Tragedy ✔️

Chapter Forty Five

Chapter Forty Five: Shared Guilt
Sophia Crawford

"It's been a while since I saw the two of you." Oliver says, not even hiding the fact that he was surprised to see River and I entering the gym on a weekend.

I was just surprised that Oliver was here on a weekend.

I turn to look at River, and give his hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I guess I'm ready to talk." River says. "I need to talk about every single thing."

Oliver nods, gesturing for the two of us to sit down.

I sit down next to River and I hear him inhaling deeply beside me.

Oliver sat across from us, throwing his foot over his one leg.

"It's no surprise that I was put in support group because I was dealing with some shit." River starts, chuckling at his choice of words. "Uh, but I'm ready to tell you what really happened to me, and not the rumours that has been spreading around for a while now."

Oliver nods, waiting for River to go on while I tried to stifle a cry of my own.

What happened to River and his family was terrible, but I'm so relieved that he's ready to let go of his past, to move on from what's hurting him.

It will be difficult, but I will be by his side like he has been on mine.

"My family has been murdered." He says, forcing out the words.

Oliver's eyes widens just a little bit. He clearly didn't expect that to come out of River's mouth. Although Oliver was shocked to the core, he kept listening to River and what he wanted to say while I held tightly onto River's hand. He didn't even interrupt River when he took a small break to take a breather.

"My dad was an abusive drunk who decided that enough was enough. He abused me first, for years without end." He continued. "But he got tired because I got so used to the beatings he used to inflict on me." River's shoulders slumps and he releases a deep breath. "And then he moved on to my younger brother Beck, and then my mom. I guess he got tired of having a family, so he decided to, uh, murder them." There was a long pause before River lets go of my hand to open a page of Beck's notebook. "I have a poem I'd like to share, it was written by my brother. Uh, I-, uh-"

I saw River's hands start to shake as it was holding the notebook, but I take it from him, pressing my finger to the first line of Beck's poem.

My lips were quivering as I started to read the first line of the poem written in Beck's beautiful handwriting. "Light blue oceanic eyes are filled with unshed tears, trying to keep me in the dark of what was happening around me." I pause, feeling that first line hit me like a football player being tackled by its opponent.