Page 87 of Drag You Down
I wait for him to continue, and he manages a tight smile.
“She hated it,” he admits. “She regretted it. She tried not to show it, but she was chafing.” He shrugs, but the gesture is far from casual. “I guess she couldn’t stand it anymore.”
“So sheabandonedyou?” I ask. “She left you and your sister with that man who continued to abuse you?”
“It wasn’t abuse!” he bursts out fiercely. “She thought it was best for us, or she wouldn’t have left us there!”
“No!” I grip his arms. “Your mother brought you into that cult, then when it becomes too much for her, she leaves? She knew what he was doing, and she didn’t care enough to take you with her!”
He struggles against me, but I don’t release him. “What was she supposed to do with us? She already could barely take care of herself. She thought she was doing the right thing.”
Levi is lying to himself.
Over and over, he lies to protect those who have hurt him.
It makes me want to destroy them even more.
“How old were you when she left?” I ask. My fingers dig into his flesh.
He squirms. “You’re hurting me.”
I force myself to release him. He immediately slides away from me, leaving a large, empty space between us on the couch.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “But how old were you?”
At first, I don’t think he’s going to answer. The silence stretches out between us like a vast chasm.
“Sixteen,” he finally says, and while he’s trying to smile, he fails. “Eve was fourteen.”
Far too young to be left with a man like Zachariah Carpenter.
“If she’d taken you with her, you could have gotten a job,” I point out in a soft voice. “It would have been hard, but you weren’t helpless anymore. Between the two—three of you, it would have been possible.”
“She thought we were safe, I guess,” Levi says, but he sounds less convinced. More uncertain. Before I can speak, he quietly goes on, “But I guess she should’ve known that we weren’t if she didn’t feel like she was.”
“Zachariah probably went harder on both of you after she left,” I say. “To punish you for your mother’s crime.”
Levi’s expression goes blank. “He never touches Eve,” he says.
I frown. “Never?”
“No. Because she’s… she’s going to be his wife.” Levi swallows hard. “He always praises her piety.”
I stare at him, and I say, “So first he fucked your mother, and now he’s going for your sister? A woman who must be less than half his age?”
Levi’s expression stays neutral. “It’s an honor.” I’m about to lose my temper when he adds, “Or maybe it isn’t. I don’tknow, Gabriel. Daddy. It’s what she wants.”
Maybe it’s what she deserves, after how she turned on Levi.
I turn my attention back to the TV. “Then we can leave it at that.”
Levi follows my gaze to the TV, where the pastor is continuing to rant. “But I don’t want to abandon her.” He swallows hard. “She doesn’t deserve to have that happen twice.”
“Will she want to leave?” I ask seriously. “She seemed even more dedicated than you.”
“I’ll have to convince her,” he says. “I don’t know how. But she’ll have to see the truth.” He looks at me, then scoots closer to me again. “Do you think I can?”
I open my arms for him, and he seems relieved by the gesture. He slides into the space and rests his head against my chest.
