Hanging On (Jessica Brodie Diaries #2)(81)

It broke my heart.

Alice in Wonderland meets cage fights. It was a fitting end to a screwed up day.

Flem and Claire were running behind and saw that Lump had been crying. I heard a “What the f**k?” from Claire, and a sudden intake of breath from Flem.

Then things got weirder. For some reason Flem took Lump crying as an act of violence. She put herself between Adam and Lump and soundly slapped Adam in the face.

He didn’t move—he was still staring at Lump with an unreadable expression.

Lump screamed for them to stop. She obviously thought Adam would explode.

Jane and I were in the way and wouldn’t let her pass. Adam let the girls hit and kick him while he looked up at Lump again with confusion and intense guilt. A look you might have if you killed your kitten in a fit of anger.

I’d called the wrong person Lennie when I’d first met these guys. It wasn’t Moose at all.

William grabbed the girls, one in each hand, and dragged them away. The girls changed their attack targets, not really knowing what was going on. Now I was yelling at them to stop when I saw Adam coming through us for Lump.

“No!” I yelled. “Adam, don’t hurt her. Adam! What is happening with you? Leave her alone!” I was pleading by the end.

His voice was shaking when he said, “Jessica, please move. I won’t hurt her.”

I was still nervous, but Jane and I let him pass.

Madness. All of this was madness. I no longer knew up from down.

Lump was still standing in her pose from earlier. She was calm, but looked shaky nonetheless. It looked like she was confronting a demon with no hope of salvation.

Too much alcohol and emotion for any sort of normality from the lot of us. Add in boys to a wild group of females and a shit storm ensues.

Adam took two big strides and was directly in front of Lump in seconds. She looked up at him with caution and steadfast determination.

Once in front of her, he slowly, ever so slowly, reached his arms out wide, giving her ample room to withdraw if she needed to. Still moving at a snail’s pace, he reached his arms around her. She tried to step back but couldn’t because of the bench. It was like a rabid animal that was cornered. She looked at all escape routes and decided on one when we all heard, “I will not hurt you, Betsy. I will never, ever hurt you. Please, please believe me. I behaved badly. Horribly. Like my father would have. I swore I wouldn’t never be like him. I crushed a beautiful flower, just like he did. Please...” he begged.

I couldn’t see his face, but I could swear he was crying. I bet that was a first, too.

“Please, Betsy.” He was not saying her name to be an ass this time. He wanted to connect with her. Begging to connect with her. To be forgiven.

His hands were nearly around her now. Moving ever so slowly. She looked up into his eyes, tears gleaming, her body quivering. His arms closed, and he brought her to him. She bowed her head and let him.

He hugged her fiercely. “You were right,” he was saying. “Everything you said about my mannerism was right. I did want to hit you, Jesus help me. I did. I was bullying you. Like you was a man. Like you could fight back.

“Lord, Betz. You could. You can fight back. I ain’t never been hit so effectively by any man. Or bull. If there weren’t a door there, you woulda dropped me. Timber, straight the ground.”

Adam shook his head. He was definitely crying. She was crying. I was crying. We were all crying.

“I wouldn’t’ve though, Betz. Please believe that. I would not have hit you. I would not have hurt you. I wouldn’t never, never hit a woman. Never!” he said this with such venom it surprised me he had it in him.

He hugged her and rocked her, burying his head in her hair. “I came out here to apologize. You had me pegged, don’t ya see? I was even...you know...hard. Kinda. That made me feel sick. To realize that, and you knowin’ it ‘n all. How disgusting—picking on a smaller person. I ain’t like that. Lord, I ain’t never been like that. My dad was, though. He did that to my mom. To me. To my whole family. I was the only one that could fight back when I was grown. Rich family, never raised no fuss, tryin’ to hide it, but he would get drunk and mean.”

I even think William was squeezing out a tear or two. This was awful. I knew I should walk away, but couldn’t. I was hypnotized by his testimony. I suddenly realized I had never seen his family. He obviously had moved very far away from them.

“You scared me,” Lump squeaked out.

Adam squeezed tighter. He turned her around, sat on the bench, and sat her on his lap. He laid her against his chest like she was an infant, and she promptly started bawling. He put his head in her hair again and rocked her. I heard him say he was sorry over and over again.

I felt William’s hand on my shoulder. I turned to him and let him put his arms around me.

“Let’s give them some space,” he said quietly. “She’s in safe hands, now.”

I nodded mutely.

Everyone went back to their rooms after that. Ami and Gladis saw us all coming in, William beat to hell from Flem and Claire losing their minds and trying to protect Lump, everyone crying, some of our clothes scuffed with snot and things all over it. I think Claire half fell in the pond. She stunk.

We gave some quick explanations for why we were in such a state, and excused ourselves. Lady was sent to check on the other two and an extra room made up for Adam, whom Gladis wanted to make sure was staying. It looked like she knew about his family history and didn’t want him spending any time alone.