New beginnings

Chapter 3

There's some talk about sex, abuse and a bit of gore.

It was early in the morning. The clock on the bedside table said it was 6:50 as it happily ticked away with constant rhythm and beat. Fidd was sitting up in the bed. He couldn't sleep. He had no idea how he managed to get to sleep in the first place. He was frantically trying to think of a plan. He looked down at the slumbering child beside him. He knew he had to do everything in his power to keep Tate safe from the clutches of his wife. But how? How would the story of abuse go down in court? No one has ever really heard of an abusive wife before, would they believe him? What if Sam brought up is sexuality? He knew if that happened he would have to fight even harder for custody. What would ma and pa say? How was he going to help his sister buy food if he had no way of making money? These thoughts woke Fidd up at the dead of night and hadn't left  for over five hours. These scenarios constantly replayed in his mind each one more worse than the last.

Suddenly the door creaked open letting some light shine into the dark room. It was Sarah, she was in her waitress uniform.
"Oh you're up, Fidd I have to start my shift at the restaurant. I will be back in a couple hours. There is some food in the kitchen. Do you need anything before I leave?" She said with a smile whilst leaning on the door frame.
"Um, I-I couldn't help but notice the old computer in the kitchen. 
Y-you wouldn't mind if I took a look at it?" He twiddled his thumbs.
"Of corse! I was about to throw it away. Do what you want with it"
"Thank you Sarah, see ya later" Fidd waved goodbye.
"Bye fidd" Sarah waved back as she walked out of sight. Soon came a slam of the door, she had left.
Fidd huffed and looked down at Tate. He was waking up, he was groaning as he opened his eyes.
"Mornin' Tate" Fidd smiled down at him.
"Mornin' pa" he giggled as he jumped up and began to bounce on the bed. Fidd never understood how Tate would wake up and suddenly be bouncing off the walls with energy.
"Come on, ya little gremlin" Fidd chuckled as he got up from the bed. Tate jumped down and ran after his father.

In the kitchen Fidd began making himself a cup of coffee. He wasn't the biggest fan of coffee, too much would make him go really hyper but he couldn't find any tea bags so he would have to bare it.
"Pa I want to try some!" He reached up trying to grab the mug of boiling hot coffee. Fidd quickly pulled it out of Tate's reach. At that angle it would have spilt all over him.
"Tate, this is for grown ups only" Fidd grabbed hold of the mug.
"Like mommies special juice?" Tate asked and tilted his head.
"Yes, like mommies special juice" Fidd smiled. He then walked over to the beaten up computer sitting on the kitchen counter. He picked it up with one hand. Being careful not to spill his drink.
"Come on, let's go in the living room" Fidd flicked his head forward, telling Tate to run ahead into the next room.

He sat down on the couch. His back sunk deep in the cushions. He felt the the shards of glass sink deeper into his back as the the couch pushed them in. He hissed in pain and sat up, reliving the uncomfortable sensation. He placed his mug on the coffee table and began to tinker with the laptop. Tate was playing with Nancy on the floor.
"Tate, play nice" Fidd looked over at him every now and again, making sure he wasn't provoking her. Fidd then went back to taking the laptop apart. Inspecting every wire and circuit plate he removed.
"That's broken. That's fried. Ahh that's hot! Is that even supposed to be there? I dunno what that is? This is a paper clip! What even is this?" These were just a few of the phrases Fidd mumbled to himself as he disassembled the laptop until it was just a neat layout of computer pieces set across the coffee table. Tate soon grew bored of the cat and clambered on to the couch.
"What ya doin'?" His high little voice squeaked.
"Working" Fidd replied as he scribbled some equations on to a piece of scrap paper.
"Can I help?" He sat down beside his dad. Fidd didn't really want him around all the small, swallow-able, computer pieces.
"Yes. You can draw me a computer, so I know what I need to build" he handed Tate a pencil and some paper. He smiled up at his father before scribbling on the paper. He was trying really hard to make the best drawing for his dad. Fidd smiled as he watched his son carefully trying to draw a computer for him. He soon set back to work, jotting down notes and plans on the piece of paper.

About fifteen minutes later Fidd looked over at Tate to see he progress on his drawing. To Fidds surprise, Tate had fallen asleep half way through his drawing.
"Must of tuckered himself out, all that jumping and playing with that cat" he whispered to himself. Fidd then grabbed hold of Tate and put him in a more comfortable position, didn't want him getting a crick in his neck.
"That's gotta be more comfortable?" He snickered to himself as he resumed on his work.
Suddenly the black cat jumped up onto his lap.
"No cat! I don't want you" Fidd groaned but he was too scared to push her off of his lap. Nancy made herself comfortable, lying down and purring loudly. He gave a deep exhale, he couldn't get any work done with a cat on his lap. He tried to move his legs, hoping she would move but Nancy didn't budge. She just looked up at him with her giant green eyes and meowed softly. Fidd then sunk back into the couch. He soon built up the courage to stroke her. Nancy's fur was soft on his skin. She purred as his fingers combed through her thick, black fur. His hand then pulled away as it rubbed against the stub of her tail.
"Such a pretty little thing, yet they still hurt ya, huh? I wonder what they did for ya to loose that tail of yours? Maybe they burnt it? Or shut it in the door? My wife did that to me. Once we were Sittin' together and just for the fun of it she set my shirt on fire with her lighter. Still got the burn on my back. And the time she got drunk and I did the stupid thing of puttin' my head in the fridge, I was makin' dinner. She decided to slam the fridge door on my head, really hard" he chuckled to himself but on  the inside he was dying. The cat then looked up at the door and meowed.

At that moment Sarah barged through the door.
"You're back already?" Fidd questioned.
"Yeah, my boss let me leave early cause I said you was stayin' here" she huffed as she flung her bag to the floor and walked over to Fidd.
"Make a friend?" She pointed at the cat on his lap.
"Well, I um, how do you get them off your lap?"
"Fidd we both lived on a farm for 16 years, we had cats and dogs and horses. Something tells me you just  didn't want to wake her up" she smiled.
"Just get her off! I want to work" Fidd exclaimed. Sarah rolled her eyes and picked the cat off of his lap.
"Happy now? Oh isn't he just the most precious little thing?" She gasped as she saw Tate sleeping beside him. She then sat down beside Fidd.
"Fiddleford, I gotta ask ya something. When did ya figure out you was gay?" She looked at him with kind eyes. He paused for a while and looked down at Tate before answering.
"I guess when I was in college" he shrugged resuming with his work.
"Really? Did ya have a boyfriend?" She questioned excitedly.
"Um, yeah" Fidd answered sheepishly. Sarah grabbed hold of his shoulder with a huge grin on her face.
"Really!? Give me details! What was his name? Was he nice? What did he look like?" She squealed as she shook her brothers shoulder.
"Why the sudden interest?" He pulled his shoulder away.
"I never had a sister to share date details with but now your gay I can share them with you! Now answer my questions" she exclaimed.
"Okay but keep quiet. I don't want Tate waking up and listening. His name was Stanford, he was my room mate, he was very nice, he had brown fluffy hair and brown eyes. Does that answer your questions?" Fidd stated as he looked down at Tate, who was still fast asleep.
"Did you do it?" She raised a brow. Fidd whipped his head around
"that's private" his face went bright red.
"Ahh, you did!" She shook his shoulder once more.
"Shh. You'll wake Tate" Fidd hushed her.
"Sorry I just got excited. How was he?" She said with a cheeky grin. Fidd then began to chuckle as he though of that night.
"It was both our first time, we had no idea what we were doin' and Stanford, bless him, accidentally pushed me a bit to hard, I fell forward and hit my face on the head board. I had a black eye for a month!" He giggled.
"Is that why you had a black eye at thanksgiving?"
Fidd fell silent and his face went red. Sarah just laughed at his sudden change in colouration.
"Is that all of your questions or would you like to interrogate me some more? Cause I'm kind of busy" he looked down at the computer parts.
"Nah I'll leave ya be, I need a shower" she said as she got up from the couch.
"See ya in a bit" she then left the room. Fidd then huffed and resumed at his work.