When people say that they would do anything to protect their children, it's true, and nobody knows that feeling more that Willowdean Sterling. She's been married to an abusive man for sixteen years and has worked for the Tellers for almost as long...
Axl watched as Chibs walked out of the garage and came his way, giving him a small smile as he sat on the swing next to him and reached over to pat him on the back.
"How ye holdin up? Hard news to get from yer mum."
Axl shrugged and scuffed his sneaker on the rocks under his feet. "I don't know. I feel kind of weird, I guess."
Chibs frowned and tilted his head in question. "How so?"
Axl sighed and shrugged again. "I guess... I should be sad, right? I mean, my dad just died. I should feel bad about that, right?"
Chibs nodded as he took a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket. "But ye don't, is that it?"
Axl nodded as Chibs lit his smoke. "Yeah. I mean, part of me is sad, but the biggest part is glad that he won't be able to hurt mom anymore." He looked down at his feet. "She only stayed because of me."
Chibs nodded slowly. "Aye, I suppose so. She probably didn't want to put ye through a divorce."
Axl shook his head as he looked the older man in the eye. "No, that's not what I mean. I heard him one night." He swallowed hard before continuing. "Mom had one rule. When dad got angry, I was to go to my room and not come out, no matter what. Keep the door locked until she came to get me." When Chibs nodded, he went on. "About a year ago, he was beating her really bad. I could hear them all the way in my room, and it's at the back of the house. I thought he was gonna kill her, he was that bad. Anyway, I snuck down the hall, trying to see how hurt she was, to see if I needed to call 911, and I heard him tell her that if she ever thought of leaving him, he'd make sure he got custody of me and he'd make her pay." He sniffed and Chibs reached out and laid a hand on his shoulder. "He told her that the next time she would see me would be at my funeral and that it would be her fault that I was dead."
Chibs shook his head as he took a deep breath. "Jaysus Christ! Axl... "
Axl nodded his head, a bitter smile on his face. "That was my dad. He used me to get to her, to hurt her more. Mom always protected me from him. She put me in karate class so that I could defend myself. Made sure I was never alone with him, stuff like that. I know that some of the beatings she took were meant for me, but she never said a word." He swiped angrily at the tears running down his face. "So no, I'm not sad that he's dead. I'm happy that he can't touch her anymore."
Chibs pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment before wiping at his eyes. Finally, he looked over at Axl and nodded. "Yer the man of the house now, yeah? But that doesna mean that you have to protect yer mum. She'll be ok, and I'll make sure of it. We all will. Yer job now is to grow into a good man and make yer mum proud, yeah?"
Axl nodded as Chibs stood up. He held out a hand and Axl gave him a small grin as he took it and pulled himself up out of the swing. Chibs stepped forward and took him into a hug and held onto him tightly for a moment before letting him go. "I'm gonna go see if mom's ready to go home. Maybe I can talk her into pizza for dinner."
Chibs chuckled and nodded as Axl walked off toward the garage office.
Willowdean sat on the front porch later that night, sipping from a glass of wine and trying to make sense out of the day. When she'd woken up that morning, she'd had a husband and a very structured life. Every minute of her day was planned and she was never allowed to deviate from that schedule. Even the food in the cabinets and fridge had to be stored a certain way, the towels in the bathroom hung precisely.
Now, she wasn't quite sure what she was supposed to do with herself. When they'd gotten home earlier, Axl had pulled out the take-out menus and Willow had argued with him. It was Tuesday, and on Tuesday, they had spaghetti. No matter what. Axl had calmly looked at her and told her that they could do what they wanted now before proceeding to call for pizza delivery.
Even now, she felt like she was going against the rules. She was never allowed to sit outside on the porch when Beau was home but here she sat. She shook her head, realizing that it was going to take some time for her to break the habits of sixteen years, but she would because they were unhealthy and she and Axl both deserved to have better lives.
They had talked while they ate and decided that they would have Beau cremated and placed next to his parents in the cemetery. They would go tomorrow to the funeral home and make the final arrangements, then decide what they were going to do about the house and Beau's things. Willowdean thought a donation would make the most sense for his clothes and such, but she would have to decide whether to sell his car and boat.
Then there was the house. Axl wanted to sell it and move, and Willow was inclined to agree with him. It was still in relatively good shape for being as old as it was, so selling probably wouldn't be a problem. Willowdean sighed and looked out across the dark yard, feeling torn about her sudden position. On the one hand, she was excited to finally be in control of how her life would go, but on the other, she was scared to death. When her husband was alive, all of those kinds of decisions were left to him. She nodded to herself as she took a deep breath. She would learn to handle it because she was now the only person responsible for herself and her son.
