Being with Michael: Part 1 (Book Two)

Chapter Three

Paige looks at Michael with these desolate eyes that wrench his heart.

She explains in a soft voice, "Growing up, my parents were alcoholics and drug addicts. One night when I was 12 years old, my father and mother got into a fight; they were both drunk. And then all I know is my father shot my mother before shooting himself in a murder-suicide."

All Michael is able to make out in a plead is, "Why didn't you tell me this?"

"Because," she says, a tear falling down her face, "It's embarrassing. My only family was a pair of druggies who were in a murder-suicide. And then I was moved around the foster care system so many times I can't even remember. And once, I almost believed I was special because my foster dad gave me the master bedroom. Only I realized later it was only because it was separate from the other rooms, so it was easier when he would come in in the middle of the night."

Michael stands up, shaking his head and gritting his teeth, "No!"

Paige tries to finish, "And he would rape me..." but she starts sobbing before she can finish the sentence.

Now Michael is desperate and vehement, crying and screaming as he punches and kicks the tree, "No, NO! God, no! That son of a-"

Paige stands up and yells at him, "Being mad isn't going to change anything, Michael! It's just a fact of life!"

He turns and yells, "That isn't a fact of life, Paige! Nobody should go through that, especially you!"

He's now leaning against the tree, face in his hands, and trying to contain himself.