hell. The more she talked, the more I stared at her in disbelief.

I had assumed the guy liked to beat up on women. I didn’t realize that he had offered up his girlfriend for a gang bang. As she described the metal barrel of the gun being shoved into her forehead I realized that I had begun to cry.

For her.

“I told dad I was in a car accident. He never pressed me for details. The hospital staff tried to the bitter end to get me to go to the police. I just wanted to go home,” she finished. Her head turned slightly in my direction as if only just remembering I was still in the room. Her eyes swam with unshed tears.

“I don’t want him here. This is my only safe place. He needs to go away.”

It was my turn to take a deep breath.

“Then you need to go to the police and tell them what you know.”

She shook her head.

“I don’t want my dad to know.”

“None of this was your fault, Addy,” I said quietly. She shook her head.

“No, I was the one that made the choice to go see him that night,” she said stubbornly.

“You couldn’t have had any idea,” I argued.

So let out a shudder just as I heard a knock on the front door. Her eyes widened.

“It’s okay,” I said, feeling the need to assure her. I stood up and sat my breakfast tray on the floor. “Stay here.”

I headed down the stairs. I knew even before I opened the door who it was.

“Dr. Selinski,” I said with a smile. “Good to see you.”

I had never seen anyone look more confused. He stared at me as if he had never seen me before.

“I just got back in town. Three people just told me you just got married…to Adelaide.”

I opened my mouth but nothing came out. I had forgotten about that part of the story.

“Oh,” I finally managed to say.

“Is she here?”

“Who?”

He brushed past me. In a big booming voice he called for Addy.

It took a few moments but finally she came to the top of the stairs. Her eyes were red-rimmed.

“Addy!” Dr. Selinski said sounded surprised. “Are you okay?”

She began to cry again. I took a step forward to play mediator, but as I did so I felt a hard fist connect directly with my face and it was lights out.

---------------------------------------

“He’s coming around,” I heard a voice say from above me. A horrible odor jerked me awake.

“Smelling salts work every time,” the voice said again.

I opened my eyes slowly. I felt like I had been run over by a truck but I knew the truth.

Santa had hit me!

Dr. Selinski and Addy were both hovering over me.

“You okay Kevin?” Dr. Selinski said gently. Obviously Addy had told him something. I touched the side of my face; it was tender, but I knew I’d live. I sat up slowly and nodded.

“I guess I jumped to conclusions,’ he continued lightly. He glanced over at Addy, a worried expression marking his face.

“I think the three of us need to talk,” he added.

Ten minutes later we were assembled around my kitchen table. Abby stared at the wood table, a Kleenex balled in her hand. I stared over at Dr. Selinski.

“Addy won’t tell me anything except that Toby Davidson’s back in town and she’s scared of him,” he began. I nodded.

“I can’t speak for her,” I said, nodding towards Addy. “But he’s bad news.”

Dr. Selinski glanced over at Addy worriedly. “Does this have to do with your car accident?”

Addy met his eyes for just the briefest moment before looking back down. She nodded.

“Was Toby the car?” he continued, his voice dropping to barely above a whisper. Addy looked over at him surprised.

“Adelaide, I’m a doctor,” he reminded her. “There’s a difference between abrasions from a car accident and abrasions from fists and feet.”

She shuddered, but nodded.

“Sweetheart, I know we don’t like to talk about any of the bad things,” he said. “But you can’t stick your head in the sand like an ostrich.”

Her eyes flew to his face; it was the first time I saw her look at him in any way but lovingly.

“What about you? You’ve had your head in the sand for twenty-five years.”

It was like she had hit him; I saw him wince and stare down at the table. He seemed to be gathering his strength.

“Toby’s here now; your mother’s never coming back,” he said, as if each word was like a knife stabbing him in the chest. “Let’s tackle the pressing problem first.”

Before anyone said anything further, I heard another knock on the front door. I stood up and slowly made my way into the hall. I blanched.

Toby was standing at the door, his hand still in a hard fist, his eyes blazing with a controlled fury.

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door just a crack. I kept the security chain attached.

“Yes?”

“I was just wondering if I could come in and talk to Addy for a moment,” he said as if this was an everyday occurrence.

“Oh, no,” I shook my head. “I don’t think so.”

I heard the sound of a click that I didn’t recognize; the next second I was starring down the barrel of a gun. Toby smiled coldly.

“I think so.”