not The Perfect Life

Just Matthew and me in the forrest

Chapter 13

Saturday, 24th of February 2019

Just Matthew and me in the forrest

Maybe that wasn't the best idea. I'm meeting someone on a forest path in the dark. It's just Matthew, but the fact that this is a rather strange man in a forest is enough to make me scared. Now I've already made my plan and it has to be followed through.

I stand on the way and wait for Matthew. I feel very uncomfortable. As already mentioned, I'm afraid of strange men when I'm alone. Matthew made me wait a while for him. In that time I get a shock from all the surrounding noises. A murderer or rapist could always jump out of the bush somewhere. I can't see if it's just an animal. It's way too dark. It also starts to rain. My jacket is thin. Much too thin. The rain makes it even colder than it actually is. And then he finally comes.

From a distance I can easily see some outlines. I walk towards it carefully and slowly. Then I realize it's Matthew. I walk closer to him until I'm right in front of him. He says nothing. He doesn't even greet me. I take a deep breath. He has to help me and especially Galen.

"Hey Matthew." I start the conversation.

"What's up?" He replies in a calm, neutral tone.

"Um..Could we maybe walk a bit? Standing makes me kind of nervous." I ask. Matthew nods and we walk a little along the forest path. Actually, this is really nice, if only I wasn't so scared.

"Is something wrong with my brother?" Asks Matthew curiously.

"Yes. Yes. You could say that. Did he tell you about .. well .."

I can hardly pronounce it. How am I supposed to tell him that Galen is being abused by his dad? After all, it's his dad too.

"What? Spit it out!", He becomes a little more restless.

"Did he tell you what your dad is doing with him?!" I suddenly burst out furiously. Matthew seems frozen by my roar. Did anyone else hear that? He does not answer.

"Are you actually talking to Galen?! Do you know how he feels?! Why aren't you doing anything about it?!" I keep shouting at Matthew. He is still very shocked.

"What? Of what?" He stammered, confused.

"Galen is at the end and I can no longer see it. It'll break him, Matthew." I explain a little more calmly.

"I don't even know what you mean? What do you mean by dad?"

I am a little skeptical. Is he just pretending or maybe he really doesn't know what I'm talking about? In any case, he looks very surprised. I clap my hands on my face. That beginning was really bad. I have to try to teach him the whole subject a little more gently.

"Matthew.", I explain quietly, "Your dad .. he does things to Galen that I don't want to say. By chance I saw such ... pictures with you and then .. I didn't tell anyone, but it crushes me because it crushes Galen. "

I can tell Matthew knows what I'm talking about. He makes a face of despair, shock and fear. But I can't tell whether he knew before.

"What..", he begins to stutter, "what .. what did Galen tell you or .. show you?"

"He didn't show anything, I guess. I stumbled into this room and saw those horrible pictures that I can't get out of my head. He says your father..he..be..be .."

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, I know ... I know what you want to say.", luckily he interrupts me. I couldn't have said it without crying.

"I thought ...", says Matthew with tears in his eyes, "... it would have ended by now. My dad hasn't touched me in a long ... and I thought ... it was just some kind of ... phase . " He starts to cry. "I couldn't ... but had no idea that it only stopped with me because he was doing it with Galen now. How long?"

"I don't know. He didn't say that, but .. when did it stop with you?" I'm trying to be a little more careful now. The yelling was really unnecessary.

"It stopped forever with me!", Matthew says loudly, "I was a kid when he stopped. How long does he have to do this with Galen? I swear to you, I didn't know!"

"I know!", I step in, "I know! I'm sorry! I shouldn't have yelled at you. Of course not. It's not your job to know that."

Matthew takes a deep breath and tries to calm himself down. Then suddenly he stops and stares at me.

"Why? Why are you telling me that? What do you want from me now?" He grumbles at me.

"I want to help Galen. He doesn't want to go to the police and actually I am not allowed to tell anyone. I try to be with him every fucking day. I try to keep him away from your parents and distract him. You know, he is sometimes thinking about committing suicide? "

It's like the blow hits him. Matthew stands in front of me completely frozen.

"Suicide? You said suicide?" He reacts, trembling.

"Yes. And I know it's not your fault, but I can't watch Galen choke on this secret forever. He should be able to breathe again. He should be able to live. You understand?" I try to explain my feelings to Matthew. He nods.

"What can we do? Should we go to the police after all?" I suggest.

"No. Definitely not. My dad always told me as a kid that if we talked to someone he would kill me and Galen and believe me, Olivia, he would and Mom just like that. The police never believe us when they see who our parents are. That's not an option, Olivia! Absolutely not! "

"Maybe.. you should talk to him first." I try a new idea.

"Why me?" Asks Matthew.

"You are his brother. You surely have a better connection with him than I do."

"I.. better than you? You're his girlfriend."

I sigh: "No, I'm not really. We only pretended because your parents pushed Galen into a relationship and he didn't know what to do next. We became a fake couple, so to speak." Matthew seems very perlex.

"Just pretend? And the kisses and all that?" He asks.

"Well... only pretend kisses. No more." Suddenly I feel very uncomfortable. That's why I try to change the subject quickly.

"So.. are you talking to Galen, please?" I ask carefully.

"Yes, I can do it.", He replies a little defiantly, "But ... he will know that you have leaked something. Don't you think he will hate you somehow or something?"

"I don't care. If Galen is mad at me because of that, then I can live with it. But I would never be able to live with it if Galen died because I didn't do anything." Matthew nods.

Finally he comes a little closer to me and just hugs me without warning. I don't even know how to react.

"Thanks, Olivia. You may have just saved my little brother," he whispers in my ear. Matthew seems to be more affected than he lets on. I think I did something good. Matthew whispers to me, "So you're not with my brother?"

"No. We just played it all. We're just best friends."

"Okay, okay, cool .. so you're still available?" He asks mockingly. I quickly break away from him and look at him completely deranged. The guy just smiles stupidly mischievous. I roll my eyes and shake my head. Then I decide not to answer that at all to annoy him a little.

All day long I wondered if I would be wrong if I told Matthew about it. I will do everything I can to help and get Galen out of his position.