He fed her until she couldn’t eat any more. Then he started eating his own food. “What happened if you broke the rules?”
“When I was younger, she’d usually lock me in my room. Often without food. This was before I was diagnosed with diabetes. Although once, after I was diagnosed, she forgot and locked me up. My blood sugar got so low I nearly went into a diabetic coma. I nearly died.”
“How old were you?” he asked in an oddly calm voice.
“Fourteen. After that, she punished me in other ways.”
“Like what?”
She chewed at her bottom lip, worriedly. “I don’t know if I should tell you.”
While he sounded and looked calm, she could see a tic going by his right eye. He wasn’t as calm as he was attempting to pretend to be.
“Oh, that means you should very much tell me.”
“She’d get mad. Stop giving me money for my books.”
“That’s not all of it, though, is it?”
“No,” she said quietly.
“What did she do when she was upset with you, Mari-girl?”
“She’d yell. Call me names.”
“That all?”
She shook her head. She really didn’t think she should tell him.
“What else, teeny?” he pressed.
“She’d slap me sometimes,” she whispered.
He went still. She’d kind of expected for him to get angry. Lose his temper. But he’d almost turned to stone under her lap.
Finally, he let out a breath, closing his eyes as he pressed his lips together.
“Are yo
u okay?” she asked.
“Okay?” he repeated. “No, pretty sure I’m not okay. You were given into your aunt’s care. By what you’ve said, she’s been neglectful as well as emotionally and physically abusive.”
“She’s never really hit me,” she protested.
He opened his eyes and stared at her incredulously. “What do you call slapping you?”
Damn it. It didn’t matter how she tried to deny it, he was right.
“She basically told you to give Tiger whatever he wanted.”
“I know,” she whispered. “I guess it’s just hard to know that the one person you have left, your only family, cares nothing about you. I think that’s part of the reason I stuck around. I told myself it was because of my diabetes and not wanting to be without insurance. But I also think it’s because she’s all I have. What would I do if I left? Where would I go? I have no money. I have no one. I don’t know how to make friends. I don’t have family. I was scared.”
“Oh, baby.” His face softened.
He wrapped his arms around her, holding her securely. “You’re not alone anymore, little one. You don’t have to put up with that bitch anymore. I’m here. If you want me, I’ll be here for you as your man and your Daddy. Do you think that’s something you might want? Are you interested in more than friendship with me?”
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