Sinful (WICKED #2) | ✓

17

IF THERE WAS ONE thing Levi would remember always from his youth, it was when he was ten years old, sitting on the floor of the living room. He remembered the faded pattern of their dirty carpet, the way his hands were clenched on his knees, bruised blue. The blood between his teeth tasted like weakness, the way everything about him did. He was so powerless, so fucking powerless. That monster kneeled down in front of him then, with a face that was scratched out in black, and slapped him because he had been looking him in the eye.

"Please," his mother begged," not Levi, Vince, don't touch him."

It had been one of the rare occasions she was sober and yet Levi couldn't help but still see the stranger she became almost everyday. He didn't blame her for it though, because if there was anything he had learned about this world, it was that becoming numb was the only way to survive. Emotions had made his mother choose that monster, before she chose any pill she could find to forget about them all. Often he felt like she didn't even remember him.

"Shut the fuck up, Alina," that monster roared," who do you think you're talking to?"

Levi wondered how it would feel to smash a brick on his head, but he knew it was just a fantasy. There was no hero in this fairytale, only him. He had realized no knight would rescue him a long time ago. So every morning he ran, fought and clawed his way up, until he wasn't a weak kid anymore. Until he could finally protect himself.

And then one day, when he came home with determination between his calloused fists, that man was gone.

"I'm sorry, Levi," was the only thing his mother could sob to him. Over and over, like it was a bedtime song which would lull him to sleep. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry -"

He didn't move, not saying a word as she continued to cry. It felt as if she was finally seeing him for the first time, but the sight broke her heart.

"I named you after my brother," she managed to say, tears trickling down her face," and yet I've still disappointed the both of you so much."

"There's no use in talking to dead men," he said.

"Levi," she said, eyes on him as she cupped his cheeks in her hands," I will stop, I promise. I'll be a good mother to you."

For some reason he could only think of the pancakes she made for him when his father was out. They tasted horrible, but she always had smiled so proudly at him that he couldn't help but eat the whole plate. Somehow they made his stomach feel warm.

"It'll be alright, Mom," he murmured," I'll take care of you."

When he walked out of his house for school the next day Will and Alex were waiting for him, like they always did. They both talked all the way there, distracting him as he nodded along absentmindedly. Even though he almost never talked about his situation home, they knew. He saw the way they quietly checked him for bruises every day.

Before he stepped a foot through the gate he stopped, not saying a word until everyone had passed by him.

"She's going to rehab," he said.

Alex blinked, carefully forming his sentence. "Levi, are you okay?"

Will however pulled him into a hug without any warning, Alex smiling as Levi finally breathed out.

"It'll be alright, Levi," Will told him," I know you've rejected my offer about staying at my home a few times, but please, won't you take me up on it?"

"For you -" Levi began, but Will interrupted him, pulling back and looking him in the eye.

"Not for me," he said," not for anyone else. You've been everything for others all your life. For you, Levi. You deserve so much better."