PROLOGUE
SHELDON
Twenty-Six Years Ago
“Psst, Ollie.”
“I told you, just come in,” Oleander groaned. I’d woken him up like I usually did.
The light from the moon reaching his room let me see enough so I could push the window the rest of the way open and climb inside. Oleander always kept his room clean, so I didn’t trip over his stuff when I got here. He was my best friend.
Reaching under his bed, I pulled out the sleeping bag he kept there for me. It was nice he let me borrow it. I didn’t have one of my own. My dad took a knife to mine and shredded it into pieces one day when I was supposed to camp in Oleander’s backyard. He hit me after.
It was late when I got to Oleander’s that night. My eye had almost swollen shut, and tears ran down my cheeks. His mom had set up the area with pillows in a big tent. There was a fire and snacks. I begged Oleander not to tell his parents. The tent was safe. No one could see me. Even when Oleander’s mom came out, he told her I was tired and went to bed. He stayed up with me all night and didn’t ask what had happened. It wasn’tthe first time I’d shown up with bruises, and it wouldn’t be the last.
“Do you need a drink?” he asked tonight as I rolled out the sleeping bag. I stayed on the side closest to the window so if his mom or dad came in, they wouldn’t see me. I didn’t think they’d be upset about me being here, but they’d want to make sure my parents knew, which couldn’t happen. I couldn’t tell his parents. What if my dad went after them?
“No. I’m tired.”
In the dark, he whispered, “I have to tell them, Shel. It’s getting worse.”
My stomach knotted. If he told his parents, they’d call the police. They’d been called another time. When it happened before, someone driving by the house saw my dad hit my mom. He stayed away for a bit after that. Mom wouldn’t tell me where he was, but she cried every night after I went to bed. If the police came now, she’d be upset again. I didn’t like it when she cried.
“Just a little longer,” I told him.
I hated hiding the bruises. After my dad hit me in the eye, every other bruise was where I could cover them with clothes. Even in the summer, I had on long sleeves. It didn’t matter that I sweat so bad. I had to keep them covered.
“Did he hit you tonight?”
I shook my head, but he couldn’t see me. “No.” He would hear what I didn’t say. If I were in his room, someone got hit, and I left.
Even as Oleander fell asleep, I stayed awake.
We were out of school for the summer, which meant I could spend more time here, but that also meant I had to be away from my mom. If he hit me, he hit her less. She tried to protect me. If he thought I did something wrong, even if I didn’t, he’d get to me eventually.
I spent more nights on Oleander’s floor than I did in my bed. When Dad fell asleep, I came here. Oleander’s house was down the street from mine. No one saw me walking along the sidewalk in the middle of the night in my pajamas with nothing else on, even in winter. I left in the mornings before the sun came up. If Dad found me out of bed and not in the house, I’d be beaten for it.
Oleander’s wooden floor wasn’t comfortable. My hip sat roughly against it, not much stuffing in the sleeping bag. If I rolled to my back, the bruises from a couple of days ago would hurt more.
The bedroom door creaked as it opened. My body tensed. I couldn’t make a sound or I’d give myself away to his parents. But it wasn’t them. It was Oleander’s cat. He padded around the sleeping bag until he stepped on it and made a home for himself at the bottom.
I stretched my legs out so my feet touched him through the material. His purring sometimes helped me fall asleep. He hissed at me before putting his head down.
Where I was on the floor, I could see the moon outside the window. I made a wish on it, even though it wasn’t a falling star. I wished one day my mom and I would get away from my dad so he couldn’t hurt us anymore.
At least I had Oleander’s home to visit until that happened. My mom had nowhere to go. I’d get her out though. I’d hold her hand and take her away from him.
Please make my wish come true,I silently begged the moon.I’ll do anything.
The moon had to hear me. I’d never done anything wrong, neither had my mom. I’d been good all my life. We deserved a wish to come true, just this once.
1
SHELDON
Present Day
Hands gripped my shoulders from behind. “Did you see the full moon?” Raiden asked. “Shit always gets wild on nights like this.”
