Bitter Kisses (It's Just High School #3) - Thandiwe Mpofu Page 0,23

and abuse women, and Nancy, well, he kept her close for something else.”

To taunt and mock his brother.

“You have to understand Mia, you were my light. You still are. You are the reason I’ve kept on fighting.”

“It didn’t seem like it when you threw me in the trash.”

“No, baby, no. I didn’t throw you away. It’s just…” she trails off. I wait for her to explain, but tears keep rushing down her face, her eyes now dim with remembered pain.

I visibly tremble, then hug myself as the pressure weighing on my chest intensifies, making it hard to breathe.

“Either way, you were my mother,” I croak, the lump in my throat getting bigger. “When he bashed me across the head, you should’ve helped me remember.”

“Oh baby, you didn’t want to remember.”

What?

I stare at her, blinking like a cartoon character. “What do you mean?”

“It’s like I mentioned before. You chose to forget. Or rather, your subconscious made the decision for you, choosing to protect you from the truth because the trauma…” she chokes off, now crying in earnest, “it was just too much. What he did… it was too much.”

I stare at her for a long moment, reading between the obvious, thick lines.

So, with a heavy weight pressing down my chest, I ask what I already know. “He hurt me, didn’t he?” I whisper. Nancy looks away but her silence, it speaks volumes, so I go on, “He hurt me more than once?”

She looks up then, but she doesn’t look me in the eye.

“Didn’t he?”

“Nancy and I… we fought him. We told you the truth over and over again and you picked up on it. You called me your mom and Nancy your aunt, but that bastard quickly realized that the best way to control us was to hurt you. And then soon enough, I have no idea how you did it or how you could’ve known, but after that whenever he told you things, you just accepted them. When he told you to do something, you just did it.”

And there it is. The confirmation I was dreading and hoping not to be true.

“He used me a lot then?”

“Yes,” she croaks.

My heart shatters all over again, but I have to ask just one more question.

“He used me to get information on Aiden Fitzgerald which I then… I outed to the tabloids?”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

“True or not true? Was it him or am I just a devious, heartless piece of shit?”

“Don’t you ever say that! You are none of that! You’re strong, beautiful, intelligent and you care, Mia, you care a lot more than you realize.”

I look away.

“Nicky, please just answer.”

Silence. And then, “He made you do it.”

I stare at her mutely.

“Is that why you stayed away then?” I whisper. “You hardly visited all those years. You never stayed for longer than two days or three. Always disappearing to God knows where.”

“Mia, sweetheart, I knew if I stayed, the tension would only get worse between Nathan and me. As it was Nancy… well, she was so close to murdering that sonofabitch, but we both knew you were all that mattered. So, we kept with it.”

Wow. Just like that, huh?

“Okay,” I mutter, turning away.

“Okay?” she whispers, and I shrug, I have no idea what she was expecting, but what else can I say to that mess?

“Yes. I need to go. Don’t want to be late for my first day of senior year,” I say, keeping my voice level as I turn away to read the text on my phone.

Cole: It’s not looking good. The trial is still on. I’m sorry Mia. Maybe your testimony can help? I don’t know anymore.

A shudder goes down my spine as I read the text over and over again, my heart sinking as dread cements in the pit of my stomach. Me testifying is completely out of the question. Nathan would never allow it. I have to take care of this another way. I text him back.

Me: Meet me in five minutes at this location.

“I want you to open up, Mia. I feel like you’re in something deep and you’re shutting me out because you got hurt so bad.” Nicky steps forward. “I want to help you.”

“There’s nothing to help.” Honestly, there’s nothing she can do.

“But you’re just—”

“Please don’t insult both of us by saying I’m just a child. A few months ago, I was a normal kid taking care of her then dying mother. The next thing I knew, you came back and moved us into the Fitzgerald