The Final Choice

57 Colby

My eyes widened as Callie's mom talked about the many times she stood up to oldest daughter's abusers. I was actually shocked. The woman had pointed guns at them, threatened them with butcher knives, and so much more. She actually ran in between one who was beating her daughter, so that she caught all the licks, until she kneed him in the balls. 

I even got the story about her ex son in law calling her and telling her that he was going to burn her house down, with her and everyone, including his own kids, in it. She looked me dead in the eye, her blue eyes turning to steel, and said, "I just told him to bring it. I told him he better make sure that I'm dead though, because I would be coming for him." 

This gentle, sweet woman was scary as hell. She might've been almost 70, but I had no doubt that she would still go just as hard for the ones she loved. Just like Callie. I had seen the fire in her, when she got so upset in Las Vegas. She would take all of the abuse on herself, but she wouldn't allow her family to deal with it. 

I nodded my head, in understanding, to Mrs. Mary. She knew that I would never hurt Callie, but she was making sure that I knew she would probably physically hurt me, if I did. She turned her attention back to Callie, talking to her about calling a certain someone on the police force that used to help her out when she had troubles with people.

I decided to take the opportunity to go talk to Ben. I assumed that Callie would still try to stop me, so I quickly, but quietly, got up and headed out the door. I looked around the sunny yard, shielding the light from my eyes, till I spotted his blonde hair. 

Honestly, the kid kind of reminded me of Sam. His shaggy blonde hair, and his blue eyes that were covered with faded black rim glasses, along with his height and lanky build...he could pass for Sam's kid. I grinned and laughed to myself, thinking about Sam's reaction when I told him that. 

"Hey Dude," I said, walking over to the sullen teenage boy. He was sitting in a macrame, black, hand-woven swing chair, that was hanging from a thick, sturdy, tree limb, off to the side of the house. There was an empty 5 gallon bucket sitting against the tree trunk, so I grabbed it and turned it upside down to sit on it. 

"Hey," he replied, as he kept his head down, kicking at the dirt beneath his feet. He looked more like a kid now, than he had earlier. The hurt little boy that wanted to love the only dad he knew, but hating him for who he was and what he was doing to his mom. I could see it written all over him. 

"You doing okay?" I asked, crossing my foot over my knee, as I leaned back into the tree. "Yeah," he replied, shortly. "I don't need any advice from you or anyone else. There's nothing to say." I held my hands out in surrender and nodded. "Okay. Is it cool if I just sit here with you for a few minutes though? Your mom and grandma are talking. I kind of felt like I was in the way." 

He looked up to meet my gaze and I almost broke. There was so much anger and pain in those blue eyes of his. No one, especially not a 17 year old kid, should know that kind of pain. Rage flashed through me, so quickly, it actually scared me for a second. I wanted to beat Will to a bloody pulp for making his own child feel this way. 

I already wanted it for what he did to Callie, but Ben was a kid! His kid, at that, according to the adoption papers. Being a deadbeat dad was shitty enough, but abusing his child's mother and threatening him and his family? This was all just so fucked. 

Ben nodded, agreeing to let me sit with him for a while, so I pulled out my phone. My plan was to just sit here, until he was ready to talk to me. If he wanted too. I wasn't going to push him. He wasn't my kid, but I did care for him a great deal. He was a party of Callie, in blood, and in his personality. 

After I texted Sam to see if he was finished with his part of editing our new video, I decided to scroll through Instagram. There was the usual photos of Sam and I, edited pictures, those bad ass edits that these people made, and the drawings were amazing. Our fans were really talented, honestly, and mostly sweet. I just wished they could get along a little better, and stop arguing about the stupidest shit.