Second Chance With You

Chapter 14

(Chase P.O.V)

"Mom! Mom please just stop calling me with this shit." I say to her and hang up. I lay down on my bed and I feel the tears forming in my eyes.

"Honey I don't know what to do! All he does is drink and yell and threaten me. Chase I'm scared." she says.

"Mom. I tell you to leave him. I tell you every time you call. I can't help you until you leave." I say.

"I can't do that. Your father needs me to take care of him." she says.

"Then I can't help you." I say and hang up. I roll over on my side and hug my pillow to my chest. The tears I have been trying to hold at bay fall and roll down my cheeks. My just starts to shake and I cry. Sobs rack my body and it begins to get hard to breathe. I bury my face in my pillow and scream. Over and over again I scream. Why won't she leave? Why can't she just listen and trust me and leave him? He won't change. He will never change. My father is forever stuck in his ways.

My phone vibrates againist my leg and I grab it.
Christian: hey Chase!
Chase: hey
Christian: whats wrong? And don't lie. I know you well now.
Chase: call?
Christian: of course.

A few moments later he calls me.

"Tell me what's wrong Chase." he tells me. I take a shakey breathe and start to tell him my story.

"When I was little I had a very average childhood. Middle class loving family. My dad and I had a great relationship and we were very close. We had the perfect father son image. I don't know when it started or what caused it but during my middle school years my father started to drink. It started with one drink a night to two to having a shot in his coffee to all day. My father lost his job because he would go in drunk or to hungover to focus. My mother had to get a second job to help support us and his addiction. Losing his job done something to him though. It made him...angry. He started to scream and break things on a daily basis and he became abusive." I paused. I had to take a breathe and let it out slowly. My tears started to come faster and my throat started to feel tighter.

"Oh Chase." Christian said.

"At first it wasn't so bad. Just verbal abuse you know? The occasional 'Your worhless' 'Stupid' 'You Should Have Never Been Born' but it started to escalate. He would slap me if I said something he didn't like or push me againist the wall or punch me. But he would always apologize and say he wouldn't do it again. Time after time he would do it and apologize and time after time I would believe him! Then the next day it would happen all over again. I became so angry. I didn't know what to do or how to handle it. It happened for years Christian and it's still happening. He is still drinking and my mom won't leave. She just continues to stay with him, hoping he will change and he won't. I had the same hope when I was younger and I gave up. But she won't. She won't and I don't know what to do or how to help her Christian and I am scared that one day he will go to far again. Go to far again and I won't be there. I won't be there to help her." I cried.

For minutes or hours I don't know but I cried. I felt like that lost little boy inside that I buried so long ago and replaced with the strong persona I created. The person who was strong and had it all together; when sometimes I wanted to be the one to cry and scream and pull my hair out and fall into the fetal position and have someone tell me it will be okay. It won't be like this forever and tomorrow is a fresh day and you can start over. Your mom will get her shit together and your dad will stop drinking and you can go back to that perfect family.

"Chase?" Christian says.

"Yeah?" I choke out.

"I'm here Chase. You have me." he says.

Hearing those words made me cry harder.

"I j-j-just don't know what to d-d-do." I say between breathes. I stayed silent for a moment to re-gain my composure and took a couple of deep breathes.

"I don't know how to help her Christian." I say.

"I wish I could help Chase. People like her have to see the light themselves though Chase. You can't make her leave." he says.

"I know. I just worry about her." I say and sigh.

"I understand. Just try not to worry to much. Maybe someday she will come around see that there is a better life beyond the one she is living." he says. I sigh and close my eyes. I had a killer headache.

"Of course you're right but she's my mom. I want to help her but I can't. I can't and it kills me." I tell him. He stays silent for a moment before speaking.

"I know Chase. I know. But until then she has to take care of herself. She knows what she is living with and she has to want to leave. But Chase. I want you to know something. While you can't help her; you can come to me for help if you need it. I will always be here for you Chase. Anytime you need to talk or anything. I am here. Day or night you can come to me and I'll always be here to tell you it will be okay."