Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 64366 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64366 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 322(@200wpm)___ 257(@250wpm)___ 215(@300wpm)
Kage didn’t answer at first. His face was stone, and he’d gone so still he couldn’t have been breathing.
“They wanted us to do it. We didn’t want to. Evan didn’t like it when they made us fight.”
My skin broke out in cold goose flesh, and all the blood drained from my face. Dr. Tanner went rigid.
“Who wanted you to do it?” she asked carefully.
“Mister Santori and the other men. They liked to drink beer at Mr. Santori’s place, and they wanted to bet on us. They’d done it once before, and Evan won. Then he cried, because he said he didn’t like hitting me for real. I told him it was okay, that it didn’t really hurt all that much. My dad didn’t like it, either. It was after our bedtime— we had real beds then— and we needed to rest up. But Mr. Santori said we had to do it. His friends wanted to bet, and if my dad wanted us to stay, we were going to have to fight.”
“Are you saying they bet on you and your brother to fight? To see who would win?”
Kage nodded. “He made my dad bet, and my dad picked Evan. Mr. Santori picked me.”
“And who won, Michael?” Dr. Tanner leaned in toward him, her face ashen.
“I don’t know.” Kage said. “I don’t want to fight. Don’t make me fight.”
“Who won?”
“He wouldn’t hit me, and he wouldn’t kick me. He just sat down on the floor. I didn’t want to fight him, but Santori made me. I got him in a rear naked choke, and he was supposed to tap out like we always did. But he wouldn’t tap. Santori kept telling him to tap out, but he wouldn’t. I tried to let go.”
His voice was laced with fear, and I couldn’t stand for him to go through any more pain. It was killing me. Tears were streaming down my face, and I grabbed Dr. Tanner’s shoulder and said, “That’s enough.”
Dr. Tanner backhanded me across the face. I felt the sting of her diamond wedding ring as it sliced through my lip. Then she glanced sheepishly up at me, and unspoken apology in her eyes. The slap had gotten my attention, though, reminding me that this was the first breakthrough Kage had ever had, and if his therapist was going to help him, she needed to get the whole story.
I took a step back and steeled myself.
Kage was crying again, and I suspected that telling him not to feel wouldn’t have the same effect on him anymore. Dr. Tanner didn’t even try. She just asked, “What happened then?”
“I said I was going to let go. Evan wouldn’t tap out, and it felt like he went limp, but I wasn’t sure. Everyone was yelling at me. And my dad was yelling at Evan to tap out. He tried to get over to us, but Santori grabbed him by the arm and held him back. Santori yelled, ‘Don’t let go until he taps out.” I told him I was going to let go, but he said, ‘You let go, and you won’t get any pistachio ice cream.’” Kage whimpered, and his face contorted with emotion. “I wanted my ice cream, so I held on tight. Evan didn’t tap out, and he didn’t move anymore. I just wanted my ice cream, that’s all.”
Kage broke down then. Neither Dr. Tanner nor I could understand much of what he said after that. Just a word here and there. Every now and then, he would reiterate that he’d only wanted his ice cream, and that would set us all off again with fresh tears.
After about five minutes of trying to get more of the story, Dr. Tanner took mercy on the sobbing wreck that was my boyfriend, and she started talking him back up out of the trance-like state she’d induced.
“You will remember everything we’ve talked about,” she said at one point, and I cringed. I wasn’t so sure Kage ought to remember that shit. I sure wanted to forget it.
DR. Tanner kept Kage doped up for the rest of the day. I was supposed to fly back home the day after that, but I didn’t want to go. She and I stood over him as he slept on the bed, and we argued about whether or not I was going to get on that plane.
“He needs me,” I said.
The therapist looked at me with hollowed out eyes. “You can’t do anything for him right now. I just need to ease him back around to a good frame of mind, okay? He needs therapy, and I need to taper off these meds I’ve been giving him. You can’t say anything to a soul about what has gone on here this weekend, Jamie. You understand that, right? This is sensitive information, and it’s Kage’s business.”