Chapter 27
BEX - WATERMELON
I barely had time to nod before he had me wrapped in his arms, pulling me close and breathing me in.
Trevor held me for a long time before pulling back slightly and studying my face with a familiar goofy grin.
“Welcome home,” he wrapped me in his arms again, whispering, “God, I have missed you. I never thought I would see you again.”
It felt like no time had passed, and yet he was barely a man when he left for basic training, and I was just entering my awkward teen years. And he had grown, filled out in the time since I had last seen him .
I closed my eyes and let my body relax; I wasn’t sure what to expect coming back here.
Marvin had been an old Army buddy of Chief Gray, and the one place that the Chief thought I would be safest until I was old enough to take care of myself.
While Marvin wasn’t soft or gentle, he did keep me safe…
even though he told me every day never to let myself feel safe…
never to let my guard down… and he kept me fed.
He never tried anything with me, and if anything, he kept a distance between us.
I was never sure if that was for my benefit or because he had no idea what to do with a little girl who would often cry herself to sleep.
It wasn’t until the day his ex drove up the lane.
I remember the sound of tires sent fear shooting through me, and Marvin helped me into one of my practiced hiding places.
I heard raised voices and then a slamming front door.
I tucked myself into a ball and only released the breath I was holding when I heard the code word that meant it was safe for me to come out ‘Watermelon’.
It took me a few tries to get out of the tiny space but when I did I had come face to face with a chest of a boy I had never seen before, and when I looked up I had seen a bright pair of curious green eyes.
After that it was Marvin, Trevor and I. I didn’t ask why his ex had dropped off the boy who I had only heard of before that day. But I was happy that he was there.
On nights when the memories got to be too much for Marvin and he’d go out back on the porch with a bottle of whiskey, Trevor would make sure I was taken care of, he’d read to me and tell me stories about what our lives would look like when we grew up.
Trevor had been my first taste of what family could be like and when he left for basic training and ended up being deployed before I could say goodbye I had been devastated, feeling another layer of loss, feeling like one more thing had been taken from me.
I had been homeschooled to keep me safe, which was basically me working through the old books Marvin would leave for me.
I learned to cook and clean, fell in love with science and medicine and decided I wanted to be like the people Marv talked about in his stories, the people who were brave and saved others.
I managed to finish high school ahead of schedule, writing my GED test almost two years early and then deciding I wanted to be a nurse.
Marv was nervous at first, until he reached out to an old army friend of his who assured him there would be no trace of my old life attached to who I was going to be once I left this property.
So the day I walked away, the day I said thank you as a form of goodbye and took my first step off of this property in years…
I became Rebecca Pierce, a woman without a traumatic past.
I was pulled back to the present when Trevor extended his arms, putting space between us.
“What… I can’t believe it's really you… I…. Does dad know you are coming?”
His features may have been less boyish and more chiseled, but I couldn't help but smile at the intense furrow on his brow, the same look he’d get when he would try to navigate something he and his dad decided was a girl thing.
“No he isn’t expecting me… I…” my voice broke off near the end and Trevor stood taller, scanning the property around the house. His green eyes went dark and he looked back down at me.
“Molly, what’s going on?”
I blew out a breath not sure how to explain everything that had happened in our time apart. When I had taken on a new identity, part of that was with the knowledge that I was letting go of the bad from my past but also the sliver of good I had found here.
Did I put them in danger coming back here?
Panic started to crawl up my throat and I stepped back from him, “I… I am sorry. Maybe I shouldn't have come.”
Trevor made a sort of growly sound and matched my step forward, “What the fuck Molly. I haven’t seen you... I thought I never would. Dad wouldn’t tell me a thing about where you went. I couldn’t even dig anything up and I fucking tried on my last deployment…”
He scrubbed his hand over his face, eyes flashing. “You can’t just show up and then disappear again.”
I wanted to pull away, protect myself, protect Trevor and Marvin. But his words were so honest. A tear fell and I tried to blink it away, tried to look away before he saw it.
But Trevor stepped closer, lifted my chin with his hand, his eyes so open and honest, “Molly what is going on? I can’t protect you if I don’t know…”
That was it… the dam opened and the tears poured out of me. Trevor didn’t hesitate, he wrapped me in his arms and guided me inside.
I couldn’t help but notice how little had changed since I was last here, it even smelled the same.
Trevor moved quickly, taking the bags from me and setting them on the floor and moving us to the living room and to the exact same couch we used to huddle on watching movies quietly on nights I couldn't sleep.
Trevor sat, still holding onto me and before I knew it I was cradled in his arms, feeling warm and safe. Like no time had passed. Like I was still that little girl terrified and he was there, patient and protective.
He didn’t ask any questions, he just held me.
My head resting on his shoulder, listening to his steady breathing, the beat of his heart.
I must have dozed off, because the next thing I remember I heard a gruff voice I hadn’t heard in years.
When my eyes opened, the light was different… the temperature is cooler.
I took a deep breath and stretched, then stood and followed the voices into the kitchen.
My eyes danced over the kitchen stuck in the past, and landed on Marvin… who was scowling at me.
He looked like time hadn’t been kind to him, his large frame looked thinner, greys had overpowered his beard and his usually close cropped hair looked a little wilder and unkempt.
We both seemed to be assessing each other, cataloging the changes.
Finally he broke the silence, “What trouble did you bring to my door this time?”
Well that settled it, he hadn't changed that much. Trevor moved to jump in and defend me, but Marvin was right. This probably wasn’t safe for them.
“I am sorry. I probably shouldn’t have come. Let me just grab my stuff and make a call and I will be out of your way. I will leave…”
Marvin grunted at the same time as Trevor stood, chair scraping back.
“The fuck you are,” Trevor growled. “You came here for a reason.”
I bit the inside of my cheek to stop the tears, I didn’t want to cry in front of Marvin. I looked away and then took a deep breath.
“I… I came here because I didn’t have anywhere else to go.” I forced myself to look Marvin in the eyes, “This was the only place I could think that I would be safe.”
The room was silent, for a moment while Marvin once again decided my fate.
“New trouble or old?” He asked.
“Possibly both.” I answered as honestly as I could.
He grunted, “Is your identity burned?”
Trevor’s attention was jumping between us.
“I think so…”
“You think or you know?” His voice was gruffer than I remembered, rougher with age.
I closed my eyes for a moment, thinking about everything Angel said… assessing how much Cypher could have found. Thinking about the things Razor had taunted me with.
Opening my eyes I took a deep breath, “I know.”
Marvin clicked his tongue in disapproval, a sound I knew too well. Then he kicked out the chair beside him and nodded to it.
“Sit, eat… and then you are going to tell us what we need to know to fix this.”
Trevor waited till I was seated before he let out a ragged breath and then turned, moving through the kitchen grabbing a few items from the stove. I let my eyes wander and noticed a slight imbalance to his gate.
Marvin must have noticed where my attention was because he grunted and shook his head, “Boy got himself blown up and medically discharged. That’s why he’s home.”
Trevor froze for a moment, his body tense over the stove. I knew enough not to push for more in front of Marvin. So I tucked that information away for later and sat at the table from the few years of my childhood that I ever felt like I had a semblance of a home.
Conversation moved back to the gym, Trevor told me they had opened it up and expanded it since he’d been home. It was now a full boxing gym and training centre.
I gave them the important information, leaving out the drama as Marv would call it, really he wanted the emotions left out and to stick to the facts. A lesson that made me really good at my job…
My job. Something that I was just coming to terms with that I may have also lost, something else I may have to leave behind. I had called and asked for an indefinite leave of absence citing a family emergency… but if Rebecca Pierce was no more…
I pushed the thought down and let myself settle into the rhythm of my past. I would need to figure out what came next, who I became next. But that could wait for tomorrow.