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was abusive to all of us. He yelled at my mom and slapped her around. He even belted me a couple of times, but when he hurt Randy I went ballistic,” Kevin snarled. “I began dreading his return and dreamed of disappearing where he would never find us, but my mom insisted we stay in Emporia. It was all she knew.” He sighed and was silent for several beats of her heart.
    “Our lives ended the day that asshole surprised Randy at his birthday party. The neighborhood kids were over to celebrate my kid brother turning eight. As soon as my father entered the house, I felt the air leave. But things seemed okay at first, my father was unusually jovial—until he started drinking. Things got dark real fast. I had to shoo the children out of there while Mom took the verbal abuse he was dishing out. I told Randy to go to his friend’s house…” Kevin stopped. “Why didn’t he listen to me?” Tess remained perfectly still, wanting him to continue.
    He started rubbing her arm roughly. “My parents had a huge fight. Randy and I went upstairs at Mom’s insistence. Something was different. Something had changed. I could feel it. I told Randy to hide in the closet if things got bad and then I snuck downstairs to check on my mom. He was beating the crap out of her. I didn’t even think, I jumped on his back and started punching him. He snarled like an insane bear. I was on the ground before I knew it, his hands wrapped tightly around my neck. I could see the rage bulging in his eyes. There was no doubt his intent was to kill. It wasn’t until my mom broke my baseball bat over his head that I could breathe again. My father slumped on top of me and I honestly thought he was dead. I wish she had killed him.”
    His fingers began hurting as the rough scars dug into her delicate skin, but Tess didn’t complain—she’d promised to be his strength. “My mom didn’t call the police. No, she made me help stuff the asshole in his truck and we drove to a nearby hotel. She left him there thinking once he sobered up things would be okay. I knew they wouldn’t, but I had no idea…”
    Kevin finally stopped stroking her arm. He said nothing for the longest time. When he spoke again, his voice was distant and cool as if he was recounting facts. “We returned home, cleaned up the broken glass and overturned furniture. I went to check on Randy. He was watching TV in his room as if nothing had happened. I went to bed that night with my shattered bat next to my head. I was prepared to stab my father with it if he showed up.” Kevin clutched her arm and started squeezing hard. “I woke up to the smell of smoke. I rushed to Randy’s room. Even though the smoke made it hard to see, I could tell he was already gone. I ran out of the house to check on my mom, but she was screaming that Randy was missing.” His words started falling out of his mouth at a rapid pace. “I ran back in, but had to drop to the floor. The fire had spread quickly and the smoke was thick and black. I crawled up the stairs to his room. I knew exactly where he was, but it was difficult to find the closet. He was hiding in there because of me. I told him to go there if things got bad. It was my fault.”
    Tessa opened her mouth to disagree, but he said, “No. Not a word.” She nodded her head on his lap. “It took forever for me to find it. The heat from downstairs was radiating into his room. It felt like a furnace and I couldn’t breathe. If I couldn’t breathe, I knew Randy was suffering. I finally found the door. By then the roar of the fire blocked out any other sound. I felt around for him and finally touched his hand. He rushed into my arms. I can’t describe the relief I felt. I held onto him and started back down the stairs. The hall was catching on fire. I tried to avoid the worst of the heat, but it hurt so fucking bad… I was running on adrenaline and pushed through the pain. We made it down to the first floor, but I was lost. I forced Randy to the