He moved his shoulder and cleared his throat. “One of the camp staff, let’s call her Rachel, found me alone, trying to get some peace from all the noise. She asked if I could help her prepare for a musical matinee.”
“Oh, Scotty. You went with her?”
“I was a pre-teen with a crush on the woman. She had this smile, you know?”
“If it makes you uncomfortable to talk about?—”
“Vera, I’m telling this story, and I’ll only tell it to you once.Never again.”
I bit my lip and remained silent.
Alistair sighed, then poured another drink into our shot glasses. “I walked with Rachel to the back of the building. It was empty as everyone was at the beach. I began getting a strange feeling in my gut when we went inside.”
“Cheers,” he said, clinking his glass with mine. My shoulders relaxed as the slow-burning liquid heated my body.
Placing his empty glass on the table, Alistair continued talking. “Rachel took me to a small, windowless room and fawned over my hair. As you’ve seen in my childhood photos, I was a fair-haired kid. She undressed me, saying everything was fine and how she loved my blond ringlets.”
“Oh, my God.” My palm covered my mouth, my stomach cinching tight. Alistair had been right all along. I needed the digestif.
“Oh, she was fast. I started to cry, but it was useless. I thought I was saved when another staff member walked in. Want to know what happened instead?”
I shook my head, stunned into silence.
“The man was in his sixties. We called him the ‘Colonel’ because he was an ex-military man, always pleasant and playful.But that playfulness hid something darker,” Alistair said, his voice breaking into a pause. “God, I wish it hadn’t been real. He pulled an army knife, the blade jagged and mean. Told me if I didn’t shut up, he’d cut me open.”
“What happened?” I asked, watching his fingers fidget restlessly.
“I made one bad move trying to break free. I went for a kick at the woman,” he said, eyes flicking downward over his left shoulder.
“The scar,” I whispered.
Alistair’s eyes reddened, tears brimming as his hands trembled. I leaned closer, my own tears falling, and together we wiped them away. His lashes lowered, heavy with the shame of innocence stolen.
“Can I kiss you?” I breathed, my lips inches from his.
“Please. Kiss me.”
Our lips met as my hands framed his face. “You were innocent in all of this,” I whispered against him. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Yes, I trust you, sweetheart.”
“Can I see your scar now?”
Alistair nodded, fingers moving slowly down his shirt buttons until the fabric fell open, exposing the scar that branded his past. “The Colonel lost his temper. You see it, don’t you? That was his work.”
“I am so sorry this happened to you.”
“I wouldn’t wish it upon my worst enemy. It’s not the dead I fear. It’s the living.”
I let my fingers follow the line of his scar. “Monsters wear many faces.”
“They stripped me, Vera. Used me. Forced me to take more than I could bear...” Alistair’s voice broke, trembling ashe lowered his head. His shoulders shook, the weight of it all crashing through him as he wept.
“Scotty, you don’t have to keep talking if it’s tearing you apart.”
