Page 63 of EverGreene
“And vice versa, honestly.”
“Yeah, I caught that, too.”
“I haven’t always had that—someone there for me when I needed them. Mom tried, but she was messed up for a while. As was I.”
“Something terrible happened, didn’t it? That’s why we’re out here?”
I nodded. “It’s also part of the reason why I don’t bring women home. They either already know, or they’ll find out later and leave me.”
“What happened, Loche?”
I exhaled, closing my eyes, willing the visions of my father’s lifeless body crumpled on our carpet, his blood staining his t-shirt, growing in area like a puddle in the rain, as his blank eyes stared up at the ceiling, and the gun remained clutched in his hand, to go away. “When I was fifteen, my father came home drunk, like he was known to do. Most nights, he would come home, stumble through the door and pass out on the couch as he pissed himself. But other times, he would come home in a fit of rage that he would take out on either Mom or me, whoever he saw first.”
“Jesus, Loche.That’s terrible.”
“It gets worse. The last night he came home from the bar, he was in a fit of rage after running into one of Mom’s ex-boyfriends there. He pulled out a gun and pointed it at her. I don’t doubt he would have pulled the trigger, murdering her, and possibly me, that night—had I not killed him first.”
Ever’s body stiffened, and I mentally prepared myself for her to run screaming from the apartment. But she stood resolute, allowing her brain to process what I’d told her. How I would give anything to know what she was thinking right now.
“I grabbed a knife from the kitchen and snuck up behind him. When I was within arm’s reach, I called his name. He turned around, and I drove the blade into his chest.”
Ever let out a shaky breath. The thought that she may be afraid of me made my stomach turn, but as fucked up as I was, maybe it would be for the best if she was. “If you want to leave, I understand.”
“What happened next?” she asked, purposely looking away from me.
“Well, long story short, it was determined to be self-defense, and I was placed in an intensive, inpatient therapy hospitalization program before being slowly reintegrated back into society and eventually back home. Conrad had a large part of that, managing to keep a lot of things hush-hush, but the public still found out about the teenage boy who murdered his father and got away with it—or so that was the narrative that was spun. Whispers still follow me around town today. They’re quieter than they used to be, but I still can’t quite shake the thought that I’m a pariah.”
“I’m so sorry,” Ever whispered, her voice cracking. She took a step back, and my heart sank at the thought that any gains I’d made with her as Loche had been wiped away by my admission.
“I’ll understand if you don’t want to share an office with a murderer. And I’m sure Sylvia would appreciate it if we weren’t in the same vicinity as each other, too. She could probably take a vacation.”
Ever scoffed. “And lose the chance to incur enough points to warrant being called back into her office for a verbal spanking? Never.”
“You’re not disgusted by me?”
“Disgusted by you? What? No.” Her eyes found mine right as a slow smile spread across her face. “I mean, not because of this, anyway.” Some of my tension began to ease, and my heart rate stabilized as much as it could when I was around Ever. “Loche, you’re not a murderer, you’re a survivor. And a hero. You saved your mother’s life.”
My legs suddenly felt gelatinous, threatening to collapse at any moment. “You’re the first person who has ever called me that.”
“Evil like that deserves to be extinguished. It was the right thing to do. I just wish I would have been brave enough to do it, too.”
This was the first time Ever had so much as hinted to me at having a dark past. I knew about it, of course. Eavesdropping on conversations. Simple online searches under the name of her ex provided clues to the living hell she’d been through. But the fact that she was telling me herself? Fuck, this was huge.
“What happened, if you don’t mind me asking?” I asked her, noticing her eyes already had a faraway look in them.
“I don’t mind. I just don’t like to talk about it much, but since you trusted me enough with your secret, the least I can do is let you in on one of mine.
“This isn’t a quid pro quo scenario. You don’t have to tell me anything.”
She looked up at me. “I know, but maybe it will make mefeel better to talk about it with someone before it festers inside me any longer.”
I held out my arms, miming my desire to bring her back into me as a gust of wind tore through our bodies, sucking the air from Ever’s lungs. She nodded her consent, and I pulled her in closer to me.
“Like I said inside, my sperm donor took off and ditched my mom when I was young, leaving her to fend for herself with no job and a kid to take care of. This led to her clinging to the first man she could find to take on her and her baggage, only to scramble to find his replacement when he bailed. She’d stay with them for as long as she could, trying to keep a roof over both of our heads while depression took hold, causing her to medicate herself with alcohol and opioids. I think that’s why I adhered to Travis when he came into the picture.”
I raged internally upon hearing the name of the man whose mugshot I’d studied, imagining all the ways I would rearrange his smug face if I ever saw him in person.
“At first, Travis seemed like a good guy, but I think that was just because I was used to the shitbags my mother shacked up with. So, when a guy was somewhat nice to me, I put him on a pedestal. It also didn’t help that Travis’s parents are loaded. He was my survival. A way out of poverty and to be seen as someone special for once.”
