Page 99 of Rescued
“Wish they wouldn’t,” I grumble under my breath, which makes Jasper laugh.
“It’s a good thing, baby boy.” He squeezes my ankle and then rests his hands on it. “Don’t you remember picking on Salem when you all were that young?”
“No. I wasn’t allowed to pick on Salem.”
Jasper frowns. “Why? Parents protective of him or something?”
Barking out a laugh, I shake my head. “No. The only thing my mother and Melvin were good at protecting was their own asses and their drug stash.”
“I’m sorry, baby boy. Y’all deserved better than that.”
I shrug. “Maybe. Maybe not. But it doesn’t matter what we deserved. They were what we got.”
“What was it like?” Jasper asks, his fingers dancing along my ankles.
“Growing up with Mom and Melvin?”
Jasper nods. “If you don’t mind me asking.”
“I don’t mind.” I sink deeper into the couch, watching Jasper as he rubs his thumb up and down on the inside of my ankle. “When I was young, Mom was great. Kind of. I mean, we never had loads of money or anything, but we got by okay, I think. I remember having nice, clean clothes and eating enough and shit like that.”
I frown. Maybe I’m misremembering or looking at it through the lens of childhood, but I really don’t think so. Especially since things got so much worse after Mom met Melvin.
“Anyway.” I shake my head. “I don’t know what happened with my dad, but he wasn’t around. And then Mom met Melvin. That’s Salem and Nora’s dad.”
Jasper hums. “But you all have the same last name.”
He would notice that, of course. Not that I expected any different, since it was all over the paperwork we signed. “Yeah. We have my mom’s last name.”
“That makes sense.”
He gives my ankle a gentle squeeze, and I move my legs from his lap. “I’m coming to cuddle.”
Lifting his arm, Jasper shifts until there’s room for me to sink into his side. I nestle under his armpit, my entire body relaxing when he wraps his arm around me and pulls me closer, then leans down to press a kiss to the top of my head.
“So Mom met Melvin and got pregnant with Salem pretty early on.” I laugh. “You know, I really didn’t want a sibling at all until I met him. I used to stare at my mom’s belly and cry. Then he was born, and it was like my entire world shifted. He was my little buddy, my best friend. I used to sneak into his room and steal him from his crib in the middle of the night.” My lips curve up at the memory. “Mom used to come in my room and yell at me for getting him out of his bed.”
Jasper huffs a laugh. “That’s how I felt with Sarah too. She was my little shadow and best friend, all rolled into one. The kids remind me of her in their own ways. Salem asked me to pinky promise that your scarring wasn’t dangerous, and it reminded me so much of her that I could barely breathe.”
I bury my face in his chest, rubbing against him, my heart aching at the raw pain in his voice. “I’m sorry, baby.”
“No.” He squeezes me a little tighter. “Don’t be sorry. It’s okay. Go ahead, baby boy.”
I sigh, then look up at him. He’s already staring down at me, his blue eyes happy despite the tone of his voice. “I love you. Iwant you to be able to talk about Sarah. I’m sorry if being around the kids hurts you.”
He shakes his head. “And I love you. I know I can share her with you.” He presses his lips to mine for a quick kiss. “If anything, I think being around the kids helps heal that wound some. I get to be a big brother again.”
It’s the second time he’s said that to me, and it makes my heart ache just as much as the first time. He must see it on my face because he chuckles lightly and shakes his head. “It’s really okay, baby boy. Please continue.”
After studying him for a second to make sure he’s really okay, I catch his mouth in another kiss then settle back against him. “It wasn’t long after Salem was born that shit started to fall apart. Melvin started acting weird. I didn’t know what it was at the time, but looking back, that’s when he started using. Not long after, Mom was on that shit too.
“I ended up taking care of Salem a lot. Made sure he was eating. Made sure he had clean diapers on. Stuff like that. I never picked on him because I was the one taking care of him. I was only ten.”
“Jesus,” Jasper murmurs. “That’s awful.”
“Mom got clean for a while. Kicked Melvin out. Wasn’t long before he was back. Same shit over and over. She’d get clean. She’d kick him out. He’d come back. She’d start using again.”
“And when she had Nora? Did she…”
