I can’t even imagine meeting a person who is even more supersized than Victor.
“His dad is seriously intimidating. He scares me.” My brother laughs.
Abi laughs with him. “You have bigger guys tackling you on the field all the time, hon.”
“Yeah, but Victor’s dad never freaking smiles. He’s just mean and a hard-ass.”
“Nash can be difficult. When I was sixteen, I skipped Jiu Jitsu practice and instead went to the arcade in the mall with my friends. My dad yelled at me after I came back home, but I didn’t back down and talked back at him. Then, teenage Victor didn’t know any better and charged at my dad. He kicked my ass so good, I was hurting for days after.”
“Man, your dad looks like he can still take you,” my brother says.
“Maybe.” The playfulness in Victor’s eyes has disappeared. “Hey, Tia, do you want more pasta?”
Alek’s face twitches, but I ignore him.
“Please.” I lick my lips. “And thank you again for cooking. I’m glad that I get to have dinner with you.” As soon as the words come out, I correct myself. “With all of you.”
Warmth travels through my body and I take a deep breath to cool it off.
My mom often forgot to pack school lunches for me or go shopping for school supplies. The few times Alek wasn’t around, the teacher and other kids gave me some of their food and materials. I hated receiving pity—I still do—and was ashamed.
Alek, somehow, was resourceful, but I never knew how he did it. He would share everything with me—food, supplies, love—and my heart would mend as much as possible. That’s how I feel now, as if my heart is being put back together, surrounded by Alek, Abi, and Victor.
Victor passes me the bowl of pasta, his knee touching mine. I immediately jerk mine out of the way, squeezing my thighs together.
“Twinkle?”
“Humm?” I say while drowning my pasta with Victor’s special sauce.
“We need to talk about what happened today.”
My hand holding the bowl of sauce freezes in midair.
“I have lots of questions about the last three years. It seems things haven’t been the way I thought they were.” Alek’s voice is soft and firm at the same time. “What happened to the money I sent to you every month?”
Alek used to send us small amounts of money he received from his athletic scholarship. Since he lives at the student apartments and splits the rent with Victor, he has remaining money from what the scholarship covers for living in the dorms.
I place the bowl on the table before I have an accident.
“Mom didn’t let me have a key to the mailbox so she got your money. I’d say it went to alcohol and drugs.”
Alek frowns, his eyebrows crunching in together.
“I let it go because I knew if Mom didn’t have the money, things would have gotten worse faster. Much faster,” I say breathlessly.
“Why didn’t you tell me?” he spits out. “Was this the first attack?” His words pop out fast, pressing for more answers. “When did it get so bad? Tell me everything.” He’s panting now.
“Tia needs time to recover and rest first,” Abi interrupts.
Time is an elusive idea. I’m tempted to pull Alek into my shit and share the weight with him, but I need to fight my own battles.
It’d be so easy to share Charlie’s name with these kind people who share their dinner with me, but at what cost? Victor would go to jail because anyone he fought would end up in a coma or even dead, killing his MMA career… and life as he knows it. My brother would fight Charlie too, and maybe get injured and not make it to the NFL. And Abi will be hurt and resent me for the rest of her life. And what if she were dragged into it the way I’ve been?
I could basically ruin everyone’s life—my superpower.
The urge to flee overtakes me, but I fight it. If I can’t answer Alek with the truth, at least I can give him a clue. I take a deep breath.
“When I was six, my baby teeth were falling out. The other kids from school were getting coins under their pillows from the Tooth Fairy when they lost a tooth. So one day I told Mom and Dad about the Tooth Fairy. Do you remember what they told me?She didn’t exist. That I had to be a realist. That no one will just give me money.” I pause and take a sip of water but it doesn’t help with my dry throat. “When I went back to school the next day, I didn’t tell the other kids that the Tooth Fairy didn’t exist… because I didn’t want to burst their bubble.”
