Red_Roses_and_Black_Dahlias_-_Macy_T

out to paint, or when I tried to get in trouble to spend the night at the police
station. It was always better than to spend it there because then he would
have free access to me before he went to sleep.” For some reason, that’s
when it always hurt the most, like he was taking his day’s frustrations out on
me.
“Valentina stayed locked in my room, because I didn't trust this son of a
bitch, not for the life of me.” I could feel the rage gathering in my body, it
awakened me when I was so close to passing out a few minutes ago.
“One day, though, two weeks before their death, he was supposed to go
on a business trip. He had left that morning before we went to school and
wasn’t supposed to be back until the following Monday. I took the chance to
get in more hours at work. I had a plan, you know?” I smiled sadly. “I almost
had enough money to get us the hell out of there. But I needed more shifts. So
I stayed late. It was around eleven when I got home.”
I closed my eyes, knowing what came next was something I would never
forgive myself for. The pain was suffocating but somehow getting it out of my
chest was liberating.
“I knew something was wrong when I saw his car in the driveway. He
always left it at the airport when he went away on business so that he could
drive back in it when he came back.” I pursed my lips. “I never climbed the
tree in front of our house so quickly, Maddox. It was like I could feel it. It
was like I knew something bad had happened.” My lips were quivering as I
sobbed silently.
Closing my eyes, I was brought back to that night.
As soon as my feet hit the hardwood floors of my bedroom and I saw her
lying on my bed, covers pulled up to her chin as she quivered slightly, I
knew. I remembered my trembling hand clutching the blanket and gently
pulling it off of her.
And there laid my sleeping little rose. Bright red smearing her pink
pajama pants and seeping into my sheets as dry tears stained her rosy