Chapter 30 – Rule #2
“Then they weren’t real friends,” Rule stated, taking a cue from her and resuming the game. “They were fakes.”
Before Bianca responded, Freya came to the table, ending the conversation. She smiled at Bianca, who waved at her.
“Father Wilkins told me to come get you,” Freya said, tucking a strand of freshly dyed blue hair behind her ear.
“Why?” Rule asked suspiciously, unable to forget when the little man tried to intercept a visit from his mother and sister.
He adored Father Wilkins, but that stunt had hurt Rule. The priest knew how much Rule had wanted to see them, but for whatever reason, he still tried to prevent the visit.
“Don’t worry, it’s not like last time,” Freya reassured him. “Well, it is, sorta.” She beamed a smile, seeming about to burst from excitement. “Your mother and sister are on the way.”
Rule gasped, afraid she was pranking him.
Sluts! Whores!
Clapping his hands over his ears, Rule closed his eyes, his heart starting a frantic beat. He feared the voices would make him ruin the visit when he’d missed Mom and Reb so much.
Freya hurried to him. “Tell them to go away,” she said in a harsh whisper. “They have no power over you.”
“I’m scared,” Rule told her, his voice trembling. “I don’t want them to make me—”
“Here.” Bianca pressed something into his hand and closed his fist around it.
Freya stood in front of him, so he couldn’t see Bianca, but her warm, sweet scent soothed him.
“Squeeze it,” she told him.
It was soft and frayed, small. He suspected it was the faded little bunny hugging a small carrot. It was one of the last Easter basket gifts her mother gave to her. Bianca usually kept it in one of her pockets. Rule didn’t want to ruin it.
Freya tightened her grip on him. “Tell them, sweetheart. You’re brave. Don’t let them win.”
Rule squeezed his eyes shut, squeezed Bianca’s little bunny. “D-dr. P-Patricks said it m-might help if I-I-I had v-v-voice time.”
“It might,” Freya told him, soft and soothing. “But you’re in control of them. They aren’t in control of you.”
“I want my mom and my sister.”
A hand gripped his shoulder. “You love them,” Bianca said, and Rule realized it was her. “Tell your friends to back off for them.”
“I love my mom and my sister,” Rule said in a shaky voice.
You don’t! You hate them. You hate Bianca.
Rule shook his head. “I don’t! Go away! You can’t be here with them.”
He was shaking, sweating, wanting to run to his room and hide.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered.
Freya dropped her hands. “You’ve done nothing wrong, love.”
It felt like it. “I want to try the higher dose of my old medicine.”
“I’ll talk to Father Wilkins,” Freya said, sighing. “Will you be okay? I have to see to a couple of things.”
“I’ll stay with him,” Bianca promised, then looked at the clock. “My group starts in five minutes.”
Freya looked at Bianca. “Father Wilkins wanted me to ask you if you’d like an excuse for today so you can visit with Rule’s mom and sister.”
“Do you want me to tag along, Rule?” she asked, suddenly shy, just like the last time his family had come to visit.
Relief swirled into Rule that Bianca would be there. “Duh,” he said, returning the grin that blossomed across her face.
An hour later, Father Wilkins escorted Mom and Rebel to where Rule and Bianca sat in the visitation area.
Large blue, yellow, and chocolate colored circles wound through the painted walls.
It was supposed to inspire happiness but those loops annoyed the fuck out of room.
Every time he passed by and longed to have visitors, he scowled at the décor.
A dozen round tables with six chairs each stood on terracotta tile in hexagon patterns.
“Rule!” Rebel cried, breaking away from Mom and the priest and running to him without hesitation.
Without fear.
He got to his feet just as she barreled into his arms and he laughed, returning her hug with genuine relief and enthusiasm.
“What are you doing in LA, Reb?” he asked, not letting her go. He’d forgotten to ask Freya why Mom and Reb were there. “Not that I’m complaining.”
Releasing him, she kissed his cheek. “We came to see you,” she said. “I’ve been missing you a lot and so has Momma so we booked flights.”
Liars!
“We text every day, Reb,” Rule said, determined to ignore his friends.
“It isn’t the same as seeing you,” she said quietly. “I wish you were home.” She pressed her lips together then pasted a smile on, her blue eyes watery. “I wish you were closer.”
Rule nodded.
“Momma’s anxious to see you, so we can talk again before we leave.”
Disappointment hit Rule and—
Whores!
Send them away!
They shouldn’t have come!
They’re leaving you again!
Staggering back, Rule dropped into his seat and dug his fingers into his thighs, closing his eyes.
“Are you okay, brother?”
Rebel’s worried voice invaded Rule. He managed a nod.
“Reb, why don’t you and Bianca go with Freya and Father Wilkins to get the shopping bags out of the car?”
“Okay, Momma,” Rebel said hesitantly.
“Maybe I should stay, Mrs. Caldwell—”
“Go,” Mom told the priest.
There was a moment’s commotion as everyone trooped out. Rule almost called them back. He feared the voices telling him to hurt his mother and no one would be there to help her.
Mom’s cherry-blossom scent enveloped him as she hugged him close. She kissed his forehead. “I’m here, son,” she whispered, stroking his back.
Rule nodded but kept his eyes closed. “I love you. I love you and Reb. I love you.”
“I know, and we love you. Don’t worry. Freya called me. You’re safe. I will see to it that you get what you need.”
Slowly, Rule returned his mother’s hug. “Don’t tell Reb. Or Dad. Or CJ. Or—”
“This will stay between you and me.”
She’s a liar!
No, she isn’t!
Rule believed his mother. Breathing heavily, he let her go and balled his hands into fists. “You really left Dad just to see me?”
Nodding, Mom sat next to him. “We did, son.”
“I miss you so much.”
“I miss you, too.”
Rule searched for something to talk about then remembered she’d sent Rebel for shopping bags. “What did you buy?”
Mom smiled. “I bought Bianca a few things on the way here. Freya told me Bianca didn’t have a full week’s worth of clothes, so I bought her three outfits. Freya will give them to her in a way that won’t embarrass her.”
“She’s going to be discharged soon,” Rule said glumly. “She’s my only friend here, Mom.”
“Rule—”
“But she doesn’t want to go,” Rule said, and told his mother why. “It isn’t safe for her.”
“Do you want me to talk to her?”
“I do, but she…she confided in me. I’m being selfish—”
You are selfish and evil.
“You’re being a concerned friend, son. I will figure something out. Let me think on it.”
She isn’t telling the truth.
Fuck you! She is. I believe Mom.
Although Rule was taller than his mother, she urged his head on her shoulder and stroked his hair, just as she once did when he was a small kid.
“Do you want to hear what Rebel bought you?”
“A lot,” Rule said, his chest easing. His twin loved to shop. “I can only imagine.”
Mom laughed. “That girl can shop.”
Rule relaxed against his mother. “She didn’t steal it, Mom. You can shop, too.”
“True.”
Sadness enveloped him again. “I guess since we’re meeting in the visitation area, you can’t stay long.”
“We’re meeting here so I can borrow Father Wilkins. I will have lunch with him and Freya, while you, Rebel, and Bianca eat here. We’ll have dinner on the bluffs about five and then Rebel and I will head back to Uncle Mortician’s estate. We fly home tomorrow.”
“You’re spending the whole day with me?” Rule whispered.
Mom kissed his forehead. “We are, son.”
Rule couldn’t think of anything else to say, except, “Thank you, Mom.”