“She curls up into a ball and holds her head. And cries.” Skyler’s voice sounded thick with unshed tears. Like he was holding them back with all his might. He hovered between boyhood and those important teen years, where he’d decide the kind of man he intended to be.
“What does he hit her for?” Maddox asked. Not that it mattered. Abusers would use the excuse that the wind was blowing in the wrong direction if they had to.
“Well, if she doesn’t get dinner just right, or doesn’t get it on the table at 6PM exactly, he beats her. If she spends too much money at the grocery store. If she leaves without permission.” Skyler squinted up at Maddox. “I didn’t think boys were supposed to hit girls. They aren’t, right? ’Cause I hate it when my dad hits my mom.” His red-rimmed eyes blinked up at Maddox.
“No, boys aren’t supposed to hit girls, ever. For any reason. Boys and men are supposed to protect ladies… no matter what. What does your dad hit you for?”
“He says he’s trying to make a man out of me. He says he doesn’t want us to be weak like our mom.”
“So, I take it you have a brother?” Maddox asked.
“Yeah, he’s fourteen. He gets to go to his friend’s house all the time, and just leaves me at home,” Skyler mumbled.
“So you ran away.”
Skyler puffed out his chest. “I couldn’t do it no more. I just couldn’t. Mom apologizes all the time and says it’ll be better. But it’s never better. It’s worse.”
“I know what you mean, boy.”
“I want to be big and strong like you, so no one will mess with me.”
Maddox laughed. “I’m big and strong, but sometimes people still mess with me. It’s the nature of my job.”
The sun had progressively shifted in the sky, forcing Skyler to squint up at him. “Why do you do a job if you’re just going to get hurt again?”
“To protect those who can’t protect themselves.” Atonement for the ones he was too weak to protect.
“Like me?”
“Just like you. But there’s something I can do to help so you can protect yourself. What if I taught you a few self-defense tricks?”
Skyler jumped up and pumped his fist with excitement. “Awesome. I could take my dad down with one karate chop.” Skyler sliced his hands through the air, imitating motions he’d likely seen on TV.
Maddox raised a hand to him. He didn’t want to damper his enthusiasm, but he didn’t want to give him any false expectations either. “Hold up. I’m going to teach you, but you use these tools to defend yourself only if you have no other choice, and not to inflict unwarranted harm.”
Skyler’s arms fell to his side. “But I really want to make my dad hurt the way he hurts us.”
Maddox nodded, and clasped the young boy’s shoulders, looking him right in the eye. “I know, boy. So do I. But there are rules, and if you want to learn, you have to abide by them or I won’t teach you. You understand?”
“Yeah, I understand.” Skyler’s shoulders slumped as he lost some of the excitement he had shown just moments before. Well, Maddox would help him get that back soon enough, but the boy would learn control right along with it.
“Good. I like your enthusiasm to fight the bad guys. You wanna fight some more bad guys?”
“Yeah, who?” Skyler asked.
“Well, those guys you saw that night at the motel, they were bad guys,” Maddox replied.
“Yeah.” Skyler turned his attention back to his line, as if retreating to safety.
“And we need to find out who they are, so we can catch them.”
“What if they find out I told?”
“They won’t. The law protects kids. They keep your name and face secret. And this is your opportunity to protect yourself and Brynn. Until we can find out who they are and get them off the streets, you’re both in danger.” Maddox hated to do it, but he lined up the final nail on the coffin and drove it home with a hammer. “Especially Brynn, since she called the police.”
Skyler looked to Brynn.
She smiled down at him and winked.
