Like a father (gmw)

Morning

In the morning, at about 6am, two people laid awake, both thinking about the night before. He got up and walked to the living room, hoping that that she was awake, and she was. She was laying on her back with her bent legs pointed to the ceiling, her fingers interlaced, resting on her stomach and her beanie back on her head. He walked over and sat where he did the night before. She didn't look at him but just stared at the ceiling as he picked one her hands off her stomach, held it, and rubbed his thumb back and fourth in her palm, a way that he would get Riley to relax when she was stressed.
"You have a wonderful voice."
"Thanks." After another moment of silence, he spoke again.
"How? The marks. How?"
"Remember that problem that I had with a boy?"
"Very well."
"Well, it wasn't a boy. It was a man."
"And who might this man be?" She began picking at her jeans with her other hand, silent for a moment.
"Won't be long before he's my father."
"He did this to you?" He said in a whisper.
"If he knows that I said anything, I'm dead. Literally."
"So he beats you and threatened you." He said, slowly, in shock. "Anything else?" That's when the tears started coming, just a few tears, streaming down her cheeks but not being wiped away. "What does he do?"
"He makes me have sex with him." She said in just a whisper. Cory froze for a moment. Everything was coming at him so quickly. Although she was his daughters friend, it felt a lot like if his daughter told him that and his heart broke. She stared up at the ceiling, trying to feel nothing but tears kept falling.
"Does your mom know?"
"He made her watch, twice."
"Oh. Are you?" Maya shook her head, knowing what he meant.
"I doubt it."
"Good. I'm so sorry, Maya. About all of this. I was supposed to protect you guys from these thing and I failed. I really did fail you, this time."
"You didn't. I was too afraid to say anything." Her tears became sobs and she put her hands over her eyes. He reached over, grabbing onto her back and pulling her little weak body up to sitting, pulling her into a tight hug. She put her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"It's gonna be okay, Maya."