Page 20 of Max

“It’s too much,” she finished for me.

“Yeah,” I sighed.

I looked at my sneakers. God, how long has it been since I wore sneakers? Let alone the outfit I wore, that consisted of ripped, washed up jeans and a gray T-shirt with Minnie on the front? This was me. The real me. Not me, I was forced to become. The one that had to wear two-piece suits, preferably with the skirt that went under my knees and 5-inch pumps.

“I miss me,” I admitted.

“I miss you, too.”

“I’m not sure I know who the real me is anymore, Mel,” I was going to cry.

With everything that had happened, I never once stopped to cry. I didn’t want to cry. I didn’t want to shed one tear over that sick bastard and what he did to me. What he turned my life into.

But dammit, the tears were stinging my eyes. I was about to cry.

“I do, and you do too,” sensing that my rant was over, she came to me, put her arms around me and hugged me. “It’s okay. You'll be yourself in no time. It’s okay.”

“I don't want to cry,” I sniffed. “He doesn’t deserve my tears.”

“He doesn’t, but you do,” Melanie assured me. “He turned your life upside down, and he made you to be not you. And it all came crashing down, the whole weight of it hitting your shoulders. Anyone would be crushed over it. So, it’s okay, Sky. It’s okay to cry.”

I didn’t say anything. I took my best friend from high school by her words and let myself cry. I didn’t wail. I didn’t hit anything. I cried silent tears, each one burning my cheek and soaking Melanie’s shirt. My body bucked violently twice. And the whole time, Melanie held me and spoke soft words to me, taking my pain away. The messed-up thing about it was that I wanted Max to do it.

We were sitting in Melanie’s car again, ready to hit the road so I could get the hardest part of the day over with. I just had one more thing left to do before I faced what was waiting for me. I picked up my phone, dialed, and listened to the ringing in my ear. She picked up on the second ring.

“Skylar, honey,” my aunt said in a soft tone. “Where are you?”

“I’m okay,” I whispered. “I had a lot to do, but I wanted to check in with you before I get on with it.”

“We’re packing up. Tomorrow we’re hitting the road, but we want to see you before we do.” Her voice was gentle. I knew she was probably out of her mind with worry and was confused.

“We can do that,” I mumbled.

“I’m sorry, honey,” she carried on with a gentle tone.

“For what?”

“Kiki explained some things.”

With the state of my life, I didn’t know what exactly Kiki explained.

“What things?” I asked.

There were multiple choices of her answer. I just hope it was the most benign one. I didn’t want to know what my uncle would do if he knew the full extent of Nico’s actions.

“Why you left the church.” She stopped, then continued. “How he was with you.”

“Oh,” I didn’t know what to say to that.

“I only wish you came to us. We would help you,” she stated. “We would never let one of our daughters lead the life you did, forced to take beatings, her spirit all but crushed. If only we knew. I don’t know how I missed this.”

I was stuck in “one of our daughters.” I knew they loved me. They took me in when my parents died, took care of me, kissed every boo-boo, and were always there for all of my recitals and school plays. But I didn’t know they thought of me as their daughter. That meant...

“Skylar, sweetheart?” My aunt called when I stayed silent.

“I’m here.”

You’re not okay,” she surmised.