Chapter Twelve

Kevin awoke to early morning sunlight peeking in through the thick curtains. He yawned and blinked, looking around. His eyes came to rest on Christy, curled up beside him, one arm thrown possessively across his chest. He smiled and pulled her closer.

She stirred and slowly opened her eyes.

“Morning,” she whispered.

“Morning.”

“Did you sleep well?”

“Uh huh. You know what? I haven’t slept this well in ages. I felt. . . safe last night. Thank you.”

"No problem.”

She rested her cheek against his chest, loving the feel of his heartbeat tapping softly on her face.

“What time is it?” she wondered.

Kevin raised his arm to read his watch. “Just after eight. Think we should get up?”

“Maybe. I should go check on Chad.”

Christy forced herself to sit up and she pushed the covers back, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

“I’ll be right back.”

Kevin waved as she walked over to the door and pulled it open. He instantly sat up when he saw his mother standing in the hallway.

“Ann!” Christy exclaimed in surprise.

Kevin silently groaned, already hearing the lecture his mother would surely give him.

“Good morning,” Ann greeted them, a slight smile tugging at her lips. “Chad is downstairs eating breakfast. I just came up to see if you’d like to join him.”

“We’ll be right down, Mom,” Kevin called out, scurrying out of the bed. He nearly tripped over his shoes, but quickly steadied himself. He could feel the hot blush that was creeping from his ears all the way down to his neck.

There’s nothing worse than getting busted by your mom! he thought.

Ann went back downstairs and Christy closed the door, smacking her forehead.

“I hope she doesn’t think badly of me,” she groaned.

“She would never think badly of you. You’re like a daughter to her, have been since we were kids,” Kevin said, coming over to hug her. “You’ve got nothing to worry about.”

Christy suddenly became serious. “I have plenty to worry about, Kevin. Like how my son is going to cope with being the victim of physical abuse. We have to go to the police station today and talk to someone. I don’t know if I can do that. I don’t know if Chad can do it.”

Kevin felt her shoulders start to shake and he hugged her tighter.

“You and Chad are incredibly strong people, you’ll get through this. And I’ll be right there to help you. Today will be okay.”

“God, I hope you’re right,” she sighed.

“Betcha five bucks I am,” Kevin teased.

Christy giggled and nudged him. “Are you ready to go downstairs?”

“After you.”

“Are you just being polite, or are you scared of your mother?” Christy questioned.

Kevin gave her a toothy grin before replying, “I’m terrified of my mother.”

Chad gulped hard and looked up at the huge brick building before him. He didn’t want to go in there. He didn’t want to tell anyone his story. He didn’t want anyone to know what had happened. Shame and guilt filled him, even though Kevin kept saying there was nothing for him to be ashamed or guilty of. Kyle was the one with the problem, not him, and Kyle had to be punished.

He suddenly felt a strong hand drop down onto his shoulder, and for a split second, panic hit him.

“It’s okay, Chad,” Kevin said in a soothing voice. “It’s just me.”

Chad swallowed again.

“I’m ready to go inside now.”

Kevin looked to Christy, who appeared absolutely terrified, and took her hand in his. Then he nodded at Chad and the trio entered the building. They stopped to see the desk sergeant and asked to speak to whoever was handling the Kyle Bloomfield arrest.

Detective Troy Summers came out to see them a minute later. He was a friendly looking man of about thirty-five, married and with three children of his own. He shook hands with everyone and then took them to his private office and closed the door.

“Coffee? Tea? Soda?” he offered.

They all declined, and he sat down in his chair. Chad watched as he pulled a small tape recorder from a drawer and set it on top of the desk. He pressed the record button and leaned back, folding his hands over his chest.

“Whenever you’re ready, son,” he said.

There was no sound in the room for a full minute as Chad struggled to find his voice. He kept glancing at his mother, as if expecting to see hate or disgust on her face. He knew this was hurting her, and he hated to be the cause of it.

Finally, he cleared his throat and began.

Kevin listened to Chad tell them about Kyle’s mood swings and short temper. His jaw twitched with each account of Kyle’s punches or slaps. Even though he’d heard most of this the day before, it was still insane to Kevin how anyone could forcefully hurt an innocent child.

By the time Chad was done, Christy was in tears. Detective Summers handed her a box of tissues. Chad got up from his chair and went over to her, wrapping his arms around her and apologizing over and over for ruining everything.

“It’s not your fault, baby,” she said, wiping her eyes. “It’s mine. Mine for not seeing what he was doing to you, to us. Can you ever forgive me?”

Chad’s mouth nearly hit the floor. “Forgive YOU? You didn’t do anything wrong!”

“I didn’t protect you!” Christy cried. “I should have known something was wrong, and I should have stopped it!”

Detective Summers stopped his tape recorder.

“Ma’am, as ugly as it sounds, this happens all the time. Children are scared into silence by their abuser because they believe it’s the only thing that will keep the people they love safe. You not knowing what was going on doesn’t make you any less of a mother. The fact that you’re here, right now, proves that you do indeed love and care for your son,” he said.

Christy absorbed the detective’s words and felt better. “Thank you.”

They were there for another hour or so, with Christy telling Summers about Kyle’s drinking. Kevin told him more about what happened the night before. He asked if Kyle was pressing charges against him for punching him.

Chad stared curiously at Kevin as he asked. He hadn’t heard anything about that.

“No, he’s not going to do that, he knows he probably wouldn’t win anything anyway,” Summers told him.

Their statements were typed up and all three of them signed them. Charges were filed against Kyle and Summers promised to call them when a court date was set.

“He knows he’s not going to get out of this, so he’ll probably just take the sentence and that’s that,” Summers said. “You probably won’t even have to testify since he’s confessed.”

“Thank God,” Christy and Chad breathed in unison.

Detective Summers thanked them for coming in and then they left. As they stepped out into the midday sunshine, Kevin realized it must be nearly lunchtime.

“Anyone hungry?” he asked, pulling his keys from his jeans pocket.

“I am,” Chad confessed, placing a hand on his stomach.

“Christy?”

“I could use something greasy.”

“Greasy, eh? You’re starting to sound like AJ,” Kevin chuckled, leading the way to the car.

He unlocked the doors and everyone got inside.

“Where to?”

“McDonald’s,” Chad said.

“Burger King,” Christy said.

“Hmm. How about both?”

Christy laughed. “You’re so eager to please, aren’t you?”

“Guilty.”

They stopped at McDonald’s first, then went to a nearby Burger King where Christy and Kevin ordered. He then took them to a park. They found a picnic table and all sat down to eat.

Chad sat across from his mother and Kevin, quietly chewing his food and sneaking glances at them. He watched Kevin run his fingers over his mom’s hand and brush a strand of hair away from her face. They were completely foreign signs of affection to him. Kyle had never done that.

He chewed thoughtfully on a french fry and finally gathered up the courage to ask them something.

“Um, are you two, uh, gonna be together now?”

Christy froze and Kevin set down his burger.

“We’re going to try to stay in touch more than before,” he answered slowly. “I have to go back to Orlando in a couple days, but I’ll come back to visit, and I’ll call often. Is this okay with you?”

Chad nodded rapidly. “It’s great! I mean, I like you, Kevin. You make my mom smile.”

Kevin turned his head to gaze at Christy for a moment. “That’s good, I love her smile.”

Christy blushed. “Chad, Kevin and I would like to start a relationship, but we’re going to take things slowly, all right? No jumping into anything we can’t handle.”

“Got it. But, Mom?”

“Yes?”

“I think you can handle it.”