Forcing my thoughts away from the past, I turned away from the window. I didn’t want to go back to bed, nor was I willing to explore. Instead, I went to the corner behind the chair and sat down. I wrapped my arms around my knees and sat my cheek on top.
Before I knew it, I fell asleep, hidden away from everyone.
“Found her,” someone said. I opened my eyes.
My butt was asleep where I still sat. My thoughts were fuzzy as things clicked into place. Finally, my eyes focused on blue ones that shone with relief.
“Hey there,” he smiled. It was a sad kind of smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “You had us all scared.”
“Where is she?” Ace asked, stalking into the room. At his urgent voice, I pressed myself closer into the corner as fear consumed me.
“Right here, Pops,” the man said, but he didn’t move.
My eyes bounced around the room before finally landing on a stuffed animal sitting on the dresser. It looked so out of place with its faded color.
“You scared us, nipotina,” Ace said, standing behind the man. He placed a hand on his shoulder. “What are you doing back there?”
I blinked long and hard. My body was tight, stiff.
“You can’t be comfortable there,” Ace said, softening his voice. “Do you want to come out?”
I didn’t move, only blinked at the stuffed animal. It seemed familiar, but I couldn’t place it from anywhere. Dad had thrown all my toys out when I was twelve, declaring that my time was better spent keeping his house clean.
The man looked behind him, trying to figure out what I was staring at.
“Are you okay?” Ace asked, stepping back as the man got up, blocking my sight of the stuffed animal. I gave a sideways nod, but I was anything but okay.
“Do you want to move back to the bed?” Ace asked, waving someone out of the room. Another blink. I didn’t know what I wanted, other than to die.
“She can probably do it on her own if she wishes,” Collin said from somewhere in the room. “She made it over there, so I’d leave her be until she’s ready. She’ll be fine.”
Ace seemed to debate with himself before he gave a nod and stood up. “Food will be up in a bit for you.”
I turned my head to stare over by the windows, which seemed to be letting the first rays of sun into the room.
“Give her time, boss. She’ll come around when she realizes that we’re helping her.” Collin said again, seeming to be the voice of reason around here. And the one person who knew just exactly the abuse I had suffered.
“Time may not be on our side,” Zevon said. His voice sounded as if he were close to the hallway. “It’s only a matter of time before things take a turn we don’t want.”
“And you know I’ll handle it when it gets there,” Ace replied. Turning back to me, he said, “Someone will be up in a few hours to see you. I’ve kept him waiting long enough already.”
My gut somersaulted to my toes.
“Pops seems determined to keep certain things under the table when it comes to you,” the man said, taking a seat on the floor, about three feet away from me. “I can understand why. None of us know how to handle you like this. Least of all me.” He paused, seeming lost on what to say.
I glanced up at him. This man didn’t scare me like most of the others. He respected my boundaries. He didn’t push me to talk or force his presence…Well, not as much as the others seem to be doing, anyhow. I had no idea who he was, nor want he wanted; he seemed to look at me like he’d found his world.
“We didn’t expect you to come back to us so broken,” he went on, twiddling the stuffed animal between his hands. “I wasn’t sure what you would be like, but I never once pictured you like this. And you have no memory of what life was like as a kid, right?”
I shook my head, captivated.
“Didn’t think so,” he sighed. “Pops won’t let me tell you anything yet. Not after everything you’ve been through. You’ll find out in time, I guess. And if you listen and pay attention to signs around you, maybe you’ll figure it out on your own.”
He finally looked up at me, a sad smile on his lips.
“I want to tell you a story,” he began, his voice soft. He moved so he was leaning against the wall. “Twelve years ago, exactly on this day, the story begins. I was out with my sister, who was five years younger than me. Mom was getting her hair done and had given us money to play in the arcade just down the way from where she would be. It was a monthly thing for my sister and I to go there. It wasourtime, since we were so close to one another.
“She would always demand I win her something, anything. But out of everything I’d given her, this simple stuffed fox,” he lifted it towards me slightly, “was the one thing she loved the most.
