3: 3
3
I sat there frozen the whole night, and every second dragged.
The moment the alarm went off, I couldn't wait. I knocked on Vivien's door.
"It's morning. Let's go bring Buddy back, okay?"
The room was silent. No answer.
My heart dropped. I felt my way in, and the bedding was cool.
She'd left long ago.
I couldn't wait another minute.
I'd already lost my mother, and now Vivien was gone too.
All I had left was Buddy.
Five years later, I set foot in that heartbreaking place again.
There was a party going on at the old estate, a whole crowd of people making a racket.
I'd barely stepped inside when a fleshy hand landed on my shoulder.
"Who ordered this male escort? Kind of kinky, ordering a blind one."
"Shh, you want to get yourself killed? That's the one the young lady keeps stashed away outside—"
Their voices dropped low, and the woman who'd spoken first was bowing and scraping toward someone up ahead.
"Miss, I'm sorry, my mouth runs off, I deserve a slap."
Vivien's lazy voice drifted over.
"Yours, mine, what's the difference. He belongs to everyone."
I stood rooted where I was.
There was a time when a stranger muttering "blind man" in passing was enough to make Vivien snap.
Even beaten and bruised all over, she'd shield me with her body, her eyes burning and fierce.
"Remember, to me, Charlie is the finest man in the world."
"No one gets to look down on you. No one."
And now she was looking down on me right alongside them.
A dense, prickling pain spread through my chest.
I turned toward where Vivien stood, fighting back the tears in my eyes.
"Where's Buddy? You promised you'd give Buddy back to me today."
Darrell walked up to me carrying a bottle of liquor.
"Drink this, big brother, and I'll tell you. How about that?"
I'm allergic to alcohol. As a kid, before I knew better, I sneaked one of those liquor-filled chocolates and broke out in a rash all over.
Vivien had gone white with fright, holding me and swearing she'd never let another drop of alcohol touch me.
"Tell me. Where exactly is Buddy?"
Vivien's cool voice cut in.
"Charles, Darrell's talking to you."
Darrell pressed the heavy bottle into my hands.
My unfocused eyes turned toward where Vivien was.
"Is this what you want too?"
"Mm. What Darrell wants is what I want."
Terrified something would happen to Buddy, I held the bottle and gulped it down, throat working.
The burning liquid poured down my throat, and I choked and coughed.
My head started to swim, but I forced myself to swallow the last mouthful.
"Can you tell me now?"
Darrell let out a cold snort.
"How dull. The old dog's out behind the house."
At some point it had started pouring outside.
I didn't know the ground, and I stumbled with every step.
I tripped over and over, slamming hard into the mud.
My knees split open, my palms scraped raw, my forearms streaked with cuts.
Muddy water mixed with blood, dripping off my limbs.
But I didn't dare stop. I pushed myself up and kept feeling my way forward.
My Buddy was still waiting for me.
Finally, through the wind and rain, I heard Buddy's low whimper.
I felt my way toward the sound. He was tied to a wire fence post.
The rope was only half a meter long. Buddy couldn't crouch and couldn't stand straight, so he had to hunch, and I didn't know how long he'd been like that.
He was shivering in the rain, the smell of his own vomit thick in the air.
I couldn't undo the dead knot in the wire.
I tore at it with my bare hands, and the wire cut into my palm, blood mixing with the rain.
Buddy was so weak he could barely stand, but he still remembered his job.
He lowered his head and nuzzled my palm, and though he stumbled with every step, he still did his duty and led the way for me.
Just as we were about to reach the doorway, Darrell blocked the path.
Buddy trembled and pressed against my leg.
"Charles, you lost again."
Against him, it seemed I'd never once won.
He could always take what was mine without any effort.
Before, it was our father's love. Now it was Vivien's affection.
I tightened my grip on the leash.
Staring into the empty dark, I felt everything inside me go barren.
There was no one here worth staying for anymore.
Once Buddy recovered, I'd take him and leave this place.
