“Tell me what you know, I can’t help you otherwise.” I told Adam, trying to use my most reasonable voice.
Adam’s eyes were glued to the wall above my head but he didn’t argue. I guess he had started to see sense.
“When I was in the hospital, after you stepped out of my ward, Dom appeared.” I clutched the cushion and forced myself to listen even though I knew I wasn’t going to like how the story was going to end.
“I was wary of him at first but he made it seem like we were the best of friends. It was difficult not to start warming up to him. I was lost and he was there, willing to be my lighthouse. He told me things, filled me in on the blank memories I have lost. He told me that my mom had been ill but she was recovering well until you came along.” When he came to that part of the story, he finally averted his eyes and looked at me.
I saw a trace of hatred in them and willed myself to remain emotionless. I willed myself not to flinch and show weakness.
“He showed me a video that he managed to take of you slipping into my mother’s ward alone and then he showed me pictures of you hovering over my mother.” I shuddered at the realization of how doing something good could be twisted into a story of such horror. I knew that the video and pictures taken of me probably recorded the time I slipped money into Carla’s hospital room. I had to do it alone because I knew Adam was going to interrogate me on where the money came from or outright reject it.
Although all I wanted to do was defend myself and explain the so-called evidence Dom showed him, I kept my mouth shut and let Adam talk. Every time I saw the hatred in his eyes and heard the bitterness in his voice when he had to mention me, my heart cracked bit by bit. I wasn’t sure if I was going to have a heart left by the time he reaches the end of his story.
“He told me you slipped something into her IV and that you told him about it. He told me that you wanted him involved in your plan. He said that he was your best friend ever since you guys were kids and it was only natural for you to want him involved in whatever you were trying to do. Dom told me he refused and was so disgusted with the thought of it that he cut all ties with you. He told me he had warned me about it and I tried to stop you. A month later, enough time to not raise any suspicions, you decided to try to end my life as well.”
I felt my stomach churn, hearing all this from Adam himself made me sick. The fact that he believed everything he just said was sickening.
I was once someone he loved and now I was labelled as his mother’s murderer.
“Ever since I learnt about all this, I hated you, I hated the thought of you, even hearing your name during Dom’s ‘story times’ would make my blood boil.”
I closed my eyes, unable to stop the tears triggered by the things he was saying. No matter what I tried to tell myself, he was still wearing Adam’s face, using Adam’s voice; the Adam that I love.
“Have you ever found it suspicious that Dom didn’t want your family to know that you were friends with him?” My voice cracked slightly and I prayed that he didn’t notice.
“No, it was my choice to not tell them. I didn’t like to be around my family, knowing they still adored you, completely oblivious to the fact that you killed our mom. They didn’t know what your plans were and they didn’t know who you truly were. I didn’t feel like I owed them any explanation on who I hung out with or where I was going to go so I didn’t bother telling them anything.” Adam replied. There wasn’t any trace of hesitation in his reply; no doubts that all this might be wrong or that he might be wrong about this matter.
Once I sensed that he had delivered his piece, I parted my lips to say something. But nothing came out. I didn’t know what to say.
Preston gave me a sad smile and I tried to take some kind of comfort from his support.
“Dom was my childhood friend. I’ve known him since I was a kid. And yes, I am close with your family,” I began. I wasn’t sure how to open up to him right now.
“A while back, I found out that Dom killed my brother. Dom had taken a liking in me. I told my brother about how I was uncomfortable with Dom pursuing me and my brother being my brother, ‘did something about it’. I’m not sure what he did exactly and I guess I will never know but whatever it was, it made Dom angry enough to commit murder.”
Adam was quiet the whole time I talked and I was grateful for it. I needed to get this out in a flowing word vomit, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to get it out at all.
“I confronted Dom about it and he tried to get me to ‘see reason’ in why he did it. But I don’t think any sane person would be able to. I cut all ties with Dom after that revelation.” I finished. The next part was going to be hard for me to cover but I knew this was the part Adam came here to hear.
“As for Carla, she was like a mother to me. The first time you brought me to your house, Carla and Jerry had been nothing but welcoming. They backed me up against your dick of a brother.” I looked pointedly at Preston who gave me a sheepish smile and muttered a small ‘sorry’.
“When you opened up to me about Carla being sick, we fought a pretty big fight and I don’t think it really ended. A friend, who I recently found out was Dom’s accomplice, introduced me to this not-very-legal street fighting competition. I jumped into it and you didn’t like my choice. The picture and videos you were shown were of me slipping the prize money from that competition into Carla’s room. I had to do it without anyone knowing because I knew you would’ve rejected the money. You would’ve been too worried about me fighting in the competition. You didn’t need that on top of everything you were dealing with. You guys needed the financial help or Carla wouldn’t have made it.”
I let myself breathe for a second before continuing, knowing my side of the story was coming to an end. Remembering Carla’s death was hard. I let my hand wander to my neck, to the pendant she gave me.
“Soon after Carla’s death, I quit the competition. There was no point in continuing anymore. But during your mom’s funeral, a guy whose brother I injured in one of the matches appeared and started threatening everyone. He threatened to hurt every single person that I love if I didn’t continue participating in the competition until I get to have a face-off with him. I didn’t take him seriously until you got hit by that car. You were headed out for some milk that night but you never came back. Instead, the phone rang and Cali told me you were in an accident.” I didn’t realize that a few tears had slipped out of my eyes until I felt my damp cheeks.
“That night when I walked into your hospital room after you woke up, I made the decision to walk out of your life, to let you continue living without knowing that I existed. It was the hardest thing I have ever done but it needed to happen. I couldn’t think of any better way to protect you.”
“I continued to visit your family when you weren’t home. Sometimes I’ll stay for dinner, sometimes I’ll drive down just to spend an hour or two with the kids and Jerry. It was a part of the promise I made your mother; that I’d be there for your family after her death. It wasn’t until you walked in on us having dinner that night that I realized that you knew who I was- or at least that I existed.”
I wiped away my tears and let the room fall into silence until Adam asked his first question.
“So you and I, we were...?”
If it was the appropriate time to be shy and sheepish, I would’ve blushed but it wasn’t, so I simply nodded.
The awkward tension in the air thicken and Adam never looked more uncomfortable. He looked like he wanted to dig a hole and die there from the awkwardness surrounding us. But then again it could be because he didn’t believe anything I have just said and wanted to dig a hole because he thought he dated his mom’s murderer.
My life felt like it was a TV drama series, better yet, it felt like a wattpad story.
It was so surreal that I could probably produce a movie from my life story.
“So,” I trailed off.
“So?” Preston asked.
“What do we do now?” I asked to the men in front of me.
“First of all, how did you know Dom was the one who brainwashed him?” Preston looked aggravated at how out of the loop he was.
“Oh, I met him after my fight and had a small brawl with him.” I said nonchalantly as if I was brushing the topic off. It made it sound like I encountered psychopaths who killed my brother and brainwashed my boyfriend every day and it has started to become a norm.
“What?” Preston asked with his wide eyes.
“You’re still fighting?” Adam asked in bewilderment.
I turned to look at Adam and gave him an ‘are you stupid’ look. My head had started to pound, reminding me of the abuse it took.
“Did you not hear what I just said about the psycho dude threatening everyone I love?” I asked him while giving him a ‘duh’ look. He was going to answer my rhetorical question but I cut him off before he could say anything.
“Or maybe you forgot what I said about you getting hit by a car right after he made that threat. I’m sorry that I don’t want to take any more risks by neglecting the threat made towards my loved ones.” There was no missing my sarcasm.
Adam quickly shut his mouth at what I said. I was so tired by then that I didn’t care what he wanted to believe anymore. I spared the clock above the living room’s door a glimpse and saw that it was half past 1 already.
I had 2 fights today, one very emotional talk and all I want to do is take a quick warm shower and drop dead on my welcoming bed.
“If you can promise you’d keep an eye and him to make sure he doesn’t try to kill me tonight, I’ll let both of you have the guest room. Otherwise, please let yourselves out the door because I am exhausted.” I excused myself, already standing up to head to my bedroom when I heard Adam call out my name.
“I still don’t know what’s true and what’s not. I’m still lost, but thank you for talking to me.” I nodded at him, offering him a weak smile.
He sounded too much like my Adam. I couldn’t bear to simply stand there without running to him for comfort and reassurance any second longer.
I know I should probably think about what’s happening and decide what I’m going to do about it as soon as I can. But my head hurt and I had no energy to do anything other than to shower and sleep.
I took out my water bottle and drank the remaining water in it. I was parched after all that talking. I walked to the bathroom to have that shower.
One thing I knew for sure was that was going to have to fight to have Adam back in my life. I was going to have to at least try to help him get his memories back, even if it meant revealing that I had walked away from him.