Song of the chapter: Six Feet Under by Billie Eilish
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MADDOX'S breathing seized once he spoke his past aloud.
"He was a good father in the beginning, always taking us to the fair and complimenting my mom all the time. He used to take me for ice cream and he used to take my mom out on dates every week. He was a good man," he said, his breath hitching at the thought of how things once were.
He closed his eyes and sighed, "Then suddenly he wasn't. His business wasn't doing its best and the stress took over. He was a shell of the father I once had. He was bankrupt and he fell into the wrong crowd. A crowd of people who could've taken absolutely everything from him, but instead of them ruining him, he ruined himself."
Evelyn put her hand on his own, and he relaxed slightly. It was her encouragement for him to keep going.
Maddox thought back to how his father fell in love with the life of that crowd, a life of violence and misogyny and pain. His father changed and suddenly he wasn't nice. He stopped taking him for ice cream and his mom out for dates. Maddox would squeeze his ears shut, hoping to shut out the sounds of his father hitting his mom.
"He hit her Evelyn," he quietly managed to say after moments of absolute silence. "He would hit her and–– and he wo––– and he would touch her in ways she didn't want to be touched."
He didn't want to go any further, having to remember those things. He didn't want to relive it all.
Evelyn quickly moved to be closer to him, making herself comfortable on his lap. She rushed to put her arms around him, squeezing as hard as she could before the tears started trickling down her face.
"I understand," she quietly whispered, telling him that she knew exactly what he was trying to say. Although she meant to stay strong for him, she cried.
He immediately wrapped his arms around her, hating the fact that she was crying.
"Hey hey," he quietly coaxed kissing her temple, "It's okay. It was a long time ago, I'm fine now. You don't have to worry about me."
She cried harder as his words registered in her mind. She pulled away a little to look at his face before she brought him close to her chest, kissing the top of his head.
"Time doesn't heal wounds," she managed to mumble in the midst of the tears running down her face.
He knew she had more to say and so he stayed quiet, for once not wanting to try being brave and strong. He chose not to pipe up and throw her statement aside. Instead, he chose to let her logic overpower his reasons because he knew that if there was anyone who could be the most truthful about pain and emotion, it would be no one else but Evelyn.
