Chapter Fifty-Two
I couldn't breathe in there; my head is swimming with all of the information I've heard and shared over the last couple of days.
I'm still so confused over the whole will thing.
How are there two? And how did my uncle manage to convince everyone his was the right one?
I'm mad at Wrath for being mad at Andrea, but I understand why he is. There is a tiny part of me that’s mad at her too, especially now I know about the second will.
"Nova." I glance up at Tongue as he gently places a hand on my arm. "Would you like a drink?"
I shake my head. "No thank you."
"Can we go sit outside for a minute, I'd like to talk to you," he tells me. He glances around the room at the few people milling about before glancing back at me.
"Yeah, of course," I answer, not really sure what he wants to talk about, but I figure it's important, given how nervous he looks.
We walk to the back of the building where the play area is, and we take a seat on one of the benches.
I watch him as he stares at the climbing frame for a minute before turning to face me.
"I'd like to share something with you, but I have to ask you not to say anything to anyone, none of my brothers here know and I would like to keep it that way. "
"You don't trust them?" I ask, curious.
"I trust them, Nova. I just don't want them looking at me with pity. I don’t want to feel ashamed about my past," he says.
"Well, you've probably guessed I'm pretty good at keeping secrets," I say, smiling at him, trying to ease the tension.
"I understand what you and Mason have gone through. You see, I too suffered a similar childhood." He stops, his eyes flicking back and forth over mine, and I’m assuming he's waiting for some sort of reaction. But I sit there in silence, waiting to see if he wants to share anymore of his story.
"I..." He licks his lips then turns away from me, and I see the shame building already. I reach out and place my hand over his, giving it a little squeeze.
"Tongue, you can tell me anything you want. But you don't have to if you're not comfortable. Please don't feel like you have to share anything with me." He glances at me and gives me a small nod, then faces back toward the climbing frame.
"I never knew my dad. My mum was a drunk and a drug addict.
She would do anything she could for her next fix, including sleeping around.
I was the result of one of her many indiscretions.
When I was eight, she fell pregnant again with my little brother.
She stopped the drink and drugs for a while, but that only lasted six months into her pregnancy, my brother was born two months premature.
“It was good for a while after he was born, she was still drinking but had almost stopped the drugs all together.
I should have known it wouldn't last long though.
" He stands, walking to the climbing frame and around the swings, taking a seat.
I give him a minute, but when I realise he isn't coming back over to the bench, I make my way over to him and take the swing next to his.
He blows out a heavy breath, keeping his head low.
"I never got the chance to play in a playground, growing up.
Neither did my brother. Seven months after she gave birth, she started using again, only she had two kids and no way to pay for her fix.
" I see him swallow then turn to face me.
His skin is grey, his eyes dull and full of sadness.
"She let her dealers abuse me, to pay for her drugs.
I was so scared every day that they would decide they wanted to hurt Jack instead, so when I knew she needed her next fix, I'd take him to a neighbour’s house and hide him there until it was over.
I was eleven when it finally stopped." He blinks at me then turns his face up toward the moonlight.
"Tongue," I whisper.
"Please don't judge me..."
"I would never."
"Or pity me. I can’t handle pity, Nova," he says honestly.
"I'll never judge you, and I don't pity you. I'm sorry that you experienced that, and I'm honoured that you trust me enough to tell me your secret."
"There’s more," he says, cutting me off.
I get up from the swing and step in front of him, my hands grabbing at the chain on the swing. "You don't have to tell me."
"I want to." He looks up at me, then shame fills his face, and he drops his gaze to the floor.
I reach down and tip his chin toward me. "Please don't hide. I'm listening."
He gives me a sad smile. "The abuse only stopped because my grandmother, my mum’s mum, took me in.
" He looks back up at me. "Jack caught a cold three weeks before, I did everything I could to take care of him, but I was eleven and I didn't know how serious it was.
We lived in a dark, cold, filthy house, he didn't stand a chance.
He caught pneumonia. I came home from school one evening and found him dead in his crib.
“Mum was strung out, on the bed, her dealer sleeping next to her.
I lost it, screaming at them both to wake up.
She was too out of it to understand what was happening, but her dealer shot off the bed and pinned me against the wall by my neck.
I could feel myself starting to black out.
I didn't know what else to do, so I spat in his face.
He dropped me to the floor, kicking me in my stomach and back.
He told me that if I said anything to him ever again or spat on him again, he would cut my tongue out. "
I watch as he furrows his brow at me. "I trust you," he tells me, and I give him a smile, but before I have a chance to respond, he states, "I was fifteen when I saw him again.
He was beating up some girl outside a club for owing him money.
I snapped, and by the time I pulled him off her, she was already unconscious.
He was dead less than twenty minutes later, and minus a tongue.
" He's so matter of fact when he tells me that it takes a second for me to register it.
"Oh." He watches me, waiting for me to respond. But as I stand there, watching him, all I can think is I'm surprised I'm not more freaked out by his admission.
"Nova?" he asks, nervous. "Say something.
"You should have made him suffer for longer," I say.
His eyebrows shoot up, surprised. "Erm…"
"He deserved what he got, Tongue. I'm only sad that he didn't feel it for longer. I won't share your secret. But know that I'm here if you ever want to talk. And know that I will never judge you or pity you." I lean down and place a quick kiss on the side of his cheek. "Thank you."