500 Days (54 page)

“
Don’t be so sure of
that.”

Now I was scared. I thought quickly and
jumped out of the car, running to the driver side. I yanked open
the door. She looked at me funny. “Hop over,” I gestured to the
passenger seat. She didn’t argue and did as I asked. “I’m taking
you home.” She didn’t speak as I maneuvered the car out of the
parking lot and down the street. I thought she would feel better if
she talked to me at her place, where she was more comfortable, or
so I hoped.

I cut the engine off and turned to her. “You
don’t have to talk about it now, but you do have to tell me what’s
going on. I can’t help you Alex unless you talk to me.”

“
It’s nothing you can
fix.” She wouldn’t even look at me and I had never been so scared
in my life. She opened the car door and got out. I followed her
inside. She didn’t slam the door in my face or try to make up any
excuses for me to leave so I took it as a good sign. She went
straight for the fridge and grabbed two beers, handing me one. Then
she reached up into the cabinet and pulled down a bottle of
tequila. She popped the cap and poured herself a shot. She slammed
the glass down on the counter and closed her eyes. I sat down on
one of the stools, bracing myself in case my legs gave
out.

Alex grabbed another shot glass, filling it
to the brim and pushed it in front of me. “You might need
this.”

I pushed it back. “I prefer to have a clear
head.”

“
Humor me, please.” I
hesitantly took the shot, placing the glass gently back on the
table. Alex lifted her beer, taking a few gulps before meeting my
eyes. I was sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to hear what she
had to say. I knew I couldn’t rush her. I knew I had to wait for
her to start talking but the suspense was killing me.

“
Alex, you need to talk to
me. I’m kind of freaking out here.”

“
Sorry,” she said,
fighting back the tears. She turned her back to me, wiping at her
face. I heard her take a breath and watched as her head slightly
dipped back. She was trying to compose herself. I waited patiently
until she turned around. “I guess you pretty much figured out I
don’t like to talk about my parents.” I nodded not sure if she
wanted me to answer or not. “There’s a reason for that. I was
hoping to avoid this as long as possible, but after seeing your dad
tonight. I can no longer hide it.”

I didn’t understand where she was going with
this, but I let her continue. She poured herself another shot, took
it, and closed her eyes. “My dad died when I was eight. He was
murdered…by my mom and I was there. We all were.” She opened her
eyes and looked at me. I didn’t know what to say and I could tell
she wasn’t finished.

“
When I saw your dad
tonight, I panicked, afraid he would tell you everything. That’s
why I ran out of the room.”

“
Wait, what does my dad
have to do with this?”

“
Your dad was the one who
convicted my mom. He’s the reason she’s in jail right
now.”

“
Alex, your mom killed
your dad. That’s the reason she’s in jail.” I in no way intended to
defend my father in any way, but I couldn’t let her live a lie.
Believe in something that wasn’t true.

“
No,” she shook her head,
trying to steady her breath. I could see her hands shaking. I
wanted to reach out and hold her, but I knew she would only pull
away. “There was a surprise witness. She lied Casper, and that’s
why my mom is in jail.”

“
Alex, you need to give me
something else to go on here because everything points back to your
mom killed your dad, end of story.”

“
If it was only that
easy,” she sighed.

This time I did get up. I walked around the
small island and wrapped my arms around her. I could feel her
resisting at first. I pressed a soft kiss to her forehead, pulling
back. “Alex, you can tell me anything. If you need more time, I can
wait. I’m in no rush and I’m not going anywhere. You can’t scare me
off that easily.” She tried to smile but I knew it was forced. She
pulled herself away and grabbed another beer from the fridge.

“
It will probably be
easier if I told you the whole story, starting from the
beginning.”

“
That would help.” I
leaned on the counter, staying as close to her as I
could.

“
My dad was a
schizophrenic. It was never an issue if he took his meds.” That, I
did not see coming. I stood up, making Alex recoil slightly.
“There’s a big misconception about schizophrenia. People tend to
shy away from the unknown, but not my mom.” At the memory of her
mother Alex smiled, a real, genuine smile. “When my dad was
diagnosed the first thing my mom did was sit us all down and
explain to us what was going on. She didn’t want us to be afraid of
our own dad.”

“
Why would you be afraid
of him?”

She gripped the bottle of her beer, tensing.
“In the beginning, before we understood what was happening, my dad
would have what the doctor called ‘episodes’. He would go on random
fits, rambling. He attacked my mom, yelling at her because the
kitchen was a mess. It wasn’t pretty.

“
She stuck by his side and
helped him through his struggle. My mom never gave up on anybody.”
Alex looked down at her fingers, fidgeting with the label on her
beer. “That night, my dad came after Jaxson and me. I remember it
as if it was yesterday. Jack had just graduated high school and was
out at a party. Jasper was in his room and Jacob was sleeping. My
mom had just put Jaxson and I to bed, she was reading us a story
when my dad came home, belligerent.” Alex peeled back the label,
tearing it into tiny pieces. I put my hand on her shoulder and she
flinched, taking a step away from me.

“
My mom told us to go to
sleep and rushed down the stairs to see what was going on. He
snapped. I crawled into Jaxson’s bed when I heard glass breaking.
Then my dad came barging into our room screaming that we weren’t
clean. I didn’t understand why he was saying that and tried to
explain to him that mom gave us a bath. He took me first, dragging
me into the bathroom and filling the tub. I was too frightened to
move. He left and when he came back he had Jaxson. He threw him on
the floor and insisted we had to be clean. Jaxson started crying.
So my dad went after him first. He told him he didn’t have to cry
anymore. He was going to make it all better.”

Alex placed her palms flat
on the table, needing a moment. “Alex, you can stop if you want.
Do
you need a break?”

“
No, I’m fine,” she
insisted, stepping further away from me. Catching her breath, she
continued. “He picked Jaxson up and forced him into the tub and
then he came after me next. I screamed and cried, begging him to
stop, but he just kept repeating that we were dirty. He forced our
heads under the water. He was drowning us. Jasper heard the
commotion and came to see what was going on. When he found us, he
pushed our dad aside. My dad screamed, shoving Jasper into the
wall. I remember that first breath felt like my last.” Tears
streamed down her face but she pushed on.

“
Jasper jumped right back
up, attacking our dad. He screamed at us to run. Jaxson pulled me
out of the tub, but Jasper was only fifteen and not strong enough
to hold our dad. He managed to hold him off long enough for us to
get downstairs where I found our mom lying unconscious on the
floor. Blood was dripping from her head. I shook her over and over
again, begging her to wake up. She sat up gasping, her eyes wide
and frantic. Instinctively she pulled Jaxson and me into her.
‘
It’s okay, everything is going to be
okay,
’ she whispered over and over again.
My dad stood in the kitchen, his lip busted open. My mom jumped up
and shoved us behind her. My dad advanced on my mom and she told us
to run, but I refused. I didn’t want to leave her alone. Jaxson was
dragging me out by my arm. I was able to slip free. I reached for
one of the knives on the counter and jumped in front of my mom to
protect her. I didn’t mean to do it. It was an accident. He came at
us so fast I didn’t have time to react. The blade pierced his
stomach.” She looked down at her trembling hands as if she could
still see the blood on them. “He stumbled backwards. My mom
scrambled to get us out of the room. My dad ripped the knife out of
his gut and swung at my mom, cutting her arm, but she didn’t dare
scream.”

“
He grabbed her by the
back of her hair and held the knife to her throat. I had never been
so terrified in my life.” She was shaking uncontrollably. I was
just about to ask her to stop when she started again. “Jack saved
us. He still never told us why he came back to the house but lucky
for us he did or my dad would have killed our mom and us. He
knocked our dad out and caught our mom before she fell to the
floor, but her first instinct was to get us to safety. She told
Jack to get us all out of the house and call 911. Jack did as she
obeyed. First Jaxson and me and then Jacob and Jasper. Then Jack
went back into the house. I knew I should have stayed in the car. I
knew I should have listened to Jasper, but I just had to make sure
my mom was okay. I ran back into the house where I found my mom
standing over my dad, knife in hand. There was blood everywhere. He
was still breathing, but barely. Jack was in the corner, knocked
out. I ran to my mom. She dropped the knife and hugged me so tight
I couldn’t breathe. She asked me what I was doing and I told her I
couldn’t leave her.

“
She hugged me again. My
dad sat up, ripping her from my arms. I flew back to the floor. He
had her pinned down, hands around her throat. I panicked and ran
upstairs to my parent’s room. I found my dad’s gun and ran back
downstairs. I aimed the gun at my dad and shot, but I missed. The
blast woke up Jack. My dad whipped his head around and leapt for
me, knocking the gun out of my hand. The only thing I remember
next, were the gun shots. I scurried out of the way before he fell
on me. I looked up to see my mom take the gun from Jack’s
hand.”

“
Jack killed your dad?”
She nodded, unable to speak. “There’s a whole lot of this not
making any sense. If Jack killed your dad then why is your mom in
jail? From what it sounds like it was self-defense.”

“
It was, but your dad was
a better lawyer than what we could afford. See, my mom made us
swear to tell the cops it was her who shot my dad. Jack was
eighteen and could be legally tried as an adult. She didn’t want to
risk him going to jail. She wiped his finger prints off the gun and
told him to take me outside and wait for the cops to
arrive.”

“
I still don’t understand
how your mom was convicted.”

“
The jury didn’t believe
in her self-defense plea. My mom didn’t want us to relive the
nightmare through a trial so we were never put on the stand. She
wouldn’t even let Jack speak up in her defense. The multiple stab
wounds and gunshots didn’t help either and without our testimonies
the jury swung in favor of the prosecutor.”

“
She has a hearing in a
few months and I’m going to try and appeal her case. She doesn’t
deserve to be there, Cas. She was just protecting us.” This time
when I reached for her, she didn’t pull away.

“
I’m so sorry you had to
go through all of that.”

“
My dad wasn’t a bad man,
but he was sick. We still don’t know why he stopped taking his
meds. I hate the fact that my mom is sitting in a jail cell for
protecting herself and her children. It wasn’t her
fault.”

“
What about the other
incidents? From before he was diagnosed.”

“
What do you mean?” She
pulled back, wiping her face.

“
Was there any evidence of
the previous attacks?”

“
No, my mom never reported
them. She said our family issues were no one’s business. We never
knew it would have ended this way. She thought she could help him
and save our family.”

“
Sounds like she
did.”

“
But look at the cost.”
She walked away, turning her back to me. “I understand if you want
to leave. I won’t hold you at fault for walking away.”

I raced to her side,
spinning her around. “Alex, you really think I would walk out on
you for this?” Her lip trembled and it took everything in my body
not to break something. If I had the power I would bring her dad
back to life and kill him all over again for causing her so much
pain. I cupped her face in my hands, swiping at her tears with my
thumbs. “Alex, I love you. Nothing is going to change that. You
could have told me
you
killed your dad and I would still be standing here next to
you, by your side. None of that was your fault. Is that why you
freaked out when Jack mentioned about visiting your mom?” She
nodded. “Because he was talking about visiting her in jail?”
Another small nod. “You really think that I’m that shallow that I
would break up with because your mom’s in jail?”

She shrugged her shoulders. “I have to say
I’m kind of offended.”

“
Casper, I’m sorry I
didn’t tell you sooner. I was scared. You don’t know what I went
through when I was younger. Declan was the only one who stood by my
side while all my friends abandoned me and kids made fun of me.
They called my mom a daddy killer.”

“
Clever.”

“
What do you expect from
an eight year old?”