Alexa ↠ Corbyn Besson

Thirty-Eight

Announcement to reader:
This chapter very briefly mentions some topics that may be sensitive to you (sexual abuse, drugs, etc). Nothing goes into detail, it is just a breif one or two sentences. You can skip this chapter of you want, but it is a very important chapter for the rest of the book and is a necessity in order for the rest of the book to flow and make sense.

Xxx - emma

August 16th

I was laying on my bed and Corbyn was laying on the bean bag chair, tossing a ping pong ball in the air and catching it.

"Ashley has been dying to go back to the mall with you since Monday," Corbyn said. "I guess I’m not cool enough to hang out with her anymore."

I laughed and continued sketching. "I had a lot of fun with her."

"I know that she said something about us having family issues," he said. He sat up more in the bean bag and faced more towards me.

"I didn't think to much about it," I shrugged, clearly lying.

"Listen, I know that this whole hood thing is eating you alive."

"No, not at all. I'm used to it."

"No, you're not."

"Okay, I'm not. But I get that you don't want to tell me why and I can respect that."

"I'm ready."

"What?"

"I'm ready to tell you why I wear a hood."

"Corbyn, you don't have to."

"I know. Really I know. But I owe something to the person who's been there for me."

"You could buy me ice cream and that would be enough."

"No, it wouldn't." Corbyn moved off the bean bag and onto my bed. "I don't know where to start," he said after a moment, "so I guess I'll just start at the beginning."

-

"When I was little, it was me, Jordan, Ashley, our mom, and our dad. We had a really good life. We lived in California. We went to school, had friends over, played sports, whatever we wanted. Mom and dad were both home in the evenings, and they both went to work in the mornings. Then, when I was 10, mom started to come home later. Dad would have to pick us up from school and mom wouldn’t get home until there was just enough time to shower and eat, then she went to bed. Sometimes she wouldn't get home until we were already asleep. Dad would do everything. Cook, clean, take us to and from places, bills, everything.

One night, I was up playing video games when I heard the front door open and shut. I heard mom and dad talking and then they got louder. They weren't yelling, but I could hear them more clearly. Dad was yelling at her about how he was doing everything and she was never there. I heard foot steps coming closer to my room so I ran into bed and pretended to be asleep. That is the night I started to realize what was happening to our family.

About a year after we started to not see mom at all. If we were lucky she would be making some coffee when we would get up for school in the morning, but she wouldn't say a word to us and just went back upstairs.

When I was almost thirteen she started to come around again. She would pack up our stuff in the morning, cook dinner every night, help up with our homework. She even took us to and from school. She started to pay more attention to me though, not Ash or Jordan. She would always tell me that she loved me, and would always put me first. Then, one night, Ash and Jordan were both staying at their friends' houses, and Dad was working a night shift. This started to become more regular, and so she started taking me to work with her. She was a drug dealer.

I would stay in the car and she would do her thing, always coming back with a stack of cash in exchange for a few bags. 'Always ask for more initially, that way if they bargain they think they're getting a deal when really its just as overpriced as the first number was.' She told me that the first night she took me with her. I started using it to my advantage. If I wanted ten more minutes to play video games, I would ask for 20, and I usually ended up with fifteen. If I wanted two slices cake, I would ask for three.

But she always said that if I told a single person about what her job was, she'd kill me. Not dad, not Ash, Jordan, or any of my friends. If anybody asked questions as to where we went, we just had to make a quick run to the store. I didn't ask why, but I was always confused as to why. I mean, we all knew that she worked, so why couldn't anyone know what she did.

I wish I could go back to those days. The days where I just sat in the car and that was that. No questions were asked and since we all went to private school with ten year olds who acted like they were thirty, I never knew what happened at night. Nobody ever opened my eyes to it except my mom.

Drug dealer, prostitute, you name it and she did it. If she was gone for ten minutes she would come back with $200. If she was gone for an hour, I couldn't count that high."

Corbyn stopped talking for a minute. He had already cried and downed a glass of water, but I knew that this part was hard for him. I reached over and grabbed his hand, giving him an encouraging squeeze. "It's all in the past, just remember that. You can't change it, but you don't have to go through it again. You can stop if you want."

Corbyn shook his head. "No, I need to say this."

"I asked her if I could have some of the money, one night. She made so much and I just wanted $20 for a new video game. She thought about it for a minute and said that if I wanted it, I had to work for it. I thought that she meant chores, but she said that all I had to do was go with the person she said and not complain, and do what they said. That was all. I knew what sex was, but I was always taught that it was between and male and a female, not two- not two males.

But I made more money than she did sometimes, so it was okay. She hid the money from everybody else and that’s how it worked until I was fifteen. It was March, and I complained. I complained one time in over a year and she was pissed. Dad found out that she was taking me with her to work, and he left. Packed up everything and left. He said that he would be back and would come and get us, but he never did.

Then, Jordan woke me up one night and told me to pack my bags. Mom was gone and we were leaving, but I had to hurry. So we did. Clothes and anything we wanted to keep was thrown into suitcases and bags and we loaded up into his truck and left. We never went back.

You can only imagine how pissed she was. Within a month she had found out where we lived and would come every night and try to get me to go with her to work. She only saw me as extra cash in her pocket.

We packed up and moved again, this time to Texas. That is where I met Christina. She was my everything. But the closer we got the more strange she started to act. She finally told me that notes were being left on her window. She found a nanny cam in her room, and we swore up and down that we would find the person who was doing this.

One day, me, Christina, and a few other people were at the mall. It was closing and we were about the last ones in the parking lot. Everyone of them was shot. Every, single one of them except for me. I called 911 and the police took reports. I told them about my mom and how she was. I knew it was her. Deep down I knew because I was the only one that walked away without a scratch.

Everyone lived, though. They are all completely okay now, but they were all shot in the exact same spot. If that spot had been an inch more to the left, then they all would have died instantly.

Two years ago we moved here. I decided that if I didn't get close to anybody, then nobody would get hurt. I needed a way to hide my face, so I chose a hood. And that is what I've been wearing since. Hoodies one sixe to big to hide as much of my face as I could. At first I was careless with it, but then it hit me like a load of bricks, and I knew I needed keep everything a secret. No getting close with anyone, no showing my identity, no talking, no leaving the house unless necessary. Any social media that I have, I change my name. That is my life. Nobody knows except for Jordan, Ashley, and you. And I need to keep it that way, Alexa. I don't care if I become the most famous man in the world, nobody else can know. Promise me that you won't let me tell anybody else. Promise me."

"I promise."

🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊

I still don't know how I feel about this chapter and idk why but I'm uploading it.
I'm sorry for the lack of detail. I know it makes it sound like Corbyn is going through it in one big breath and with no emotion, but if i break it up any more it doesnt sound good and gets repetitive, so just use your imagination :)

The waves are still slanted, but if you put them in italics they are a little less slanted

Without:
🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊
With:
🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊🌊