Coney Island

Chapter 9

The next morning was rushed. Karlie and I slept in, which wasn't surprising since we were up until about four. It had been her phone that had woken her. I had still been peacefully sleeping until she shook me awake and told me it was almost half past ten. We'd both jumped out of bed, worried about what Hugo had been up to while we had been sleeping most of the morning. 

I tried to reassure her as we both threw on some clothes from the closet in the room, but she had told me that Hugo was a very curious child, and she was scared he had been touching things he shouldn't have been. I wasn't really that bothered. Most of the things in his reach were things that could easily be replaced.

She was still panicking as we made it down the stairs and into the kitchen. However, she breathed a sigh of relief once we saw that Hugo was in there and he wasn't alone. 'Hi, momma,' he waved from where he sat on a stool, a mixing bowl in front of him with what I assumed was batter inside. 'Joe is teaching me to make pancakes. He said they were Taylor's favorites, and I told him they were our favorites too,' He looked at me, 'Hi, Taylor.' 

I smiled at him. He looked so adorable in his little apron and chef's hat. 'Good morning Hugo. I hope Joe is going to pay you for all your hard work,' I told him before I smirked at Joe, who was chuckling. 

Karlie walked over to her son and kissed him on the head. 'Have you been a good boy for Joe? You didn't touch any of Taylor's stuff, did you? You should have woken me up,' she was still on edge. I could hear it in her tone, and I wondered why she was so panicky about him touching things. 

'I was going to wake you up, but Joe told me that you didn't get much sleep because Taylor had a bad dream, and you stayed up to make sure she was alright,' He replied before he looked over at me, 'was it monsters in your closet? I used to have a monster in my closet, but then mommy got him with the monster spray, and now he's gone,' he said seriously. 

I tried my best to hold in my giggles. He was so cute. 'It was, but your momma got rid of them, and then she stayed with me just in case,' I told him just as seriously. 

Karlie turned to Joe with a smile. 'Thank you for entertaining him. The last time he got up before me, he decided that Josh's very rare star wars figures looked like awesome toys. He opened every one of them and made them battle. Josh was furious, and Hugo didn't understand why he was yelling at him,' she covered Hugo's ears for a second, 'Josh was the monster in his closet. He was only four at the time,' she whispered before she moved her hands from his ears and continued talking to her son, leaving Joe and me horrified at what she had just told us. 

I concluded that there was obviously a lot that had happened while she was married to Josh that ran a lot deeper than just him keeping her against her will. He sounded very abusive, and I prayed that he had never been physical with them, though I knew that emotional abuse was just as bad.  

Joe regained the use of his mouth before I did, and he smiled back at her. 'He's been a little angel. When I came down, he was sitting in the lounge watching cartoons. I joined him, and then we had a few games on the console that my nephew made us buy because, apparently, this house is boring without one. Hugo taught me how to play Roadblocks, and then I suggested that we made breakfast,' He told her, causing both Karlie and Hugo to start giggling. 

'It's Roblox Joe, not roadblocks. And you weren't very good,' replied Hugo through his giggles while Karlie lent into my side, her eyes wet with tears from her laughter. 'Momma is really good, and she even designed some outfits you can wear in the game,' he sounded so proud of her, and it made my heart swell. 

I was proud of her too. She had achieved so much since I met her fourteen years ago. She had her coding camp and her Kookie business. She was the face of many high-profile brands. She had been in a few TV shows, and she still modeled from time to time. And on top of all that, she had raised the most intelligent, sweet, kind, and funny little boy I had ever met, all while being trapped in a marriage with a man she believed to be her friend but, in the end, only ever hurt her. She was a superhero in my eyes, and I was so lucky to have her back in my life.