Family Don't Break

CHAPTER 34

TW: PTSD, recollections of violence

JACK'S POV:

All of us are in the main room. No one speaks. "Is she okay?" Finch asks. His voice breaks a bit. "She's going to be okay. She just needs rest." Finch sighs in relief. Race is sitting next to Spot, his head in his hands. Spot is whispering something to him, I can't hear what.

"Race. What happened in there?" I demand. "Not right now, Jack. Let him have some time." Spot glares at me. "No. It-it's fine. He deserves to know." Race stands up and everyone turns to look at him. Spot tells him he doesn't have to share, but Race insists.

"We got sent to the workhouse. You saw it, you don't need me to tell you how bad it was. Peter was on the bunk above us, he helped us out. There wasn't much food. We were hungry. I had to trade my cigar for some food just before you came." he takes a deep breath before continuing. "We tried to keep the guards from finding out she was a girl. It worked for a few days, but they found out. They told me that if we wanted food, I could give them an hour with Alex for a meal."

I feel my fists tightening. If they even touched her, I swear to God, I will hunt them down. "Then they managed to corner her. They were going to-" he can't finish the sentence. "I stopped them before they could. But they started to threaten me with a knife. Put it against my neck. Thought they were going to kill me. But then Alex jumped and pulled the knife away, and then-" he sniffs back some tears. "Then she got stabbed. The guards ran off. I did my best to take care of her. I really did."

Race crumples to the floor as tears run down his face. His frail form shakes with sobs as the reality of what has happened hit him. Spot sinks to the floor next to him and rubs his back. As I look around the room, I see tears in everyone's eyes. Faces are slack and eyes are haunted with the terrible images. I can feel anger consume me. I slam my fist into the brick wall, drawing blood. I don't feel the pain. "Jack, stop!" Crutchie pulls my hand back, keeping me from punching the wall again.

"Those bastards, they- they hurt her. I'm going to kill them." I growl. "I'll come with you." Finch hisses. The other boys voice their agreement. I can feel the fury of the room, almost as if it was a physical fog. One of our own has been hurt. We don't stand for that, never have and never will. We fight back, we bleed for our family.

"I want to see them suffer." Crutchie looks at me with understanding. He feels just as angry as the rest of us, but he doesn't show it the same. "She's laying in the next room, barely breathing! For God's sake, they tried to use her! They would have if Race hadn't intervened. I wasn't there, I couldn't save her. I had her blood on my hands, I can still hear her screams." Each word is laced with venom. I throw them like knives, though I have no target.

"Revenge doesn't help. It feels good for a moment, but it won't fix anything. I'm not telling you to forgive, but I'm telling you to let the anger go. It will only hurt you more." he turns to face the rest of the boys. "This goes for all of you. Don't think I can't see the bloodthirst in each of your eyes. I'm just as pissed as the rest of you. But we can't change what has happened, we can only work on helping them recover. Focus on that." The room considers his words. Nobody wants to speak.

"As long as we've got each other, we'll all get through this. It's the one thing I can be sure of." Davey speaks. "You sound like a corny poster." Specs chuckles. The room rings with soft laughter. We may not be blood, but we're a family. All these boys are my brothers. They see Alex and Katharine like sisters. We support each other, and as long as we have that, we'll be okay. We've been through shit, and we always come out on the other side. We just have to keep pushing forward, and soon enough we'll have survived this too.