Rachel couldn't sleep.
In fact, sleep seemed completely trivial at the moment. She stared at her hand in the dark, lightly tracing the outline of where his hand had been.
His hand. Strong and yet gentle. Calloused and scarred, but beautiful.
Like him.
She thought back to their walk. He had been timid at first, and unsure, like he always was around her. But after a bit, he began to relax into their conversation.
"I've never seen trees like this before," he confessed.
"They're beautiful, aren't they? Flowering Pear trees. We had two columns of them lining our driveway growing up."
"In St. Charles?"
"Mmhmm. My parents still live in that house. I used to love it there..."
"Used to?"
"I used to think it was a peaceful. Now it just feels...tense."
"I'm sorry," he said quietly, his face sad.
He asked about her parents and she told him about them and her two sisters. He listened intently.
"So when I come home, I just feel a little out of place now. Everyone is on the path my parents planned out. Except for me."
He squeezed her hand gently, a sympathetic look on his face.
"Enough about me, though. Tell me about your parents."
He lifted his eyes to hers without lifting his head, then looked away almost immediately. She had noticed on more than one occasion that he had a way of looking at others with his head bent down, as if his eyes needed an escape route to the ground.
"You probably know as much as you want to know about them."
It was obvious that he didn't want to talk about it, but she couldn't help pressing a little further.
"Were they always like that?"
He was silent for so long, she was afraid he wouldn't answer. When he did, he voice was raspy and the words seemed forced.
"I...don't really remember much about my mom. She just showed up every once in a while. Didn't really talk to her 'till Drew was born."
"So you lived with your dad?"
"Yeah."
His grip on her hand tightened slightly.
"He was...he wasn't a good man. I can't remember a time when I wasn't afraid of him."
"But he's in prison now, right?"
"For now."
Rachel's throat tightened.
"But he won't be getting out anytime soon, will he?"
"He got seven years, with the possibility of parole. Last I heard, his parole hearing is set for this fall."
"What is he in for, exactly?"
Jo glanced at her, then looked down.
"Assault and battery of a minor. Possession. Child endangerment. They tried to charge him with attempted murder, but it didn't hold."
"Attempted murder? Against you?"
He nodded so slightly, she almost missed it.
"Why didn't it stick?"
YOU ARE READING
Way Down I'll Go
一般小說Jo's brothers are his world. He's spent his entire life sacrificing everything to give them the life he's never had. Having battled through a horrific childhood, his every breath is for the benefit of his brothers, who gave him a reason to live thro...
