Page 11 of Bound By Threads
I take a deep breath, trying to find the right words, but I fail. “Do you trust me?” She hesitates, and it stings, but it’s deserved. “I know I’ve not been a great dad and that this is all too late for apologies, but I refuse to let you get hurt because of us. I promise this is for the best, but you need to be strong, just like you always have been, and do this.”
She nods and pushes out of bed, gathering some things, and I watch, my heart heavy with all the words I can’t say. She gathers her seashells, picking them up one by one and placing them inside a T-shirt before tucking them into her bag on top of the money.
As she moves around the room, I take a moment to memorize her face, her expressions, and every little detail that I’ve taken for granted. I wish I could have been better, but I was lost to my demons long ago, breaking promise after promise to be sober.
I zip up her bag for her once she’s done, making sure her documents and money are safely hidden. I pull her to me, “There’s ten thousand dollars in the bag. Get somewhere far away from here and hide.”
“Why?”she signs.
“You heard Tracey and me talking, right?” I ask her, knowing the answer. Scarlett’s eyes drift to the closed bedroom door before slowly nodding. “Then you know she’s cleared the debt, and I can’t let you be the one who pays it. He’s going to marry you, Scar, and I won’t be able to save you.”
She recoils, her eyes widening with sheer terror. Her hands flail about, and the words she can’t speak blend into a chaotic blur I can’t make out. I catch fragments of the words‘can’t’and‘die,’but she’s too frantic to make any sense.
“Scar. Baby, you need to calm down. He won’t get you. It’s why you’re going to run. Change your name and forget we ever existed, okay? Promise me, Scar. Promise me you’ll find your voice again and live,” I look into her dark brown eyes, filled with more darkness than any eighteen-year-old should have, and memorize the flakes of gold in them and how they would shine in the sun and turn the color of honey. “You are the greatest thing I’ve ever done, and I’m sorry I failed you.”
Her eyes shimmer with unshed tears, but she doesn’t let them fall. She rarely allows herself to show weakness. Any hint of vulnerability leaves her open to attack.
“I should have protected you better, and I didn’t. For that, I will always be sorry, but you need to go now. Get the first bus out of here and keep going until you can’t anymore.”
She points at me, her eyes sad, but I shake my head. “I can’t go with you, and you need a fresh start away from all of the bullshit we’ve made you go through. I should’ve been a better dad, and I wasn’t. I was selfish. I was too lost in my self-pity, blind to what you were going through because of our choices. I’m trying to make that right now, even when I know it will never be enough.”
Scar throws herself into my arms, and I wrap my arms tightly around her as if I can shield her from everything in life with sheer will alone. I savor the moment, knowing it’s the last, and force tears back so she doesn’t have to see them. Pulling back, I gently run my fingers through her hair and smile softly at her —a desperate attempt to put her at ease. “I love you.”
“I love you, too,”She gestures in response.
I would do anything to hear those words come from her lips, but they were stolen from her long ago, and I won’t let her lose more of herself because of us.
“Go.”
I watchher slip out of the window, just as she’s done so many times before to escape our arguments or when Tracey is on the warpath. She could always be found by the water and sand, blissfully watching the waves lap against the shoreline with a line of seashells by her feet, but I know there’s no finding her at the beach this time.
She needs to flee this bargain Tracey has made, and this is the only way to save her from everyone who wants to hurt her.
I stand by the window until I can’t see her anymore. My heart aches, but I know there’s no other option.
Chapter7
Scarlett
My feet pound against the hard concrete as I hurry through the empty streets.
The words Tracey uttered to Dad echo in my mind. She betrayed me, and although I shouldn’t be surprised, I never thought she would hand over my life to them for a mere thirty thousand dollars.
My shoulder aches from the weight of my bag, but I push myself to move as quickly as I can until the bus station finally comes into sight.
Only then does my heart stop racing, but the pain lingers. It hurts for so many different reasons, but the fear that this life of constantly being on the run is all I’m ever going to do now.
I scan the announcement board for departures, choosing the one furthest away. I see I have thirty minutes until the bus departs. I decide to go to the store across the street to grab some necessities for my journey. First, I purchase my ticket, and then I make my way to the store.
My fingersbarely graze the dry shampoo bottle when I sense him behind me. A wave of paralysis washes over my entire body, but I refuse to back down, not wanting to let him know what I’m doing.
I turn to ensure my back isn’t exposed to him and face the man who stole my voice first.
He stands there at 6’2” with a muscular frame despite being in his fifties. His eyes are as dark as a storm cloud—hollow, as if a part of him is no longer there. Probably sold his soul to the devil once upon a time. His slicked black hair looks like an oil slick, and his smile shows the predator he hides beneath his carefully perfected act. I clench my fist tightly, feeling my nails dig into my palm, leaving crescent-shaped imprints.
“Well, if it isn’t my favorite toy,” he taunts, leaning in closer and trapping me against the shelves, his breath hot against my skin.
I recoil, a wave of revulsion coursing through me from his proximity. The thought of marrying this man is unbearable. I would prefer death.
