Chapter 36: Chapter 36

She held a beer in her hands widely gesticulating as tears glided down her cheeks while the duo in front of her stared at her with their eyes wide open as she spilled out everything that had happened between her and Xavier, well apart from the fact that she was acting as his fiancée.

Telling them that will lead to a series of questions, questions she had no business replying to. At the end of the day, it was Xavier's story to tell.

Jasmine stared at the big rock on her finger which collaborated the crazy story she had just heard, the story she was finding too hard to digest.

"So Xavier is the hot stranger at the club?" She nodded, taking another swig of her beer.

"And you are engaged to him?" Jessica's eyes were also wide with shock. She had known Maya was dealing with some secret private shit, but this was beyond her.

"And his father was the one who attempted raping you?" Her eyes pooled with ragged tears as Jessica who was more closer to her, caught her in a hug.

"I am so sorry, I didn't tell you guys what was happening." She shuddered. "Everything happened too fast." Jasmine came over to the other side so she was cushioned in their middle.

"I am more sorry you had to handle any of this by yourself." She sniffed, as she placed her hand on Maya's body while she released her grip on the beer bottle.

At the moment, just being with these two despite the unanswered questions that they couldn't voice out, the crazy events of the evening. Just being with her family was enough. She didn't need alcohol to feel better. She had them.

Those were the thoughts she clung to as she drifted into a surprisingly sound sleep.

***

Xavier grabbed his keys from the dining table where he had left it, silently heading for the door, desperate to get away from the doomed party already as visitors danced away in Glee oblivious to the fact that one of their hosts was a child rapist.

The look in Maya's eyes, the helplessness in his state as he had watched Melissa probe her for answers, answers that he couldn't even deny he was desperate to hear. He should have fought with everybody, demand he trusted her regardless, shove Melissa out of her side if he had to. But instead, he had watched, watched her shatter, and undeniably reveal something they had no business knowing since she didn't owe any of the explanations.

He felt the whiff of Melissa's perfume, which had been her fragrance right from childhood. He knew these little detail ever since he made her hide her head in his chest, to protect her eyes from seeing the brutal treatment being meted out to their mother, by a man she worshipped. She placed his finger on his shoulder, he stiffened.

"Don't." He mumbled, turning to face her. His mother stood behind her, she wasn't crying but he recognized the facade practiced over the years way too much, the thick walls and skin she put up for the show when everybody was around.

"Remember you accusing me of not picking up your calls or showing up? I hope tonight is evidence enough of what happens when I come back here." He stopped, looking into her eyes, "This house is just like darkness sucking away any glimpse of light that survived its way into my life." A strangled sob escape his mom's lips but he was too angry to regret his words.

"I am sorry," Melissa's lips tremble as he spared her a glance.

"I feel even more sorry, because forget about not getting a call or text. If Maya never forgives me, the next time you will be reminded that someone like me existed is going to be at my burial ceremony." He exhaled sharply." That is if I don't compile a list of guests to be invited."

His lips tugged into a malicious shadow of a smile." Hope you are happy for the rest of your life Ma. Happy birthday." And with that, he walked out of the door leaving his mother, his sister, and once more the dark past he had swirling over his head once again.

His quick strides, his clenched fist, his heartfelt gaping hole, he couldn't wrap his hand on as he settled into the car, perceiving a whiff of Maya's perfume.

She had wanted to protect him so much, he had seen the sheen of determination in her brown big eyes, watched her take the pain he meted out to her as he clawed his finger into her fragile skin yet she didn't even wince. But how will she have known that he wasn't the one who needed rescuing it was her.

He matched his brakes, his head on his dashboard as he relieved watching her shatter behind him with every step he took away from her.

He felt a tug on his chest as he remembered watching her asking him to leave and how final taking a step from her had felt. Almost like goodbye.

Then for the first time in a long while, he cried again. Release throaty sob he had swore never to let escape, his walls crumbling, his facade withering as the cold businessman was forgotten and all he could remember was being a frightened boy who knew he didn't have a normal family and was abused by his father both physically and mentally every day.

He stayed there for a long time, on the deserted cold road before he realized that a bottle of whiskey was waiting for him at home, for him to dip his body even more into the fluffy coat of wretchedness.

He ignited his engine and pursing his lips bunked almost all the traffic regulations he could think of, knowing he couldn't handle any of the depressing emotions he felt without booze, without any temporary fix to cloud his brain for a while, to shield him once more from all that had happened in one night.

How at the moment he had seen Maya crying in the arms of his father, all he could remember was his mother's tear-streaked cheeks every time his father raped her every night and made him watch.

He needed a reprieve from the two women he had failed desperately. Soon else he just might cross the tiny threshold of his sanity still intact.