“That’s insane. There’s no possible way anything like that could happen,” Jewell exclaimed, her fingers tightening on his hand.
“It did happen, Jewell. I told you the world isn’t always black and white and people aren’t always who they are supposed to be.”
“What happened?”
“My mother was seeing a man and told him that if he killed her husband, she would marry him and share all her wealth with him. Apparently the man she was seeing knew she was as big a liar with him as she was with my father. He found out somehow that her ultimate plan was to play the victim, throw him to the cops, and run off into the sunset with all her many millions of dollars. Her lover told her he was going along with her plan, but the entire time, he was making his own plans.”
“What plans?” Jewell exclaimed.
A distant, lost look entered Blake’s eyes when he told Jewell about the night that had changed him forever. “I was ten years old when it happened. My brothers and I were watching an animated movie in the family room when we heard shouting coming from the hallway. We just ignored the noise —it wasn’t abnormal to hear raised voices in our house and continued watching our cartoon.”
“But this shouting was different,” Jewell said when Blake paused too long.
“Yes, this shouting was different. These two men suddenly came into the room, and they were pushing my parents ahead of them. Before we even knew what was going on, they had my parents each tied up to a chair and then they bound us, and set us on the couch. I’ll never forget the look in my mother’s eyes. They were practically glowing with excitement. I thought it had to be some sort of game, because she looked anything but worried.”
“How could she not be worried? These men had bound her up,” Jewell pointed out.
“Yes, but you see, that was all part of the plan. She couldn’t get away unscathed, or the cops would never buy her story. My mother’s sick and twisted plan was for her boyfriend to ‘rape’ her and kill her husband. And this plan included us, you see, because we had to be witnesses to what happened, so when the cops asked, we could say the men hurt her, too,” Blake said with a disgusted snort.
He could see the horror in Jewell’s eyes, and she dug her fingernails into his hand. She didn’t realize how hard she was holding on to him. Strangely enough, the pain in his hand stabilized him enough to continue speaking.
“Things obviously didn’t go according to my mother’s plans. She figured that out pretty soon, and that’s when I saw the panic enter her eyes. Her boyfriend told her he knew she was a sadistic bitch out to get anything she could. He then told my father her entire plot. My dad was weak and he started sobbing, begging the men to spare his life. Of course, they were very amused. They began beating him, and his blood spurted out all over the room. Some of it even landed on my mom.”
Blake stopped for a moment to catch his breath.
“Finally,” he continued, “our father passed out from the pain, and the men got tired of beating him. One of the guys looked right into my eyes and smiled while saying, “Take this as a life lesson kid. If you let a woman screw you, this is how you’ll end up.” Then he put his gun against my father’s temple and pulled the trigger. My mother screamed as my dad’s brains splattered over the side of her face.”
“Oh my gosh, Blake,” Jewell whispered, and tears were now running down her face.
Blake had to look away from her. He’d never be able finish his story if he focused on the sympathy in her eyes. And he needed to finish.
“My mother actually thanked the man, and then begged for her life. He laughed at her while he ran the gun up and down her face. He told her that if she pleased him real well, he’d let her live. The next hour was almost worse than any other part of the evening, because that’s exactly what she did, even as the sickening smell our father’s blood was filling up the room. We closed our eyes, but we heard everything. The two men beat the hell out of my mother while doing unimaginable things to her at the same time. At one point I opened my eyes because she told them to go ahead and kill us too, that we would inform on them if they didn’t. She looked at me as she said it. Blood was dripping from her mouth, and all I saw was hatred in her eyes…” Blake was shocked when he found a strange tightness in his throat. Why should this upset him? He hated his mother and even his father. This story shouldn’t affect him in the least.
“Blake, oh, Blake, I am so sorry,” Jewell said as she rose from her chair. Before he could stop her, she sat down in his lap and wrapped her arms around him.
The tightness in his throat grew even harder to fight, but fight it he did. He needed to keep talking, to get this over with. It was several moments before he could continue, and when he did, his voice was flat. He refused to let emotion overwhelm him.
“When the men grew bored, the shot my mother in the head and left her lying on the floor, then threw my father over her. I’ll never forget the sight of my parents’ blood seeping from their bodies. To this day I will never own red carpet.”
Jewell wasn’t impressed by Blake’s attempt at a joke.
“Don’t do that, Blake. Don’t try to make light of this to show how strong you are. I know you’re strong, I get it, but there are some things no one is strong enough to deal with.”
“My mother had given the staff the day off, of course, because she didn’t want adult witnesses, so my brothers and I spent the whole night tied up on the couch there in the room with our dead parents. When the maid came in the next day, she found us and called the cops.”
“But every time you close your eyes, it’s like being right back there, isn’t it?” Jewell asked.
“Not every time, Jewell, not since meeting you,” he said, and he felt her body tense. Had he just revealed too much to her? Blake decided to stop talking now, afraid of what was going to come from his mouth.
“That’s way too much responsibility to put on my shoulders,” she gasped.
“I’m just speaking the truth.”
“You aren’t exactly what you portray, are you, Blake?”
He didn’t want to give her false illusions of who he was. Withdrawing back into himself, he pulled her head back so she’d be forced to look into his eyes.
“I’m a cold bastard, Jewell. Around you, I want to be different, but I will never really change from who I am. Take that as a warning,” he said before leaning down and kissing her.