Chapter 33
I scream so loud it burns my lungs. I’ve never screamed this loud before. Actually, I’ve never screamed at all. Not until now.
It’s the second night this week he’s come into my room. He’s not my dad. I hate him.
Outside, it’s raining. Again. The water slaps angrily against the sides of our giant boat, waves crashing like they’re trying to get in.
He crawls off the bed and zips up his pants.
I curl into a tight ball, hug my knees to my chest, and through a maze of tears, I watch him open the door and slip back into the dark hallway.
A minute later, America sneaks into my room. She closes the door gently behind her. I swipe at my eyes with the back of my hands and slide along the wall, making space for her on the bed. She knee crawls over and wraps her arms around me, pulling my shaking body into hers.
“Help me,” I whisper, sobbing into her shirt. She rocks me slowly, planting soft kisses on top of my head.
“You’re okay, baby,” she murmurs. “You’re safe with me.”
I hiccup and sob, my face wet with tears and snot, while she strokes my hair and blows cool air across my sweaty forehead.
“Do you hear the rain?” she asks, and I’m glad it’s a simple question.
“Yes,” I whisper, listening—
To the rain, and her heartbeat.
“The rain is your friend, baby. It will protect you. But you need to walk into it, Noah… even when there’s no rain to walk into.”
I look up into her green eyes, one darker than the other, and nod, even though I don’t understand a single word she’s saying.
The salty air stings my throat as I breathe in the sea, holding on to her like an anchor.
My fingers smooth down the winding braid that trails over her shoulder, tracing it like a path I don’t know how to follow.
“Will you come with me?” I ask, tugging gently on her hair. “Into the rain?”
“Of course, I will,” she says softly. “I’ll be the only one you see.”
“Okay.” The word slips out like a ghost.
A faint smile curves her lips—calm, sure.
It feels like a secret.
I want to know all of her secrets because someday they might be my only way out.
And she’s all I have.
Her thumbs rub gently across my temples.
“Now let me show you how to find the rain in the midst of a storm,” she whispers.