“That is sick. That’s not cool at all.”
“No, it wasn’t.”
After a few more bites, Cy started talking. “In my line of work, I see a lot of abuse. It makes me angry. With my job, I feel like I’m doing something about it, but I know we’ll never solve it all. It’s like that monster in Greek Mythology, Hydra.”
“Oh, I haven’t thought about Greek Mythology in a while.”
While they finished eating, she thought about high school and how much she’d liked and disliked it. She liked seeing friends and hanging out, but she’d been powerless back then. She’d wanted more freedom, but she felt like she would never get it.
“I should have been happier when I was in school.”
Cy stood and took her empty plate to the sink. He rinsed the plates, then turned to her. “What do you mean?”
“I wasn’t a happy person then. I thought there were a lot of things that were unfair. After living under Robert’s control for so long, now I look back and think I had it good in high school.”
“It is a weird time. Thinking back to even a hundred years ago, teenagers had more autonomy. I don’t agree with a lot of things that happened to teens back then.”
“Like what?”
“Companies took advantage of labor, and a lot of the labor came from kids. There has to be some kind of happy medium, but I’m not sure where that hits. Like kids need responsibilities, but where is that line of responsibility versus abuse? Back then, a lot of kids were injured working at meatpacking facilities and in sewing factories. It was brutal for many, but also a chance for opportunities.”
What he was saying made sense. “I don’t know where that line is. I didn’t have a job in school until my senior year. Even then, it was an easy job scooping ice cream. I don’t know if I could have worked at a sewing factory.”
“Yeah, some of them were absolutely just abuse factories.”
“That sucks. I can tell you this much, I never want to have kids. If I’d had a child with Robert, I would be stuck with him for at least a decade, maybe more.”
Cy chuckled, and she wondered if he was laughing at her. Then he started shaking his head, and she was sure he was laughing at her.
“Some of my best friends have kids, and I’m happy for them. I’ve been there with a few of them just weeks after the little nuggets were born. I’ve held babies, changed them when the parents needed a break, burped and fed, and helped out, but I don’t want to reproduce. Kids are cute, and they can bring alot of joy, but I get joy from hanging out with my friends and helping with their kids. I don’t need one of my own to get joy.”
As he spoke, relief filled her, then she had to remind herself to step back. She didn’t need to feel relief from his words. They weren’t together, though he’d opened his house to her and was basically taking care of her.
“Because Robert blocked me from having friends, I’ve never had much to do with kids. I know some of my old friends have some, but I lost touch with them long ago.”
“This weekend, my buddies are having a get-together. I think you should come.”
She bit her lower lip. Going to a party with him might be too much. “Are you sure?”
“Yes. It would be fun, and it might just be the reset you need.”
She wasn’t sure what he meant by reset, but she did need a change. Last night she’d slept better than she had in ages. Though Cy was virtually a stranger, though she wasn’t sure she could call him that now, she felt safe with him around.
“Okay, I’ll go with you.”
“Awesome. And I think you should stay here until then. You don’t need to worry about Robert being out there looking for you.”
She didn’t want to get too used to relying on Cy. What if he decided to kick her out? She needed her independence, but having Cy help her was nice. It meant she could actually get a good night's sleep and not worry about Robert finding her.
For now, she would stay here, but as soon as she found out Robert was back in jail, she would move back to her rented room, even if she missed Cy.
22
Having Willa stay with him was nice. They both were working. He headed in early in the morning, and she worked later in the evening, but it seemed to work out well for both of them.
The police had tried to bring Robert in for a second round of questioning, but Detective Riser had told them he hadn’t shown up. When Cy asked him if they knew where Robert was, they didn’t answer.
That made him feel very uneasy. Robert was supposed to have an ankle monitor on, but somehow, the service hadn’t initiated the monitoring, so they couldn’t find him.
