Painful memories

‘Oh, you made it! I’m glad you found it.’



‘Thank you. It wasn’t too difficult. It looks like a lovely house.’

‘We were lucky to get it. But it’s definitely necessary, being such a big family now.’

‘Of course. Four six year olds, you said? That must be difficult.’

‘A lot easier than when they were toddlers! Come in, anyway.’



‘Hi.’



‘Hey, Charon. This is my uncle Edward.’

‘Your uncle?’

‘Yeah, so he’s your great-uncle. But don’t mention anything about this to Grandad, okay?’

‘Okay.’

‘Edward’s really nice, I promise.’



‘Hello, Charon. It’s nice to meet you.’

'Are you Grandad's brother?'

'Yes, I am. But I'm nothing like Grandad.'

'Oh, good.'



‘Oh, you’re here… Hi.’



‘Oh goodness, Saraya! You look so grown up!’

‘Yeah… I must be a lot different.’

‘You were only little then. You weren’t that much more than a toddler. It’s okay, I know you won’t remember me.’



‘I’m glad you’re okay, though. Well, you know what I mean…’

‘Thank you.’



‘Please, make yourself at home. Whatever you want, it’s yours. It’s the least we can do.’

‘Oh, Ellis… You’re all so kind. Do you mind if I have a shower?’

‘Of course not.’



‘Feel free to use Tate’s ensuite and take a shit in the bath.’



‘Aria, don’t swear in front of Charon.’

‘You said dickhead in front of him, the other week.’

‘Well, those were extreme circumstances…’



‘I don’t think I’ll go that far, Aria…! What happened?’

‘Oh, I was punched at work by a burglar. But it’s all good, he was sent to prison. Has to serve at least six months before he can try for parole. Not a bad result.’



‘Oh, wow…! ’

‘Anyway, I’ll show you where the bathroom is.’


The next week, on Christmas Eve…




‘Again, I have to thank you for having me here. I always dread Christmas, to be honest.’

‘Me too. I think this is the first one in years I’ve been happy for. Though it helps that Tate’s been fucking off over to Riverview since Roxxi came on the scene.’

‘Were you ever invited?’



‘We did go, a couple of times. Then it was just kinda decided that us staying behind wouldn’t look bad to the Scarlets, so we stayed behind. They never really wanted us there in the first place. I don’t think they miss it.’

‘And what were they like?’

‘They think Tate’s the best thing ever, so…’



‘Oh, Christ. They actually approve of that nonsense? I had presumed it was a grudging acceptance. I certainly wouldn’t approve.’

‘Yeah, because you’re not a fucking waste of space.’

‘Mm, I’m not so sure… Your language is terrible these days, by the way.’



‘What do you mean? You’re fine. And I know.’

‘Being homeless, it doesn’t do the self-esteem much good. When people aren’t looking at you in disgust, they’re pretending you don’t exist.’

‘I can’t pretend I’ve never done that, but… God, that’s awful. I feel bad now.’



‘Oh, don’t. Anyway, you don’t need to hear my pity party. Forget about it.’

‘If I’d been through what you had, I’d be throwing a pity party too. I can’t begin to imagine.’

‘No, but your situation is terrible too. I have so many regrets. You never should have been here. I can barely believe… him killing Sheri.’



‘I found it weird that he carried a gun. Who does that unless they plan on killing someone? But… Thinking back on what that Miles did, it makes sense that he did something awful to warrant it.’



‘…’



‘Oh, shit, sorry! I-I wasn’t implying…! I didn’t mean you deserved that too!’

‘I know, I know. Of… Of course. I didn’t think that.’

‘Sorry.’



‘No… Because you’re right. I didn’t want to tell you, while you still… still live with him, but…’

‘Look, we already know it’s his fault you’re homeless. He stole from you while you were at your most vulnerable. How low is that?’

‘…Almost as low as allowing the torture to happen in the first place…’



‘…What?’

‘Tate, he had a choice, okay? Miles… tied me to a chair, filmed it, sent the live feed to Tate… He gave him the option of letting me go, and he chose to let me be cut up!’

‘What the fuck?! How?’



‘…It was me or the money, Aria…’

‘I don’t believe this… Well, I do, but… That’s so fucked!’

‘I know. Ten years later I still haven’t got my head around it. I don’t even know how… how I survived.’



‘Sorry. Sorry.’

‘You’ve got nothing to be sorry about, Edward. I’ll fucking kill Tate myself, I swear it.’

‘…’

‘Edward? Are you alright?’

‘Y-Yeah…’



‘Sorry to keep going on, but… Do you know why Tate owed Miles all this money? Was it literal money? Or just payback for something terrible he did?’

‘Oh, God… It was both. Technically.’

‘How?’



‘…Miles is your other uncle. He’s Sheri’s brother.’

‘…Holy shit.’

‘They never spoke about him because he went into a mental facility before you were born. Before Ellis was born. They said he went insane following his father’s death… Your grandfather. John Atwood, Olivia’s ex-husband. The money he referred to is likely the inheritance he was denied, on the basis of insanity. Miles believes it was planned. According to him, Tate killed John.’



‘And did he?’

‘I don’t know for certain. Tate steadfastly denied it when I asked.’

‘When did you ask?’



‘When he burst into my apartment and pointed a gun at my head, demanding I pay up so that Miles wouldn’t come after him too. I wasn’t exactly expecting an apology, but that…’



‘…Can I really not wring his neck?’

‘No, you’re better than that, Aria. Infinitely better. So no, he wouldn’t admit to killing John, but I well believed it once he threatened to kill me. I was just surprised that he would kill Sheri… He’d already murdered one of Miles’ relatives. I wouldn’t have expected him to want to incur his wrath a second time by killing another.’

‘Do you think he’s still out there…?’



‘I’m sure of it.’

‘God…’

‘Perhaps he moved on. He got his revenge, in the end.’



‘I hope so, Jesus.’

‘I’m sorry to drop all of this on you. I really didn’t want to tell you any of this, especially when we’re supposed to be having a nice time together.’

‘It’s fine. All these years I’ve been desperate for the truth. As soon as I saw you, I knew we’d need a conversation like this.’



‘You’re too young for this.’

‘Unfortunately, I’ve been too young for all of it, but we can’t change that now.’

‘I just wish I’d been able to protect you from it.’

‘You did your best. We know that. It’s okay…’