beLIEve

Part Two: The Past

Ivan reaffirmed his hold around Corbin, shifting to where Corbin was looking him in the eye. Cupping Corbin's cheek Ivan thumbed away freshly fallen tears. "You don't have to tell me anything, my love."

He nodded. "Yes, I do." He sat up, though he kept as much physical contact as he could. Nervously he began playing with Ivan's fingers, running his fingertips along Ivan's palm. "Ivan...my father ran a...black market s-se-sex r-ring. My mother...sh-she, um, sh-she was one of his..."girls." That's what he called them. Mine and Devon's mother...was his favorite. She was ten when he...he bought her. Eleven when she had my sister. Thirteen when she had me." As he spoke he did not look up to Ivan's face, keeping his vision trained solely on Ivan's hands.

"What happened to her?" Ivan asked gently. He was watching Corbin closely, regarding his face, each frown that appeared along his brow, each pause that caused him to suck in his lower lip and gnaw on it before he took a deep breath to begin again.

"She-she-she tri-tried t-to st-stop-stop him f-f-from...when Devon was four and I was two he tried to rent us both out to this man...he k-k-killed her." Corbin squeezed his eyes shut and took a shaky breath.

Tentatively he began recalling aloud the night he watched his mother murdered by his father. "He came to get me one night when I was six. He did that sometimes. And-and-and I tr-tried fighting back because I didn't want to, Ivan. I didn't like it. I never liked it, Ivan!" Corbin brought his fists up, landing them against Ivan's chest with a force that surprised Ivan. He did not try and stop him immediately but eventually did catch his fists.

"Baby, baby, easy. Corbin, stop!" Corbin's eyes were wide and wild and tear-stained red. Ivan placed both hands against Corbin's cheek, holding his gaze. "You're not there, baby. Corbin..." Corbin's eyes focused on Ivan's face and he nodded before Ivan pulled him to his chest. "Breathe, sweet baby, breathe. Corbin, look at me." He did. "Breathe." Once he'd settled down Ivan thumbed away newly fallen tears. "Corbin, my love, you don't have to rush yourself into this."

Corbin's silent sobs broke Ivan's heart. Collapsing forward he gripped handfuls of Ivan's shirt, gasping for breath. When he calmed down he tried again. "When I tried to fight back that night he showed me...he showed me exactly what happened if I resisted his..."teachings"." Corbin pressed his face against Ivan's chest; the sound of his heartbeat calming him enough to continue speaking.

Sean heard the footsteps long before they appeared in his bedroom doorway. The footsteps belonged to his father. He knew without looking.

"Sean," he bellowed, making the child whimper. "Up. Knees."

Never before had he ever dared to disobey his father. But he didn't move. There was nothing more from his father. Not another demand. Just as the thought crossed his mind that he'd be left alone tonight, he yelped as he suddenly was ripped from his bed. He didn't see the fist before it connected with his ribs. Not enough to break, but enough to color his sides black and blue. He had no chance of getting away. When his father's fist contacted his cheek he fell to the floor. Violently he was forced back onto his bed, his face against the blanket, his toes just off the floor.

"He was...so violent that night. He wasn't usually. Violent. Not...not like that. He..." Corbin paused, his fists and eyes squeezed as tightly shut as he could manage. He tried to control his breathing through the sobs that escaped him. "Most of the time...he tried to make it as painless as he could. But that night...he wanted it to hurt. Then he dragged me into the living room, my sister, too...threw us on the floor..."

"Mommy," Devon said, her voice small. Sean looked to her, wanting to hide from what he was about to witness. He dare'nt move. Then a boy came into view; Sean knew immediately he was the boy only several years younger. As the boy began hesitantly stepping toward the stranger his mother snatched him up and began moving backwards and away from the group.