Page 143 of Voices

“…he used my body as a p-punching bag...”

Charlie’s words are lit up in neon letters behind my eyelids.

I’m going to kill his fucking dad.

My mind is spinning with question after question and I’m starting to get a headache. Has he been abused his whole life? How has Benji not noticed? And what the actual fuck happened with that teacher? How does wanting to help a little kid read go from offering aid to being blackmailed? Wouldn’t you want your kid to get as much help as possible, especially when they’re that young?

I reach for my phone on the nightstand, careful not to wake Charlie. The bright light from my screen shows that it’s a little past two thirty in the morning. I hesitate before clicking on my texts with Lily. I have no idea if she’s even awake this late the night before finals, but I can’t sleep, and if anyone knows anything about what’s going on with Charlie, it’d be her.

Me: Hey. Are you up?

I see the dots appear a second later.

Feisty Pants: You just saved me from hours of doomscrolling! I was supposed to be asleep like three hours ago!

I’d roll my eyes at her addiction to social media if I wasn’t in need of answers.

Me: Charlie told me some stuff about his past that has me ready to rage. I know you’ve known him sincehigh school and are close…do you know anything about how his dad treats him? Or about what happened when a teacher tried to help him in elementary school?

My jaw pops as I bite down on my molars, feeling the anger rise to the surface again.

Feisty Pants: Those are some loaded questions for it almost being three in the morning.

Me: Please just answer the questions. I’m not in the mood for jokes.

The dots start, then stop, then start again for almost three minutes. I catch myself shaking my leg impatiently. I move it under my opposite leg to stop the shaking before I wake Charlie.

Feisty Pants:I know his dad is the biggest asshole I’ve ever met. He’s always passive-aggressive when he’s talking to Charlie. He makes it a point to shove all his success in Charlie’s face while belittling him about his career path in art, how he’s so much different from Benji, and how he thinks Charlie’s mental health is a ploy for attention. I know his mom has A LOT of connections with “doctors” and I wouldn’t be surprised if she’s the one who got all those prescriptions filled that I saw in his bathroom. He HATES doctors, especially therapists, so I know he didn’t get those on his own.

I heard a rumor in high school about a teacher everyone loved in elementary school who just up and left one day in the middle of the school year. I hadn’t moved to Gold Ridge Valley yet, so I have no idea what really happened besides a beloved teacher leaving out of nowhere.

This only makes me hate his dad even more. I don’t know how I’m going to keep from approaching him after our game tomorrow.

He always throws a Christmas party the day after our last game of the year before break. Everyone is expected so there’s no way I can avoid going. We’re all given a plus one, so I might use it this year and bring Charlie along. I’d be spending the whole time texting him anyway. Plus, there’s going to be a shit ton of people there, so it won’t be that hard to keep him away from his dad.

Feisty Pants: I’ve had my suspicions that his dad was hurting him because Charlie would show up to school with scrapes and bruises that he didn’t have the day before. But every time I asked about them, he made up some excuse and wouldn’t talk about it anymore. I have no proof that it was his dad, just a gut feeling so I could be wrong.

Charlie wants to get as far from his parents as possible but needs the other part of his trust fund to do so. His dad has the connections to prevent him from graduating, which will make the trust fund money null and void. And yes, he will do that to his own child if he feels it’s necessary. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s used his power/influence/connections to stop Charlie from getting something he’s worked hard for.

Charlie makes a low whining noise, and I realize that I’ve tightened my arm around him. I immediately relax my arm and kiss his head in apology.

His fucking dad has moved to the top spot on my shit list. It’s going to take a fucking miracle for us to be in the same room without giving him a piece of my mind. And fist.

I slowly blow air out of my nose, calming my racing heart.

Me: Thanks Lily. I’m going to do my best to keep him from going back to that house. He doesn’t deserve to be treated like that, especially by his parents.

I contemplate telling her that itwashis dad that hurt him, but if Charlie wanted her to know, he would’ve told her by now. I’m sure he’ll tell her when he’s ready.

I’m about to close my phone when an ugly face flashes in my memory.

Me: Hey, have you ever seen a big guy at his place, about my height, with graying black hair and is about fifty pounds overweight? He reeks of cigarettes and drives a black Rolls-Royce.

Feisty Pants: Yeah. That’s Conrad, his dad’s right-hand man and business partner. He’s actually a really nice guy. I have no idea why he’s working for Franklin. We went to the same high school as his daughters but they’re the most stuck-up bitches I’ve ever met.

Nice? That asshole almost hit me with his car then choked and threatened me, not to mention what he did to Charlie’s art room.

Me: I must have met someone else. See you at the game tomorrow?

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