“What do you mean by he couldn’t do anything?”
“Peter told me that he was castrated because he had cancer, and he wasn’t interested in s*x. He didn’t touch me the whole time I was there, but there were the others.”
“What others?” Etienne fumed.
“In the beginning, Peter was nice, even benevolent. He gave me clothing, computer games, I wasn’t hungry or cold, and I thought I was safe. I was happy. I wasn’t getting beat up, I was warm, fed, and spoiled. He treated me like a son. He sent for my birth certificate to enroll me in school and even got me a social security card. All of that was so I’d buy into his con.”
The self-loathing poured off his Mate. “When did things go sour?” Etienne unclenched Julio’s fingers and held his hand.
“It started when he said he didn’t want us to go out anym
