Briar's Patch

Chapter 6

Twenty minutes later, Emmett is at the house, and I give him as he seems to be very punctual. Punctuality is a great quality in a person. We are sitting in the living room, and I'm waiting fro him to start talking, and he has been silent fr a few minutes now. 

"Okay, so here's the explanation," he says finally. "River and I have been friends since we were 7-years-old. His childhood was rough with his dad leaving him when he was only 10-years-old, and his mother is very manipulative. She would always lie about different illnesses that she didn't have. She did this to gain sympathy from everyone she knew, hell, even those she didn't know, so River thought you were doing the same thing." 

Grabbing my pen and paper from the coffee table to write; "Okay, I can understand his situation, but he doesn't know me, or my situation. I don't like the attention I receive for using ASL, or if I use my voice. I can understand his irritation and anger at his mother since mine isn't the best person either. She had many male "friends" who she let do whatever they wanted to me once they drugged my food or drink. I fought back against one of these men, so he strangled me badly, and damaged my throat and vocal chords."

Handing him the paper, I watch his face as he reads my reply. He chews on his lower lip while he reads, but otherwise his face remains impassive. 

When he picks his head up though, his eyes have tears swimming there,as he hands me back the paper while he whispers thickly; "I'm so sorry that happened to you. When did this happen? I understand if you don't want to answer this."

"This happened two years ago," I write before turning it around so he can read it.

"You haven't dealt with this for very long then," he softly replies with a deep frown. 

Shaking my head at him, and then he asks; "What happened to your mother, and the guy who did this?" 

Sighing softly while writing; "Mother and the guy went to trial, and both were sent to prison. Mother got five years plus seven years probation once she's out, and the man received seven years in prison, and then three years of probation."

"Have you seen your mother since she went to prison?" he gently asks with his head tilted to the right. 

Shaking my head as I write; "Why would I? She allowed those men to drug and rape me, and she allowed that man to damage me. She was my mother, someone who was supposed to keep me safe, and she failed horribly at that."

Emmett nods in understanding; "I can respect that. So, I do apologize for not saying anything to River that day, and I was wondering if we can please start again?"

Starring into his beautiful brown eyes, all I find is sincerity, and I quickly write down my answer before showing it to him; "I'm sorry for shutting you out when this happened. That was wrong of me, and I would love to start over again. Please know, I will not tolerate River's bad attitude toward me though."

Emmett nods with a huge, relieved grin; "It's okay, and I understand the reaction you had. Thanks for letting us try again."

Duke trots into the room from the kitchen where he was eating his food. When he sits beside me, he lowly growls at Emmett causing me to smirk when Emmett frowns. Tapping his head gently a couple of times making him stop growling, and then I rub his head softly to calm him down. 

"He doesn't like me much, does he?" Emmett asks with a small pout. 

"It takes him a few times of seeing people before he likes them," I write with a smirk. 

"So, where is your dad?" he asks as he looks at me curiously.

"He went fishing with uncle Kenny, and Adam. They'll be back by 7 p.m.," I write.

"Why didn't you go with them?" he asks with a frown at me. 

Placing the pen and paper on the coffee table, I motion for him to follow me as I stand. I lead him to my art room, and I shyly show him my painting. His jaw drops as he studies the painting before his gaze turns to me. 

"Damn Briar, this is fan-fucking-tastic!" he praises, and I blush a dark crimson. 

'Thank you,' I sign while mouthing the words. 

"I'm going to assume you signed 'thank you' since that's what you mouthed," he replies, and I nod with a bright smile at him. "Well, there goes my idea of asking you to hang out with me today until your dad came home."

Pouting at him, I grab my phone off the shelf to type out a text; "Why can't we?" 

Turning my phone around so he can read it, he then replies; "Because you need to finish this. We can hang out tomorrow if you want."

Chewing on my lip as I type; "I don't drive, and dad starts his three day shift tomorrow morning, so I can't meet you anywhere unless it is within walking distance from here."

"That's fine, we will figure something out, but why don't you have your license yet?" he gently replies. 

Shrugging my shoulders as I type; "I'm waiting until I turn 18-years-old to get it. I've never had any desire to get my license."

"Oh, well there is nothing wrong with that," he replies with a small smile. "So, I will come here tomorrow, and then we can either hang out here, go do something, or both."

"Okay, that sounds good. What time are you thinking you will be here, that way I know I'm ready when you arrive?" 

Emmett thinks for a moment before replying; "I will be here by 11 a.m., and then we can go out to lunch, and then come back here to hang out?" 

Nodding in response to his suggestion with a bright smile then he says; "Awesome. I'm going to head out now, so you can finish this fantastic painting."

Walking him to the door, and waving goodbye, I shut and lock the door behind before letting Duke out into the backyard to potty. Once he's finished, we head back to the art room, so I can work on the painting. By 4 p.m., I have finished the painting, and I'm now cleaning up my area after covering the painting so nothing gets onto the wet paint. Finishing with this, I strip off my clothes once I'm in my bedroom to scrub my body clean of the splatters of paint. 

Drying off once I've turned off the water, and stepped from the shower, I dress in clean clothing, and take care of my wet towel, and dirty clothes. I then practice my violin for the next hour, and when dad, uncle Kenny, aunt Kacee, Adam, and Weston arrive at 7 p.m., Duke and I are in the backyard. As promised they've brought home dinner, and the six of us have dinner in the backyard while Duke plays.