“Optimus Prime is the best,” he replies, moving his hand down to his side and bringing out my $1,000 rare, mint condition action figure.
I gulp, wanting to snatch it from his hand, but the way he’s holding it stops me. He’s looking at it like it’s the holy grail. He might be young, but he clearly knows how to take care of his toys.
“How old are you, kid?” I ask, settling myself back and drawing my knee up to rest my arm across it.
“I’m nine. Ten next month.” He beams.
“You gonna do anything nice for it?”
His face falls, and mine falls with him. “Probably not. My mom works a lot, and we don’t have much money.”
My heart breaks for him and for his mom. She’s obviously doing the best she can. He’s dressed in decent clothes, smells clean, and looks healthy.
I place my hand out. “Theo,” I offer.
He takes my hand, his forehead wrinkling as he says, “Mom always told me not to talk to strangers, but you seem nice. Oscar.”
I laugh. “Well, Oscar, it’s really nice meeting you. And your mom's right… you shouldn’t talk to strangers, but I’m guessing I know your mom since she works in the same building as me. You’re safe here, little dude.”
“Yeah, she works here. I should probably go and find her.”
“Probably a good idea.” I chuckle and push myself to stand. “I’ve got lots of boring stuff to do, but you're welcome here anytime your mom has to work, alright?Mi casa, su casa.”
Oscar gives me a confused look. “I don’t know what that means.”
I ruffle his hair, smiling. “It means what’s mine is yours, little dude.”
“Oh, okay,” he says. “Thank you. See you around, Theo.”
He bounds off in search of his mom as I walk to my desk and throw myself down in my seat, thinking his mom’s pretty lucky to have an awesome kid like him.
Chapter Twenty-Three
THEO
“Have you thought anymore about what we discussed in the last session?” Mike asks as I lounge on his couch.
I’ve been here every day for the last week, working through my trauma. When we realized Blake was the catalyst for my outburst, Mike and I took a deep dive into my past. It’s been uncomfortable and traumatizing to say the least. Having to relive every flashback in detail has caused me to start sliding into a depressive state I don’t want to be in.
“Yeah, I have.”
Mike chuckles—something he doesn’t do very often. “Care to elaborate a bit more?”
“I haven’t spoken to Christie in months. Ever since the night of Dan’s bachelor party. Apparently, I went overboard.”
“And how does that make you feel, your sister not speaking to you?”
I sit up, bracing my hands on my knees. “Honestly? Like a weight has been lifted off my shoulders.” I scoff before muttering to myself, “What the fuck is wrong with me?”
“Why do you think it’s wrong, Theo?” he asks.
I run a hand through my hair. I left it down today, needing to hide myself from the onslaught of today’s session. “Just like Blake, Christie is a reminder of what happened when we were kids. It’s easier to disassociate from her than from anyone else. Sort of like she’s not really my family.” I pause, nose wrinkling as I say, “But how can I treat my own sister that way?”
“That’s understandable. What’s happening here is you’re trying to”—he makes a sweeping motion—“dig your head in the sand for lack of a better term. You’re trying to claw back the control you didn’t have as a child, so pushing Christie out of your mind is a way of protecting yourself.”
I nod. It makes sense.
“Does she know you took punishments for her?” Mike asks with a tilt of his head.
