Total pages in book: 154
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 142664 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 713(@200wpm)___ 571(@250wpm)___ 476(@300wpm)
He wants all these people around so that when he has to go away on business, I have keepers on hand. I’m still not talking to Dad, though, even though he keeps groveling. Mom and I are cool again, especially after I had a few sessions with that nut Garrett sicced me with.
She’s helped me to understand a lot of what Mom was going through, which is way more horrific than I ever thought. I have a lot of retroactive sympathy for her and wish I’d been a better kid and not so angry at the world while her mind was working against her.
None of that made me look kindly on my father, though, because as far as I’m concerned, there is no excuse for cheating. “Ow! Why’d you tug my hair?”
“I’ve been talking to you for the last five minutes, and you’re just sitting there gazing into space.”
“What were you saying?”
“I asked if you’re talking to your Dad yet.”
“No, and stop badgering me about it.”
“What a shame. I didn’t take you for an inconsiderate person.”
“How am I being inconsiderate?”
“Don’t you find it inconsiderate to hold someone responsible for something they didn’t do?”
“What are you talking about, didn’t do? You were there; he was married to your mother for fifteen years.”
“Yeah, but it’s not like he wanted to. She schemed that whole thing.”
“It doesn’t matter. While my mother was suffering, he was out screwing someone else.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“What do you mean what I’m talking about? I’m talking about Corbin and Helen.”
“Your father never slept with Helen.”
“Maybe after the wedding, at least that’s what he’s told my mother, but I don’t know if I believe him.”
“Wait, you mean you don’t know.”
“Don’t know what?”
“Wait, does your Dad still think he slept with her that night?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Helen told me years ago. She slipped your Dad something at an office party or something like that, or they were away on a business trip. It was years ago, so I’m not too clear, but anyway, she got into his bed, and when he woke up, she convinced him that they’d done the deed. You mean he never said anything?”
“I don’t think he knows. Why did she tell you this?”
“She was drunk. She told me the whole thing. Your Dad confessed to your Mom, but when they decided to work things out, Helen threatened you and your Mom. Even at the house, he never slept in the same room as her. You never realized that they had connecting rooms?”
“I did, but… I need to throw up.” I’d barely made it to the bathroom when I heard Garrett’s voice. I wanted to hurry up and get back out there because she wasn’t lying; he’d torment her if he knew I got sick listening to her.
“Where’s my wife?”
“She went to the restroom.” I tried to keep the sounds of retching as quiet as I could, but he still heard me all the same. I felt him enter the room and kneel beside me to hold my hair and rub my back.
“Is Junior being a pain again?” I didn’t have the strength to nod my head. All I wanted was to lay on the cold floor and pass out. He disappeared and came back with a wet cloth in one hand and an ice-cold ginger ale on the other.
After he cleaned me up, I guzzled it down like water and felt better almost immediately. “Why were you looking for me?”
“Oh, I almost forgot. Two things, come with me.” He helped me up and I followed him back into the salon he’d had built on the top floor of the house.
“Look at this.” He showed me his phone, and at first, I couldn’t understand what I was looking at. A group of Indigenous people in loin cloth, tanned to perfection, just sitting around smiling for the camera.
‘Who… Is that?”
“That’s Lacey.”
“Who is that toothless man next to her?”
“That’s the tribal chief, her husband.”
“Is she…?”
“Yes, she’s pregnant.” I fell down the rabbit hole.
I just turned my head and looked at him. “She’s pregnant for that old man?”
“Yup, she’s wife number eleven.”
“Did he…?”
“No, he didn’t molest her; it was her choice. I guess she couldn’t go five years without intercourse, so she chose the next best thing. As his wife she has a certain amount of power, though it’s not much since he’s already got so many wives and grown children.”
“What about Denny? Is he dead yet?”
“Geez, I thought the kid would make you nicer. No, to answer your question. He seems to have turned over a new leaf. He’s been teaching the kids and helping build huts. I guess the beatings he got for being an ass set him straight.”
“You said there was something else.”
“Yeah, Natalie disappeared.”
“What do you mean disappeared?”
“She checked out of that facility and just… poof, gone with the wind.”