The Corpse of South Tserron

Chapter 8: Evelyn in their eyes Part 3c Anne

While strolling through the aisles of the grocery store, Anne picked out a lot of snacks that I have never heard of. I picked up one of the snacks and read it out loud.

"Pickled Anchovies?"

"They're for your fa-"

Anne turned around with a smile on her face before realizing that I'm not Justin. She picked up the Pickled Anchovies from the cart and placed it back on the shelf. It didn't make sense to me on why Anne would shop for Justin's father so I lightly tapped her back to which, she looked at me preserving her calm demeanor.

"Anne is it okay I ask you a question?"

"What is it?"

"How did you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Fix Justin."

Anne became quiet for a while before replying with a question of her own.

"How would you fix Justin?"

"I would probably report the domestic violence going on in the house and have his father arrested. Then again, they did go abroad didn't they? I should have reported them when I had the chance."

"Did you take the time to consider the other side of the fence?"

"His dad? Why would I?"

Anne breathed a sigh of relief and twisted her neutral lips into a smile. She then crossed her arms and looked at me with a smug look.

"I'm glad you left Justin to me, this problem would have escalated if I hadn't stepped in. I guess I can finally forgive Evelyn for taking you away from him."

"Huh?!"

I gave Anne a puzzled look as those words came out of her mouth. She wasn't making sense and I had a mixed bag of emotions ranging from offended to relieved. She laughed at me as we continued shopping while she opened up about her experiences with Justin.

"Let's start from when you left. The way Justin described his father was nowhere near what his father is. Let's call him by a name, which will be X."

"Justin hated X because X never spent time with Justin, the way he told you that he was abusive and a wife-beater isn't true"

"Why would Justin lie about his father? What if I called the cops on him?"

"He lied to you because he wanted attention. He's an only child Jun and when his parents flew abroad, he couldn't accept it"

"So he lied to me because he wanted attention?"

"He needed someone to talk to. Could you imagine a world where you have to grow up alone?

"Doesn't he have any immediate family members?"

"That's the thing, both of his grandparents hate the fact that they married each other because of Justin."

"Wait, this doesn't make sense. If he hated his grandparents for instilling the fact that he was a mistake, then why did he take it out on his dad?"

"What are you more likely to believe? A father who abuses his wife or A mother who abuses her husband?"

"So what you're telling me is that Justin loves his parents but since he wasn't attended to, he took it out on his father to gain attention?"

"Have you ever wondered why he has such few friends growing up? It was instilled in his mind that he was a mistake and the reason why he told you his story was to guilt you into staying. You were pretty heartless to let him go Jun, and for a while, I hated you."