"Hey Taylor " Eva wraps me in a hug and then looks at me suspiciously "Did I see you walking to school with Kelce this morning?"
"It's a long and peculiar story Eva but it started with him beating up Johan to protect my honour Friday night and ended with him eating breakfast with my family" I shake my head once again at how quickly and massively things seem to change in my relationship with Travis
"So do you like him? Does he like you?" Eva's question might seem innocent enough but it has a hidden meaning I don't miss... she doesn't approve.
"It's not romantic between us"
"Well obviously, because Travis wouldn't know romance if it stepped up and slapped him across the face with 100 red roses" I bite down, not wanting to bite back, I know Travis' reputation and I really don't want to fall out with one of my best friends over it but for some reason it hurts me to hear her speak about him like that. She doesn't know him, she only knows what he shows the people around him and that's not Travis, the Portuguese boy that dreams of returning to his homeland and loves playing the guitar and eating plate after plate of fruit and pancakes, that's Travis the product of a dysfunctional family and an abusive home.
"Where's MJ?"
"Why are you changing the subject?"
"I'm not I'm just..." silence descends on the entire corridor as Travis , flanked by two uniformed police officers walks towards us. "Travis!" I can't help myself, I lurch forward and grab his t-shirt, not really sure what I'm doing or why but he doesn't answer me. He just lifts his chin to the air, barely looking at me and then carries on walking and before long they are exiting the school and headed towards a waiting police cruiser. The only relief comes when I notice they don't turn on the blue lights or the siren as they pull away.
"That was not just a 'friendly' gesture" says Eva, looking at me in disappointment but I spot Travis' friends heading towards us and can't control myself as I rush over to them.
"What's going on with Travis?"
"Nothing to do with you 'Little Miss Giggles'" says the red head with cool blue eyes and everyone else laughs and looks down at me but I don't care about their approval right now so I forge ahead
"Why do the police have him is it because of what happened with Johan?!" Dread seeps in to me as it dawns on me this could be my fault, Travis could have been arrested all because of me.
"You might not realise this Taylor, but not everything in this world revolves around you" the brunette boy looks down at me as though I was dog shit and he'd just stepped in me wearing his most expensive shoes. He uses his hip to barge me out of the way and as I clatter into the lockers I feel myself self begin to shrink in on myself. If Travis has been arrested for protecting me then I will never forgive myself.
*******************
"Mr. Kelce there's been a disturbance at your home, the female occupier has been taken to a local hospital but the male..."
"My father"
"Tomás Kelce is requesting you return home"
"Why the police escort?"
"It's for your own safety son"
"He hurt Mary?"
"She appears to have hurt herself"
"Then I don't need an escort , drop me home and I will speak to him in alone"
Walking up to my front door I know what's coming, I just don't know why. I turn the key and step into the darkness. I know he's here, he's always here, he never leaves.
"Dad?" I walk down the hallway towards the living room and don't even have a second to think as his big hard hand wraps around my throat and he walks me backwards until my spine collides with the door
"You deceitful little bastard" he growls as his fingers tighten, his accent seems so much stronger when he's angry and it reminds me of Mr.Swift, when he addressed me it was gentle when my father addresses me it's harsh, always harsh, his eyes blaze and the stench of alcohol hits me hard in the face.
I don't talk back, I don't say anything I just stand there like the coward I am and prepare to take what I'm given. I won't fight back. I know better than to ever fight back.
He grabs me by the scruff of the neck and drags me up the stairs towards my bedroom. My door is off it's hinges and lying broken against the wall.
My bed is destroyed, the bedding and mattress strewn across the floor and I suddenly know what this is about. He raises his fist and punches me hard in the back of my head and I stumble forward, my vision white and my stomach hot. I land on my hands and knees just as the heel of his boot comes down on my back and I can't help but yell out
"That's right pussy, cry like the bitch you are! You are just like your mother. She was a fuckin deceitful whore and now you are her deceitful son". His hands are on the back of my neck as he slams my face in to the floor.
"You knew we were struggling, knew we couldn't pay the bills"
I want to tell him to get off his lazy ass and get a fuckin job but I bite my tongue
"Here you are sleeping like a fucking baby with 200 dollars under your mattress"
My Portugal money...
"We are a family asswipe, what's yours is mine... got it?" I nod my head, my forehead pressed against the mattress as he kicks me hard in the ribs and then stalks out of my room taking with him every dream of getting out of this place that I ever had.
*******************
We all sit down at the table and look down at the Portuguese feast my mother had prepared. I explained Travis' father had fallen ill... a lie but I didn't know the truth of where Travis was, only that he wouldn't be joining us tonight.
"Mom this looks incredible, Travis will be so sorry that he missed it"
"It's a shame that he isn't here he seemed so enthusiastic this morning" my mom's voice is a little flat, she's disappointed her efforts have been for nothing but she knows that family comes first, if only she knew the truth of Travis' family.
"Vamos" says my father suddenly "Lets eat, I don't know about you but I can't wait to watch some of those videos.
Just as he raises a forkful of bacalhau à brás to his mouth we hear a faint knock on the door and I gasp as I leap up and run to open it.
"Travis!!" He looks pale and a bit dazed but he smells amazing, he has obviously just showered but hasnt had time to style his hair as it hangs in loose curls over his forehead. He looks so beautiful but so, so sad
"Sorry I'm late"
"I didn't think you were coming, what with your father being ill " I say so he's aware of the lie I have told and he nods at me to show he understands.
"I told your mom I would be here, I didn't want to let her down"
"Travis come in its getting cold!"
I turn and see my mothers face bright with excitement and as I watch Travis walk in and over to the table I notice a stiffness in the way he moves as his arm wraps over his stomach, it's slight, im sure my family won't notice it but I do and I know the cause of it as well and that makes a protective fire ignite in my gut.
