I guess even sycophants can have sycophants.
Opening my mouth, I took the food into it and chewed it briefly before I spat it into his face.
“MELODY!”
He took a step back as Aviela walked forward. Nelson wiped his face slowly before glaring at me.
Aviela grabbed my face, forcing me to meet her eyes. “I am trying here, Melody. I want you to be happy with me, okay? I love you, but you have to let go of him and that child. They are your past, a past you would never have had if we could’ve been together. I love you, so please behave, because I don’t want to hurt you.”
“The only thing stopping me from snapping your fucking neck right now are these damn cuffs. So fuck y—”
She slapped me so hard my teeth cut the bottom of my lip. Licking the blood off, I looked up to her, smiling. “You’re a horrible mother, always have been… always will be.”
She slapped me twice, then a third time before she pulled back.
“Stop making me hurt you!”
My face burned and I knew without looking that my cheek would have an imprint of her hand on it.
I laughed without humor, and wondered briefly if her brand of crazy was infectious or hereditary. Banishing the thought from my mind, I focused on the woman breathing harshly before me.
“Is that what dear old grandpa used to say to you?”
“You know nothing.”
“I know enough. This isn’t helping. You think you are, but you aren’t. Let me go, tell me who Ivan is and we can all be free of him.”
She shook her head, running her hands through her short hair. “No, no. You don’t know him. You don’t know anything. Just let me protect you, sweetheart. You can’t beat him, no one beats him. It’s okay…”
“You, me, and Liam, we can take—”
“NO! I said no! I’m going to protect you, okay? Me, your mommy. Not Liam, not anyone else. You’re gone now. Ivan won’t bother your family. Just be good, Melody. Be good for me, okay?”
It was like trying to reason with a child having a tantrum. “Ivan is just a man.”
“ENOUGH!” Taking a deep breath, she smoothed out her expression. “You’ve ruined a perfectly enjoyable dinner. You were so well behaved when I was raising you.”
“You never raised me, Aviela.”
She looked me in the eyes then and they seemed flat; there was no depth to her, just a hollow shell of the woman that was once my mother. Standing up straighter, she walked over to the fireplace that was situated under a painting of a younger version of herself. Pulling a syringe off the mantle, she sighed before turning to me.
“Aviela,” I hissed, knowing what was coming. I tried to back away from her but she just kept coming.
She brushed the side of my face, and if it weren’t for what she was about to do, I’d think she was attempting to be tender. “This will help your pain.”
“AVIELA, DON’T!” She pushed my sleeve up my arm and I tried to fight her off but the robot came to her aid, grabbing my shoulders.
“No,” I said as the needle found my vein.
“You know what’s ironic?” Aviela asked. “I bought this batch from your dealer.”
“Mom,” I whispered as everything spun in colors.
“Shh, sweetheart. We will try again tomorrow, okay? You will be good for me later. Everything will look and feel so much better. I promise, okay baby? I promise.”
I felt like I was floating, drifting towards Ethan and Liam. No one could hurt us here. No one could find us; we were all drifting. We were happy, I was happy.
LIAM
“Our son and I miss you and love you so much, Mel. Thank you.” As I pulled away from the microphones, the reporters began shouting their questions as their camera flashes blinded me.
“Sir, the car is ready,” Monte said, leading us into the hospital.
We were supposed to be checking out today. The cars were already waiting around back for us. Part of me wanted to stay. I came with my wife; I should be leaving with my wife. But I couldn’t stay, the faster I got home, the faster I could get out and work.
My mother stepped forward with my son—my and Mel’s son—who was fast asleep wrapped in a small blanket and wool hat. He was a good sleeper. Mel had talked to him in her womb, demanding that he get used to her sleep patterns when he was still in her. It was a tad bit crazy, but mostly beautiful. She claimed she wouldn’t be a good mother, but I saw it everyday, and now she didn’t even have the chance to prove it to herself.
Before I could walk to him, officer pain-in-my-ass was already on my tail. “Mr. Callahan, we asked you not to do the ransom.”
“And I ignored you.”