"I do." Pulling myself together enough to speak, I continue, "I should have gotten him out of there sooner, he shouldn’t have had to grow up with that. Sure, I do my best to stop them from hitting him, but I don't protect him from seeing it or hearing it. He doesn't deserve that," I cry out.
"And you think you do?" Nitro asks, shocked.
I shake my head. "No, but he's just a kid. He should be out living his life, having fun, not hiding or living scared every day."
"How old are you?" Nitro asks.
"I'm twenty."
Anger flashes in Nitro’s eyes. "You're not much older than a kid yourself. You should also be out there enjoying your life, not protecting your little brother. Not taking beatings from your own family."
Chapter Twenty-Two
She flinches at Nitro's tone, and I clear my throat, getting his attention. I shake my head at him then tip my head toward her, indicating for him to go easy.
"Sorry, that was a little aggressive."
"It's okay," she tells him, barely above a whisper.
"How long have you been at your aunt and uncle’s house?” he asks her.
"Erm, almost six years. We moved in a few weeks after I found my parents..." She trails off as she appears to get lost in the memory.
"Prez…" He holds one finger up at me.
"When did the beatings start?" Fucking hell, I can't believe he just came right out with that.
Her head shoots up to look at him, then she turns to me. I don't know if she's looking for support, and I would love to stop this questioning here, but I kind of also want to know the answer. She bites the inside of her cheek then drops her head to look at her still locked hands.
"It started about a month after we moved in, Mason wouldn’t stop crying once and they screamed at him, then my aunt slapped him a couple of times. I jumped in front of him to stop her, so she slapped me instead. I told her if she wanted to hit someone, she had to hit me. It just kind of escalated from there." She's like a robot as she recounts what happened.
At this point I don't know who's angrier, me or Nitro. I know how angry I feel, but his face is getting redder by the second. I try again, "Prez," but he shoots me a look.
"How often?" he asks.
"What?" she asks him.
"How often do they beat you?" he grinds out.
"I don't know. Just whenever they feel like it."
"Monthly, weekly?" he pushes.
She swallows. "Weekly. Sometimes daily. It would just depend how mad they got." She glances up at him, then back down.
"Prez, she's had enough," I tell him. He blinks and gives me a nod, pulling out his phone and shooting off a text before turning back to her.
"Nova, Ice is right, you need a break, there are things we still need to talk about, but for now I just have one more question."
"Okay," she says into her hands.
"Did they do anything else?" he asks her, and we both shoot him a look. I can't believe he just fucking asked her that.
"What do you mean?" she questions.
He leans forward on his desk, his eyes fixed on hers. "Your aunt and uncle, I know they used to beat you, but did they do anything to you? Have they hurt you any other way?"
She shakes her head. "No, they knock me about a bit but that’s all." He stares at her and she shifts in her chair, straightening up. "I promise, Nitro. They didn't do what you're asking."
