Kelsey slowed down and stared at me. “What?”
“Do you remember when I withdrew from everyone in college?”
“Yes. Of course I do.”
“Well, I had been dating someone, remember?”
“I do. You were pretty excited about him, if I remember correctly.”
“Yeah, well at some point he started showing some red flags and I ended things with him.”
“What kind of red flags?”
Thank God we were running. Talking was so much easier when I didn’t have to look at my sister. “Controlling shit. He was constantly accusing me of cheating; he needed to know where I was at all times. He also hit me once.”
Kelsey’s sharp inhale let me know she was shocked, but didn’t interrupt me.
“I broke up with him right after he hit me. But you know what they say? The most dangerous time for a woman is the time right after they leave their abuser.”
We slowed to a stop, and Kelsey pulled me towards a quiet spot near the duck pond. I averted my eyes when I said the rest of it.
“He locked me in his room for a weekend and raped me repeatedly. Until he was “done” with me.”
“Ken—”
Fuck, my sister was crying. I didn’t want her to cry over me. “I got pregnant that weekend. You know that. And I also told you I had an abortion. But I didn’t. I miscarried.”
“Oh.”
“I wanted to end that pregnancy, and I tried to control the end of that pregnancy, because that was howIfelt I could regain control over my life, and my body. And I’ve spent a ton of time in therapy trying to figure out why thefuckI couldn’t keep my mouth shut when you found out you were pregnant with Crew. Maybe it was because I wanted you to be able to take control of your life? Or maybe I was hurt, bitter, and in pain. But, Kelsey, I have had so many nightmares about this, I wake up sweating and panicking, and so afraid that youlistenedto me. And my God, if anything ever happened to that little boy, it would fucking kill me.”
Kelsey pulled me into her arms, and we both sobbed until we were able to speak.
“He loves you, Ken.”
“I am so fucking thankful for that. There’s a little bit more, too.”
“Oh, God.”
“He’s the new shortstop.”
“Tucker Milligan?”
“Yes.”
“I have to tell Sam.”
“Do you, though?”
“You aren’t pressing charges?”
“I filed a rape kit. I always figured if he was ever accused of rape and there were a match, I would identify him then. So far, he’s clean. So it leads me to believe it might be an isolated incident.”
“And you haven’t told HR? Or ownership?”
“Well, I’m kind of sleeping with the owner, and there was a time and place for me to identify Tucker, and that ship already sailed.”
“Wait. Rewind.”
