This Is Me Famous

Chapter 5

                                          

Hayden inhaled deeply. I looked into his eyes and could see the conflict. He wanted to tell me the truth, but he'd promised not to. 

"Fuck it." He said. "Yes. Yes, Aria, on your fifth birthday, he kidnapped you." 

I didn't have memories of my father, except what I had in my nightmares. I'd never seen a picture of him. I could only remember my mother telling me that he was gone, that he lived far away and was never coming back. She never told me his name, and after a while, I learned to stop asking about him. 

"Lucinda left him a couple days after you were born. You lived with us for almost a year, then Lucinda moved to Michigan. She figured that with your father in New York, you guys would be safe, since he wouldn't expect you to move back to the states." Hayden explained. "I don't really remember much, just that Lucinda showed up at the house covered in bruises. It was the first time I saw you, actually. The picture of me holding you in the hospital was because my parents took your mom to get checked out. You were barely four days old, and I was told that I had to protect you from then on." 

I turned on the light, I wanted to see him as he told me the missing parts of my life. I didn't say a word. 

"Anyway, a few months after you guys went to Michigan, Kurt, your father, found out. He was able to get supervised visitations. Your mom never married him, and she never filed any abuse reports, so there were no reason for the courts to deny him his rights." He continued. "You were allowed to see him for an hour every other Saturday. He usually met you and your mom at McDonald's." 

I remembered that. Mom took me every Saturday, and sometimes a man joined us. I never really made the connection that he was my father. 

"When your mom met Daniel, Kurt started demanding more time with you. He started making threats, and your mom had the visits stopped. He wasn't allowed to see you anymore. On your fifth birthday, he showed up at the party and demanded to see you. I took you to your room to hide. He left when the police came." 

He closed his eyes. 

"I slept with you that night for the first time. You were so scared you didn't give me any other choice. He came in sometime after midnight. I tried to stop him, but I was only nine and he put a gun in my face. He took you and I couldn't do anything. By the time I was able to wake Lucinda and Daniel, he'd already driven away. They called the police." 

"Holy shit." I whispered. "You must have been terrified." 

"I'm pretty sure I pissed myself." He said solemnly. "I stayed at the house with my parents. I remember just staring at the Christmas tree, telling my parents that we needed to decorate it so that it looked pretty when you got home. Tove and Hesja were huddled on the couch with Kaylen, who was so confused. All she knew is that you were gone and everyone was scared." 

He paused and opened his eyes. "They caught up to Daniel in Toledo. They cornered him on a dead end street. He got out with you and tried to run on foot, but couldn't. He ducked into an abandoned house and the police heard a gun shot. They found you screaming in a corner, ears covered and eyes closed.  He'd shot himself. You were covered in his blood, and...well...yeah." He trailed off, looking sick. "You didn't talk for months after that. Lucinda sent you to us for the summer hoping it would be good for you. You followed me around and after a couple days, started talking again. We asked if you remembered your birthday, but you only talked about the party and the presents. Then the nightmares started. One the third night, I climbed in bed with you and you slept. So it became a thing, that when I was around, I slept with you to protect you from the nightmares."