Havoc

7 - What happened to my family

Wynter

I would never have guessed this man was related to my father. Jack, for a man of his age, is devastatingly handsome. He’s well-built, tall, has eyes as blue as Wrench’s, and a kind smile. It’s uncanny how much Wrench looks like his dad.

From what my father told me, I know that Jack is in his mid-sixties now, but he doesn’t look anywhere near that age. Okay, maybe in his fifties, but it’s evident he takes care of himself, unlike my father. John Anderson is in his late sixties and looks at least fifteen years older. The years have not been kind to him, or maybe it was all the drugs he took in his life that aged him that badly.

Jack says something while scratching his jaw with his thumbnail. I feel stupid because I didn’t catch half of what he said.

“I’m sorry,” I shake my head, and Jack looks at me. “I didn’t hear what you said. I’m...”

“Deaf, or almost.” He cuts me off with a kind smile. “Wrench did explain. I’m sorry, sweetheart,”

When he called me sweetheart, I felt really emotional. I can’t explain why, but I get such a safe vibe from this man. I also get a not to be messed with vibe from him.

“That’s okay,” I smile. “I can hear to a degree. It’s just that sometimes I need to see a person’s mouth move so that I can read their lips.”

“Of course,” Jack smiles and turns in his seat slightly. I realize that he did this so that I can better see his face.

“I’m sorry if you don’t understand some of what I say. I try to sound like everybody else, but it isn’t always easy.”

Jack shakes his head. “Don’t apologize, Wynter. I understand you perfectly.”

I smile because that was nice of him to say.

“So, Wrench tells me that you’re John’s daughter.”

I swallow hard and nod my head.

“I didn’t even know John had kids. But then I wouldn’t because I haven’t seen or heard from him since I was seventeen.”

Strange when my father knew so much about Jack. Then again, a narcissist like him would keep tabs on people, especially his brother.

“He told me that you left home and never came back.”

“Did he tell you why?”

I nod my head. “Because he nor your parents agreed with your choice to want to marry a black woman.”

“That’s right,” He nods. “One thing you’ll come to learn about me, Wynter, is that nothing and no one means more to me than my wife. Though, my kids and grandkids are a close second.”

He winks, and I can’t help laughing.

“From the moment I met Taylor, she was everything to me. People don’t always believe in fate or love at first sight, but I became a believer the day she bumped into me. Family is very important to me, Wynter, but sometimes you must cut them out in order to be who you really are.”

“I understand. I knew your parents, but not that they were racist. My mom couldn’t stand them. I never understood why, but I guess it’s because she didn’t believe in their views. She wouldn’t allow my sister and I to visit them often. Dad never cared either way.”

“Will you tell me about your mother and sister?”

I take a deep breath in through my nose. “It’s hard. I lost them so long ago now, but it still feels like yesterday. I still have nightmares,” I swallow hard and try to fight the tears that are threatening to spill.

Cassie and Havoc are the only people I’ve ever spoken to about my mom and sister. It was always too hard to talk to anyone else. Of course, I spoke to a counselor, and it helped a little. However, talking about them makes the memory of how they died rush back to me tenfold. The fact I lived and they died hurts so much.

“You don’t have to tell me anything if it’s too painful, Wynter.”

I nod my head in thanks, but I need to do this.

“Mom was beautiful,” I admit. “She had stunning blue eyes and long white hair that was all natural. Though she rarely smiled. When she did, it was only ever for my sister and me. You see,” I push my hands between my knees. “My mom didn’t meet John and fall in love with him; he kidnapped her off the street.”

Jack keeps his eyes on me as he listens to my story. His expression doesn’t change, which serves to tell me he isn’t surprised.

My mother was out with some friends, celebrating her fourteenth birthday. Her father was a wealthy businessman, and he’d allowed her to go shopping for a party dress. Mom had an adult with her, but they got separated in the store.

He threw my mother a huge birthday party each year, and nothing was too much for her when he was concerned. She never told me her father’s name or the business he owned. I knew what happened to her because she sat my sister and me down one day and told us everything. Mom had had enough and wanted out.

John took my mother, Julianne, while she waited outside for her aunt because she did not know what else to do. That is when John grabbed her.

He took Mom to his home and kept her locked in his basement for months. Of course, he wanted to wait until the hype had died down and the case into searching for her had gone cold before he let her out of that room.

John repeatedly raped Julianne, beat her, and made her believe that she’d never escape him. He screwed with her mind until he broke her spirit. He made her think that she wouldn’t be safe outside and that her family had forgotten all about her. All she had left was him. She needed to do as he said if she wanted to eat and live. If she defied him, he would hurt her in terrible ways.

What else was a fourteen-year-old child supposed to do in that situation?

Of course, she would try to fight and escape. Anybody with a brain cell would! But Mom had no understanding of what was happening to her. She wasn’t knowledgeable regarding se.x.

And why would she be?

She was a child!

John kept Julianne a prisoner in his basement for almost a year before he felt she was ready to move into the big house. By then, she was pregnant with his baby, and she was terrified.

For sixteen years, John kept my mother a prisoner. He never let her out of the house without him. John told Julianne the reason he’d taken her in the first place was because he was a friend of her father, and he had promised to take care of her if anything ever happened to her family. He said that evil men were after her and that they’d killed her parents and siblings. She needed to stay close to him so that he could protect her from the men still out there looking for her. John broke Mom in ways no person deserves to be broken.

When she sat my sister, Spring, and I down and explained all of this to us, she said that she was done lying to us. Mom knew it was risky because John could find out, but she wanted us to see the truth. She wanted to save us from John and told us how she’d seen her brother. Of course, we were confused because she’d just gotten through telling us how he’d died.

However, Julianne saw her brother in the parking lot on her trip to the supermarket with John the day before. She knew it was him because, even after sixteen years, he knew who she was. He’d called her name, and she’d recognized him and yelled his name in return. John had dragged her back to his car and driven away; all the while, she was banging on the windows to get to her brother. Her brother had given chase, but John managed to lose him.

My mother told us how the bruises she sported that day were from the beating John had given her because of her betrayal. In his mind, he’d been good to her all those years, even though he was nothing more than a monster in every way. My sister and I weren’t blind to the animal John was. He’d already told us we’d be moving house by the end of that week. God, we moved around so much that we never had anywhere to call home.

Mom explained to Spring and me how she planned to leave John and take us with her, but that we’d have to keep it our secret. Mom was scared; I could see it in her eyes. All those years, she’d been beaten down, but now she was finally ready to fight back.

Mom said it wouldn’t be long before we were out of there. We just had to wait for John to leave, and then we could make a run for it. Knowing her brother was alive meant we had a place to go.

Spring and I had all these dreams about meeting our uncle and how he would protect us from harm. That never happened. No matter how secret we kept things, how careful we were not to let anything slip, John found out. I believe that he planned to kill us all the moment my mother’s brother spotted her in that parking lot.

I’ll never know why he killed my mom and sister while I was out of the house. I’ve asked him, but he won’t give me the answer. John just smirked as if there was a reason I was still here. Just another way to punish me for being defective.

The cops asked me, when I told them all of this, how my sister and I would be allowed out of the house if my mother never was. There’s an easy answer to that. John wasn’t afraid of Spring and I going to school; he knew we’d never tell anyone what went on at home. We were too scared of him to do that.

We weren’t allowed friends as such, but Cassie was special. Meeting up with her that day saved my life.

Would I have snuck out of the house to meet her if I’d known my mother had planned to run that day?

If I had known my family would be gone by the time I got back?

Of course not. However, if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here today.

“They never found my sister’s body,” Jack breathes deeply through his nose and shifts in his seat. “John had shot my mom three times, but she didn’t die right away. She died later in hospital from her injuries. I don’t know what John did to Spring nor where he hid her body. All I know is that she’s out there somewhere, her body rotted away, and her spirit wandering, never finding peace.”

I wipe the tears from my cheeks.

“John went to prison for the rest of his life. He escaped the death sentence because he was certified insane.” Even if the judge had given him the death sentence, it’s doubtful they would have executed him.

I sigh dramatically and roll away the tension from my neck.

“I was given a new identity and taken to a group home, and it wasn’t long before my best friend ended up there, too. We looked out for each other in there, but I always wondered if I had more family out there somewhere.

“Cassie always wanted to find her father. Her mother was useless, so she ended up in the system. My grandparents didn’t give a damn that I was there, and I don’t even know if they’re alive or dead.”

Jack gives me a look that tells me that his parents are both dead. Somehow, I can’t find it in me to care, and that is just not like me.

“I took back my real identity because I didn’t want to hide anymore.” I blow out a breath and sigh.

I startle when Jack crouches in front of me and takes my hands.

“I’m so sorry for what you’ve been through, Wynter. Nothing I or anyone else says can ever take away your pain. You’ve been alone these twelve years, but you’re not alone any longer. You have a big family, one who loves you.”

I blink rapidly. I wasn’t expecting him to say something like that to me. Sure, I’m his niece, but he doesn’t know me at all. Yet here he is, telling me that he loves me.

“That man in there,” Jack tips his head toward the door. “You could have picked a worse husband.”

“I lost him there for a while,” I admit. “My insecurities because of my father...” I shake my head, shaking away the thought. “I’ll never make that mistake again.”

Jack puts his hand on my face and smiles. “We all make mistakes, Wynter. But if something is worth fighting for, we never give up.”

I like this man so much. I don’t understand how two siblings could be so different. My father was evil, yet this man isn’t. I don’t doubt that Jack does terrible things, but nothing like my father.

I suck back my emotions when Jack gently pulls me into his arms. I hesitate for a second before wrapping my arms around his back, and he kisses my head.

I pull away from him and smile. “So, when do I get to meet the rest of my family?”