Page 25 of To Hades & Back
“Damn, that shit is fucked up.”Asclepius’s voice came through the phone when the room calmed down.“I feel like shit. I never told anyone, but the reason I left her ass alone was because I found pussy pics that she sent my fourteen-year-old nephew in his phone. I should have said something.”The remorse was loud in his tone.
My grandfather told him that they would talk later. When he hung up the line, he dropped his head. My mother still had me in her arms, and now my father stood behind her. My siblings seemed like they were still processing what they just found out. My father pulled my crying mama from me then wrapped his arms around her.
I leaned forward with my head down because this shit was crazy as hell. I glanced at Julianna still on the floor, beat the fuck up and knocked out. Jin’jer’s hand had yet to leave my leg.Eventually, my brothers came over. I looked up into my brother Zeus’s eyes. The only time I’d ever seen him cry was when Aoide was born and now.
As soon as I stood to my feet, he pulled me into a hug. “lypámai polý! Éprepe na se eícha prostatéfsei (I’m so sorry! I should have protected you).” Zeus’s hold on me was tight.
“Óchi, ísoun paidí. Den to íxeres. den sou eipa (No, you were a kid. You didn’t know. I didn’t tell you),” I told him. I didn’t want anyone to feel guilty.
Groaning caught everyone’s attention. Julianna was waking up from her little fist nap. My grandfather stood over her with tight eyes and a fist. “How did I miss a pedophile in our midst?” He tittered. “People don’t really look at women as if they could be rapists or molesters. We put all of our time keeping men away from our daughters not realizing we left our sons wide open.”
Julianna sat up with a groan of pain. In a low tone, she said, “I didn’t hurt him. I love him.”
“Bitch!” In the blink of an eye, my mama rushed over to my grandfather. She pulled the gun from behind his back, then aimed it.POW!
One bullet to the center of her forehead was her end. When Julianna fell back on the ground, my mama spit on her. “Prostatéveis tin oikogéneia me káthe kóstos, akóma ki an aftó simaínei thánato állou í ton eaftó sou (You protect family at all costs even if it means death of another or yourself).”
I reached out and pulled Jin’jer to me. My arms wrapped around her tightly. “Are you okay?” I asked in her ear.
“I’m fine. I love you,” she said softly. She lifted herself on her tiptoes to meet my lips. I really hoped she was alright. It wasn’t every day you saw someone murdered or found out your man was a victim of molestation.
My father walked over to his wife, took the gun from her hand, then kissed her temple before he hugged her tight. Mygrandfather started to give out instructions to my brothers and told me to take my sisters and Jin’jer home. With a final look at Julianna’s lifeless body on the floor, I felt a weight lift off me that I didn’t realize was there. Based on Asclepius confession, I was not the only boy that may have been a victim. My mama’s action saved some and avenged others. That gave me some peace.
A SHORT TIME LATER…
If you had toldme that my life would get flipped in every which and what way, I would have waved you off. From meeting Hades to finding out a baby that I was told was dead wasn’t to finding out that a bitch molested and raped my man when he was a child. Oh, last but certainly not least, to Mama Verne putting a bullet in that ho’s head. Hades stayed on my ass when we got back. He would never admit it, but I knew he was worried that I would either leave him or worse, go to the police. I would never do either because I loved Hades down to his back acne.
The day after Julianna died, her murder was covered on the news as robbery. She had no family as she never marriedor had children. Her parents both died in her early thirties. She considered the Mount Olympus Riders as her family. There were instructions in her last will and testament that they were responsible for cleaning her home. She split all of her assets between the club and a local organization that they supported and used to volunteer at faithfully. The sick part about it was the organization was a boys’ home for at risk youth.
Uranus sent some of the female members of the club to clean out Julianna’s home. The ladies were not prepared for what they found. They found child pornography with her as the leading lady as well as photos. She used the boys’ home like a fucking buffet for her sick pedophilia needs. Unfortunately, some of the victims were sons of the members of the club. Asclepius took a lot of the blame on himself for not speaking up earlier.
“Babe, where you at?” Hades’s loud voice filled the house.Why does he have to be so loud?After I told him that I was in our bedroom, he was in our room in no time. I braced myself for what came next. His big ass leaped on the damn bed on top of me.
I roared in laughter. “Get your big ass off me!” He told me that I had to give him a kiss before he got off of me. I would never deny him kisses, pussy, time, conversation, or love. “How was therapy?” I asked after he lay down next to me.
After we got back home from New York, I convinced him that he should go to therapy. I still saw a therapist for what I had been through. At first, he was resistant. During a family dinner, his parents told everyone that they were going to start therapy to work out their feelings about what happened. Both of them held guilt about not being attentive enough around that time to know that their son was being molested. They traveled a lot during that time for their wine business. Zeus and Poseidon also decided to participate in therapy.
By the end of dinner, everyone decided to attend therapy as a family and individually. All of them had their own emotions about the situation. Hades felt more comfortable going to work his feelings out with a therapist knowing that he had his family behind him. Dorian also attended therapy. Dedra didn’t want him to initially because she didn’t believe in all of that. Dorian legally was her son; therefore, we had to get her on board. She gave in eventually, so we would leave her alone.
“Therapy was good. It’s crazy what your brain will do to protect you. All these years, I’d blocked out what happened to me. It all came back like a flood when I saw that bitch. I guess all I needed was a trigger to bring that shit back.” He spoke in an afterthought manner.
I got up to straddle his lap. His hands automatically went to my ass. I cupped his face with my hands then said, “I’m proud of you for taking the steps to properly heal. We’ve both been through some shit since we’ve met each other. I’m so grateful that I had you and have you to go through it with.”
Hades had the most perfect smile. His teeth were white and straight. The first time that I saw his smile, I melted at the one dimple that he had on his left cheek. “I’m happy that I have you too. Shit, people never thought that I would be with one woman. Nah, it was never that. It just had to be the right woman.”
My cheeks blushed over because this man was everything. “So, I’m the right woman, huh?”
“You fuckin’ right you’re the right woman. I knew it was gonna be you day one when your mean ass wouldn’t let me create a name origin story with you,” he said with a scrunched face like I’d offended him with the question. “Jin’jer Elle, you’re on my fuckin’ bank accounts. Your ass doesn’t use it, but that’s not the point.”
Some time ago, we were out and about. He told me that he had to handle some business at the bank. The next thing I knew,we were in an account specialist’s office, and my name was being added to one of his bank and credit card accounts. Like he said, I had the cards, but I didn’t use them. “Whatever. I’m so excited about this weekend,” I told him with a cheesy smile.
The time had finally come. My baby boy’s graduation was this weekend. At first, I thought it would only be me and Hades going. My heart almost exploded when his entire family told me that they were coming to support me and my son. I didn’t tell Dorian that everyone would be there.
“Hell yeah. I can’t wait to see my boy walk across the stage. My family coming guarantees the weekend is going to be lit.” The smile he wore dropped a little. “I hope Dedra’s ass don’t be on her good bullshit because Laverne’s ass doesn’t mind putting a bitch in her place behind family.”
Oh, I definitely knew that Mama Laverne didn’t mind putting a bitch in her place. She proved that. I loved the relationship that Hades and Dorian had. Neither of them knew that I knew they hadthe talkin preparation for his prom. That was exactly why I wanted to meet that girl. Just a prom date my ass. I was happy to know that he was a virgin before this talk, but I wasn’t sure if he still was after prom night.
“At this point, I think Dedra’s stupid ass knows better. Her ass be so wrapped up in the dude she’s dating. It wouldn’t surprise me if she either didn’t show up or was late. His graduation doesn’t really benefit her monetarily, so she’s more than likely not interested.” I frowned at the thought of it.