Not Broken: The Happily Ever After(76)

That motherfucker had beaten my sister to get information about Ginger. He’d beaten my sister. In high school, I’d been ready to kick some boy’s ass for calling her a bitch, and that piece of shit had laid hands on her.

We’d all rallied around her, but she’d clung to Mitch more than anyone. He’d stayed by her side almost constantly, because she’d get upset if he wasn’t in her line of sight. I’d never seen my sister so vulnerable, and I despised that waste of space for what he’d done to her.

“I only had to endure him directly for two days. Two days, Malcolm, and I had nightmares for months.” She sat up and wiped her face.

I got up to get her some tissue. Macy thanked me quietly as she took it from me. “You endured more than two days, Mace. He had you for three weeks. Three very long weeks of you being locked in that hellhole.”

Mitch had said the cellar was something straight out of a horror film. My thoughts turned to Ginger and the night I learned about her rape. I looked at my sister; rage and fear and unease coiled up inside me. Had that bastard violated my sister in the same way?

I stalked over to the kitchen, and yanked open the freezer door, and stuck my head inside. I needed to cool down and get those thoughts out of my head.

“What the hell is wrong with you?”

I closed the freezer door. My hand gripped the cool metal door, squeezing it. “Nothing. Want some water?” I opened the other side to pull out two bottles from the fridge without caring about Macy’s reply.

No. Ginger didn’t want to be touched. She’d shut people out. Macy hadn’t done that. She’d clung to Mitch, wanted him around. That didn’t happen to her. But I couldn’t be sure, not without asking. On top of that being an awkward as hell conversation, she’d want to know why I asked. That was Ginger’s story to tell, not mine.

“Here.” I thrust the bottle of water at her and retook my place on the couch.

“Thanks. I know we’ve not talked about any of this. And I don’t know why I brought it up today. It’s just last night, thinking about what Lee said, it reminded me of everything.” She stopped and took a drink of water. “I’m worried about her, Mal. I know she went through more, but she seemed—she’s having fucking panic attacks. Do you know I encouraged her to go out with him?”

“Mace, you couldn’t have known.”

“But still, I was always trying to push her out of her comfort zone. Trying to get her to be more outgoing. If I’d let her be herself—typical shy, quiet Lee—then…”

“Macy, you can’t blame yourself. No one could have seen that coming.”

“I know, I know. I tell myself that. Lee and I have talked. And Lee being Lee said basically the same thing you did. You know what scares me the most?”

I shook my head. “What?”

“She might have never left him. She only left because she got pregnant. I thought about that a lot last night. She would have sacrificed herself to keep us safe. He used us against her, the same way he used Mitch and the rest of you guys against me.”

I sat up and looked at her. “What are you talking about?”

“Seth, he threatened to kill us, all of us, if she ever tried to leave him. He told me himself, and he did the same thing to me. He said he’d start with Mitch and work his way down, so I had a choice, one life or many.”

“What the fuck? Why? Why am I just now learning about this?”

She shrugged. “Not my proudest moment. I know you were mad at me for not talking to her. I mean, you never came right out and said anything, but I could tell.”

I wasn’t going to deny it. I’d thought they would have been there for each other more during that time than any other, but Macy’d cut off contact. I’d never understood it, but now I could see it was guilt that kept her from facing her friend.

“So, Macy, why are we taking this trip down nightmare lane? This topic pisses me off. Thinking about what he did to you. What he did to her…” Thinking about what I’m currently doing to her. This whole conversation was piss-poor timing considering last night’s events.

“I know. I’m sorry. I hadn’t thought about it in a really long time. Not all of it. Once I started feeling like my old self again, I moved forward. It was one day at a time, but I did it. But I had someone there. I had Mom and Dad and I had all my annoying brothers, but it was different with Mitch. I love her, Malcolm, and I’m worried about her a lot more than I was before. She needs a Mitch. But...in a pinch you’ll do.” She cut her eyes over at me and grinned.

“Gee, thanks.”

“No problem. All joking aside, there’s a lot going on under the surface with her, but I’m not going to pry.”

“Oh, now I know hell is a solid block of ice.”

She rolled her eyes at me. “Anyway. What I was trying to say before you so rudely interrupted me was there were times when I didn’t want to talk, but when I did, it was to Mitch. I could tell him things about my ordeal that I wouldn’t want to tell anyone else. He was my person, and as much as it pains me to say, I think you’re hers.”

Macy got up, fussing about having to pee again and getting Mitch fixed before letting him touch her again. It was my turn to make gagging sounds, and she laughed as she exited the room.