Change Me | CB

XXIII

Sunday Afternoon, 7th of November

Amaya

          I watched Christopher walk into my room, us both taking time to freshen up after having just woken up. I took notice of Christopher's puffy eyes as he crawled back onto my bed and slipped under the covers. He laid down and I copied, laying down next to him as I pulled the covers back up so that it came up to our chests.

          "Christopher, I want you to trust me. I'm not here to hurt you or...or judge you. I'm here to listen and help you. Please talk to me. You don't have to tell me everything, just tell me what you want to. I need to know who you are so that I can understand you. I want you to feel safe with me." I spoke in a quiet voice, listening closely to Christopher's steady breathing.

          I felt Christopher shift a little as he lay next to me. He stayed silent for a while and I did too, not wanting to rush him into anything since he was extremely vulnerable right now. He was in a state that I'd never witnessed and although I've dealt with many other people in this state, he was different. I didn't know how he'd act or what he'd do. I just needed to give him time to open up to me on his own.

          "It's a long story." His voice was really quiet but the house was just as quiet as he was, allowing me to hear him clearly.

          "We have all the time in the world and we're in no rush." I replied and soon after, I heard Christopher sigh.

          "Well, I'm 29 now and technically, everythin' started from when I was born but the real problems of it all started back when I was 15. My childhood was a lil' messed up. My parents got divorced and my mother got herself a boyfriend a lil' while after they separated. He was cool at the start. Buyin' me and my sister toys and shit. My sister's name is Lytrell. She older than me by 6 years. Anyways, this dude started off nice and then out of nowhere, he just. . .he started bein' abusive to my mother. There was some days where he was abusive to my sis' and I but mainly my mother. Obviously at my age, I thought it was normal that a man. . .uh, ya' know, h-hit his girlfriend." He paused a bit and I only nodded, now knowing that he'd had a rough upbringing.

          "I'm sorry." I whispered, Christopher only nodded in acknowledgement. My mind was also in slight shock at the fact that Christopher had an older sister.

          "So, after a while of puttin' up wit' his shit, my mother left him and got a restrainin' order. She neva' wanted to get into a relationship after that and well, that made me the man of the house. My mother was strugglin' to pay bills and my sister was doin' her best to help her by also gettin' a job and still, they couldn't make ends meet. As I got older, I made more friends, the bad kind. They started to tell me 'bout how much money they was gettin' and I wanted to get some too, which taught me 'bout stealin'. I robbed a couple shops, was never caught and tricked my mother into believin' that I had a part time job. Basically, that lasted until I got to high school. I got a proper job and stopped stealin' for a while. Anyways, when I. . .uh, when I was in high school, I met this girl. Her name was Robyn. We, uh were friends for a bit but we started datin' and ya' know, everythin' was goin' fine." My stomach churned, immediately getting a bad feeling as Christopher's voice turned more serious.