The Devil Child

Chapter Forty One

 "We're surprised you went back home." Minny was the one the start. He was wrestling with his tie, loosening it and pulling it from his neck to free himself. He unbuttoned his blazer and yanked it from his shoulders. Then, he turned back to Polly.

"I needed closure. I needed to know whether or not they missed me." They didn't miss me at all. The truth stung worse than she thought it would. She always knew her parents didn't care for her, but she was still trying to hold on to the belief that they would welcome her with open arms. That they would accept her for who she truly was.

She was wrong.

"Tanner was the one who knew you left town." Minny's voice grew soft, and he placed his hands over hers. His heart yearned for her, but not in a romantic way. His heart yearned for Polly to open up to them. To tell everyone what had been happening in her life, from the very start.

"I have an insider." Tanner's voice was low when he said it. He turned to look at Polly, but she refused to make eye contact with him. Her hatred for Tanner ran deeper than anything he could fix, and she refused to allow herself to accept his apologies. He had abused her for years. He had abused others like her. He was the scum of the Earth.

But, he was scum that had saved her. "My insider saw you get a bus ticket, and where you were going. I knew where you lived, from church. But I knew I couldn't come alone, because you wouldn't have listened to me. So I asked everyone to come."

"Did it occur to you that maybe I didn't want to be saved?" Of course, Polly needed to be rescued. But that didn't mean she wanted it from Tanner. Her private life was separate from Kenzie. It was separate from Tom, from Minny, and even from Tanner. Now, everyone knew her parents had moved on an abandoned her. She wanted to option to tell her friends about her past, and the ugliness that lived there.

"Polly, I'm sorry. But I didn't come for you with malicious intent. I wanted to make sure you were okay. I wanted to make sure you were safe."

Polly flinched in her seat, her eyes blazing with anger. "Safe? Why would you want to keep me safe? All you've done to me is hurt me! You don't care about me at all!"

It was the truth. Polly felt like the person in the passenger seat, looking back at her, could care less for her wellbeing. She was a game to him. Some girl he couldn't turn straight, so he punished her for it. She was a toy. A guinea pig. A puppet.

"That isn't true, Polly. I get that what I did to you was horrible in every way imaginable. I get that. But I'm not that person anymore. I love you, and even if you never love me back, that's okay. Because I want you to be happy! I want you to move on. I want you to show your parents that you're better than them in every way imaginable, because you're full of love and happiness and you're a genuinely good person. I didn't follow you here because I want to torture you. I followed you because I need to know you're okay. I need to know you're safe."

Polly's voice was venomous as she leaned forward, in Tanner's face. "Tell me then. Who wrote that note in my locker?"

Tanner hesitated, and it was enough to make Polly yank her face back, her mouth twisted into an ugly scowl. She crossed her arms, and thought for a moment about slapping him. He deserved it, so badly, but she refrained.

"My insider did. But, it had more to do with Minny than it did with you."

Polly's body went stiff. "I thought you said you had nothing to do with this?" Her question was aimed at Minny now, who looked forlorn and confused, like a young child who had been caught in a bad act.

"Polly, I have no idea what Tanner is talking about."

Tanner waved his hand dismissively. "He doesn't. The note was for both of you, but for reasons I don't even know. But, that doesn't matter. What does matter is that you're safe and you forgive me so we can move on."