Fragile

26. Stupid idea

Wednesday. Today was the day I was going to see Eleanor again.

Kinda sucked since I wanted to be with Fox today to make sure he was as fine he promised.

Last night was rough, he didn't say anything after his panic attack, not when I asked him anything or tried to get him to say something.
He only hugged me, kept his arms around my waist like his life depended on it. And I let him. I don't know if he slept one blink after that dream because at some point of the night I fell asleep.

I don't sincerely know what to do for him. If I could, I'd take his pain away and let him live the life he deserves.

"Fox, I think you should tell someone. Like, you have grandparents or someone else you could possibly live with?" I start, laying in my comfy bed at six a.m. with his wide awake body.

We haven't talked in hours, so my voice comes out hoarse, but it doesn't seem to have an affect on Fox.

"I don't have any." He surprises me when he actually answers me this time.

"But you can't live like that." I whisper, still pressed against his body. I pull away, but just a few inches so I could see his face.

"I've lived like it for seventeen years." His emerald eyes meet mine.

"I can't even imagine how rough times you had." I say, heart shattering for him. I just wanted to take his pain away. "You need to get out."

"I can't. That dream... it was due to Tod trying to run away. If I leave, underage... you don't know how they're like." He shakes his head. I've never ever seen Fox this serious and sad before.

"How did they punish you...?" I ask cautiously, this part wasn't what I heard from Fox's nightmare. I only gathered the main story, but I didn't quite understand the whole concept.

"You sure you wanna hear?" Fox asks and continues after I nod, "They put hot candle wax on our palms, sometimes whole body, and then locked us to the cellar. Time we spent there, we didn't have proper food. Then they... well, hit us. Until we were crying on the floor. That specific dream, it was a memory and ended at the part where I tried to stop mom from hitting Tod."

I can see how hard it is to Fox to talk about it, the pain in his eyes is raw. "Did it stop when Tod moved out?" I ask quietly.

Based on his face, I immediately know the answer. He doesn't lie, so he stays silent for a while. "It's not always like that, my punishments I mean. Not after Tod left."

"Then what's it like nowadays?" I am genuinely scared of his answer.

"They just hit me. Ban me from food. Sometimes lock me to my room." He speaks very quietly, like it's taking him effort to get the words out.

"What do you mean 'just'? That's a fucking crime, how can anyone do that to their own kids?" I ask, voice breaking from sadness.
"When has this last happened?"

He doesn't answer right away, so I ask again. "Fox? When was the last time?"

"It's not important." He shrugs off.

"Fox." I say and look deep into his eyes.

"A couple hours before the plane took off. That's why I was late." He admits, turning his gaze away.

"What?" I screech, horrified. "For what? Are you hurt now?"

"It wasn't bad, just a couple bruises were left. They heard I god a B on literature and got mad." Fox shakes his head, like it's not a big deal.

"Oh my gosh, you should've told me right away!" I panic, how could I not notice he was hurt? "How bad are the bruises?"

He scrambles up to sit, then lifts his shirt to show me his spine which was covered with purplish blue marks.