The Perfect Dutton

Part 14

Walking into Monica and Kacys' new room, I sigh. Tate is hiding under the bed again as Monica sits next to it, trying to talk him into coming out. It's not working at all.

"Hey Tate, why don't you come on out? Maybe we could go ride some horses?" I ask, and im met with silence

"No." A meek little voice says after a while

I'm starting to feel defeated, I can see that Monica has already given up. That defeated look in her eyes tells me one thing, she is more scared than the boy under the bed. Running a hand through my hair, Kacy walks into the room with three nice warm plates of steak and salad. I realize just how hungry I am. Clarke comes running into the room right behind Kacy.

"Mommy, mommy, dinners done." She says excitedly

"I know sweetie why don't you go get washed up and I'll meet you down there."

"Okay!" Her footsteps echo down the hall until I can't hear them anymore

"Tate come out and eat." Kacy's voice is stern

"No." That same meek voice answers

"He doesn't want to come out Kacy." Monica exclaims defeatedly

"Tate out from under the bed now." Kacy demands

"No." Tates voice a bit louder now

"Kacy stop it." Monica pleads

"No he can't stay under there forever." A heavy sigh leaves Kacy

"Why not drag him out?" I ask 

Monica's head whips around to look at me, Kacy a bit slower. As Kacy contemplates what I just said Monica looks furious.

"You can't just drag him out." She yells

"Yes that is exactly what I am gonna do." Kacy drops to his knees and manages to get ahold of Tate

Tate screams out as Kacy tries to get him out. His hands grab one bed post to try and stay under. My heart clenches at the sound but finally Kacy gets Tate out from underneath. Looking at the boy, he is skinny and malnourished looking. Kacy is whispering to him. I don't understand what he is saying. Eventually Tate grabs a plate and walks over to the small table in the room and begins to eat.

"He's not scared, you're scaring him." He looks to Monica with a rage in his eyes

Monica slides down to the side of the bed. "I hate you, both of you." She whispers with tears falling down her cheeks

"Fine by me." I tell her with a shrug 

I take one last look at Kacy and all I see is a sad man crouched down next to his defeated wife. Walking over to Tate I lean down and kiss his head.

"Lets ride horses tomorrow. Okay?" I ask he just nods his head

Walking out of the room as Monica is sobbing was in some way satisfying to me. Deep down I felt like she deserved what she was getting. Her marriage was falling apart at the seems and yet it satisfied me to no end to feel that I in some way am responsible for it. Joining my father at the table that night, with Clarke next me I felt happy and accomplished. Does that make me a horrible person... Yes, yes it does and I do not care.

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Helping Tate onto his horse the next day I was relieved to see some of the color back in his eyes. I could tell he was still scared. but I would help him through it. 

"Hey just remember to breath, relax your legs and trust that he knows what he is doing." I tell him

"Okay." he responds

Mounting my horse I give Tate a reassuring smile. Motioning for Tate to follow as Nyx starts moving, I stay next to him the entire time we ride. I made sure to stay out of the pasture where we found his boot. I didn't want to bring anything up to soon. Not when he seemed to be doing so good. I even got him to laugh a couple times. We raced and jumped over fallen trees. Occasionally stopping at the creek to let the horses eat and drink. 

"After this I gotta run into town for some errands. Wanna come with?" I look over at him waiting

"Sure, I don't wanna be around mom right now." He says quietly then seems to realize what he just said

"I-I didn't mean it like th-." 

"Don't worry your secret is safe with me." I laugh lightly

A weight seems to come off of his shoulders at my words. Getting mounted back on the horses we head for home. With the barn coming into view I stop just before I can make out any silhouettes. 

"Tate listen to me real quick."

"What is it?" He sounds scared

"Nothing bad I promise, I just want you to know that it is perfectly okay to share your feelings. Society has a way of making men feel like they have to shove it down in a hole deep down inside of them until they explode. And then when they do society blames them for lashing out... What I am trying to say is, don't think for a second that your feelings arent valid. They are, you just gotta know the right time to share them." I look at him before I start moving 

He catches up to me but doesn't say anything. He seems deep in thought. As we passed the fence I see a figure leaning up against the wall. It's Kacy. I nod at him and hop off my horse. 

"Whats up?" 

"I need to talk to Tate for a bit." 

"Oh okay just let us get the horses put up." I tell him he just nods

"C'mon Tate." Walking Nyx into his stall I pull the saddle and other stuff off making sure Tate does the same thing." 

Walking Tate back over to where Kacy is standing I explain to him that his dad needs him and that I will make it up to him some other time.

"Alright, bye Tate. Love you." I ell him kissing his head 

They walk away but Kacy turns around and mouths a quick 'thank you' I just nod my head with a smile on my face.

"Hello everyone sorry for the late update. I will be uploading more chapters very soon, like tmrw soon. Until we meet again folks."