Page 34 of Mending Fate

“Fuck.” Soleil opened her eyes, and I saw the sheen of tears. “Kaitlyn’s my roommate, so I thought it’d be her.”

I pulled my chair closer to the bed and sat down. “You wanted Kaitlyn to be the one to find you?”

“I figured she could handle it.” Soleil looked down at her arms. “No restraints?”

“I told them you wouldn’t try anything if I was here,” I said. “You can talk to me, you know. Let me help you.”

Until meeting Soleil, I’d never realized how hard it was to do nothing. I wanted her to confide in me, tell me what happened so I could figure out how to fix it, or at least help her get through it. But she was quiet for several long minutes, and I thought we were back to where we’d been before, with her refusing to talk to me.

“My mom’s boyfriend, Clyde, is a cop.”

I froze, feeling like if I moved wrong, she’d close up again.

“We’ve been sneaking around for more than a year. That’s why I thought I was pregnant before.”

I couldn’t breathe. I’d known when I’d bought the pregnancy test for Soleil that an adult might have been the potential father, but her mother’s boyfriend, who also happened to be a cop? Fuck. My hands curled into fists. When I left here, I was going to find the son of a bitch and cut his fucking balls off.

“He didn’t rape me,” Soleil said quickly. “I wanted to do it.”

“It doesn’t matter if you wanted to,” I explained gently. “You’re underage, and he’s an adult. A cop. He knows better.”

She wiped the tears from her cheeks. “I never had no one want me except him. My mom’s other boyfriends wanted her to get rid of me. They never wanted me around. Clyde wasn’t like that. The three of us would go places, and he’d call us ‘his girls.’”

I changed my mind. I wasn’t going to simply cut his balls off. I was going to take everything and force it down his throat. That sounded much better than my original plan.

“After Mom went away, I snuck out to see him a couple times, and I kept waiting for him to tell me I could move in with him, but he didn’t. I went to see him the day after I tried to steal that pregnancy test. I thought he loved me.” Soleil’s voice cracked, and new tears spilled down her cheeks.

“Oh, sweetie.” I gave her hand a gentle squeeze.

“When I got to his place, I saw him with some woman. They were standing in front of his door, kissing.”

I hated this man more with every passing second.

“Wednesday, I cut school to go see him. I wanted him to explain why he was with her. Why he didn’t want me anymore.”

I really didn’t want to hear what came next because I had a feeling this was what led to Soleil’s condition when I’d found her in front of my door Thursday night.

“He told me it hadn’t meant anything. Just like how my mom hadn’t. He said he only wanted me. After…” She dashed away the tears and took a deep breath. “After we were done, I asked him if I could come live with him now. He asked how much I wanted it. I said I’d do anything, so he called some of his friends and said if I…if I made them happy, he’d think about it. I didn’t want to. I told them no. They didn’t care. And then he told them to dump me somewhere because he didn’t want something…used.”

“Fuck, Soleil…” I closed my eyes, attempting to block the pain of her words.

“Anyway, that’s why I did it. Tried to off myself. Mom’s in prison and probably doesn’t give a damn about what happened to me. She never liked how much time Clyde spent with me. Probably say I deserved it. So, she don’t want me and he don’t want me. No one will after…” She shrugged, turning her face away from me. “What’s left for me now?”

“I’m so sorry that happened to you. None of this is on you. It’s on them. They’re the ones who’re wrong.” I struggled to keep back my own tears. “You are an amazing young woman, and I promise you, there are people who love you unconditionally. You’re not alone. I will help you get through this.”

And I’d make that fucking bastard pay for what he did.

Nineteen

Alec

In the past,Keli had sent me pictures of Evanne in her costumes and a couple pictures of her while trick-or-treating. I’d never been a part of the process.

It was quite entertaining, actually. Especially since Evanne hadn’t been able to decide on just one costume when I’d taken her shopping yesterday. Now that Keli was here, Evanne insisted on modeling each costume for both of us and having us decide which one she should wear.

“Which one?” Evanne asked as she twirled, her shiny skirt billowing out around her. “Princess, cheetah, or ninja?”

“That’s quite the range you have there,mo chride,” I said with a chuckle.