The Place of Love

Confrontation

"Then tell me about yourself Shane" I insisted. "Why do you want to know about me Cali?" he asked starting to get irritated. "Because you did something that you shouldn't have done Shane. And I was part of it. You burnt down my tent not knowing I wasn't in it. What should I imply with that?" his face turned red.

"No Cali! I didn't want to hurt you. I knew Steve would save you. I knew he wouldn't let anything happen to you!" He spat out. "What? That's you explanation?" I asked in disgust. He didn't reply again and just sat there staring at yet another spot now. He was doing this a lot more often and it started to get on my nerves.

Before I could just get up and leave concluding that this man would never change, he decided to say something. "I'm sorry Cali" Though his words surprised me, the hurt in his voice made me want to forgive him. But he didn't have to know that so I waited for him to continue and decided not to interrupt.

"I didn't know what to do. I hadn't thought you bruised me that night on purpose until I saw you laughing with Steve yesterday. I was furious. I couldn't think and all I wanted was to get back at you two" he said taking a deep breath.

"But I didn't want to hurt you Cali. I swear I knew Steve wouldn't let anything happen to you. I just thought it would scare you both a little and turn some eyes at you. I wanted you two to feel the embarrassment I felt with the black eye you gave me. When I saw you and Steve outside, more than thinking that my plan failed, I felt ashamed. I felt miserable when I looked into your eyes Cali. You saw me. You looked at me so disgustingly and that's when I knew that what I did wasn't right. You could have been hurt and your things.. they might not even be there now" he continued feeling ashamed.

"What about when you asked me to sleep with you?" I asked not convinced with what he was trying to justify. He looked even more ashamed of himself after I asked him this question.

"I don't know Cali. All I think about all day is how I could do something to hurt Steve. I noticed the way he looked at you and that's when I knew.. you were the way I could hurt him. And I did that. I wanted you to sleep with me only to get back at Steve. He thinks I'm scared of him and I just wanted to prove him wrong. What you did was right Cali. You literally broke my ribs." He said with a chuckle.
"That's something Steve hasn't done yet." He continued, his breathing beginning to calm down.

"Why do you hate Steve so much Shane? He told me everything ab-" I started before he interrupted me. "You don't know anything Cali." He stated. "Well then tell me everything Shane! You came to me because you had a motive but I didn't. I saw something good in you and something's stopping you Shane. Tell me what I don't know" I pleaded to him.

He took a deep breath and looked at me. "You won't understand. You probably have a thing for Steve and whatever I say is just going to be blabber to you because you already think he's the victim." He had a pinch of truth in his words.

"I promise it won't be that way. Tell me what happened between you two Shane. This enmity is starting to increase and it will just destroy your present more than you know." I tried to convince him.

He took a deep breath again before deciding to speak. "I was too small when everything started. Steve and I, both of us. My family was great. We were very happy. Dad stayed out for long sometimes and it troubled mom but he always said he was providing for us. He earned enough money for everything we ever needed so mom never brought up her problems.
And then one day.. Steve's mom comes up and claims that my father loves her. She broke my entire family. My dad did not love her and they weren't having an affair!" "How did you know?" I asked interrupting him.

"I just know okay! He's my father! My mom and I trust him. Do you want to hear the rest of the story or not?" He said almost yelling. I decided not to interrupt him again and nodded letting him finish his part of the story.

He paused for a few minutes before starting, "My mom and dad started keeping things from me. They started fighting which never happened before. After Steve's mother died, the story spread further. People now knew about what his mother claimed with my dad. My mom came to me one night and told me that Steve's family did all this to us. She told me that our family was breaking and that I needed to keep it holding. She told me that I needed to be stronger than Steve at school and fight for my family. And that's exactly what I did Cali. Steve and his family are responsible for my parents living separately today. I just get back at Steve so much only to prove to him that I'm there for my family and never again can he or his dad in jail do anything to them." He finished, sighing. His face was hard as stone and his hands curled in a fist.

"I'm sorry Cali. I didn't want you to get dragged into this. But you just showed me the way to hurt Steve more. What I did today was very wrong." He said and I knew he meant every word.

I couldn't do much to help him, but I was clear now. I knew where this was coming from. Shane's mother wanted her son to be strong so she used Steve for it. Shane thought his father was telling the truth. He was so protective of his family that he forgot that a boy his age had also lost his mother and his father was in jail. According to him, he did no wrong to Steve when in reality he was hurting someone as innocent as Steve. They were both messed up individuals and if they didn't sort it out soon, one of them would destroy the other.

I wanted to do something for them but what much could I do? It was pointless telling Shane anything about his dad or Steve because he had so much hatred in his mind for Steve, he wouldn't possibly believe anyone. The only way this could get better was if Steve were here, telling Shane the truth, accepting each other's fate. The mistake their parents made in the past can't destroy their present and they needed to understand that.

The next thing that happened made me think that if I had wished for anything else, I would have gotten that too. Steve stormed inside Shane's tent, anger fuming in his head.

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Okay so now that you know what's inside Shane's mind.. I know it doesn't justify him doing any of that but when a child is taught something at that age, it sometimes mould him that way.

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