Tears rolled down Roni’s cheeks. “Oh my God, Quincy. That’s horrifying.”

He nodded, jaw tight.

“You and your brother are so brave, and your mother…” She said mother with disgust, her hands fisting, too. “I want to smack her upside the head.”

“She eventually got her due.”

“So what happened? You went back to that awful house? Without Truman?”

“Yeah, and the guy with the gun warned Tru to stay away from me, but he didn’t listen. Tru came up with a plan where I’d go straight from school to the public library, and I’d do my homework or read until it closed. Then I’d head home, eat something, and lock myself in my room. For the next few years he came by every two or three days. He brought food, money, clothes, whatever I needed, making sure I was okay and going to school, keeping clean.” Sadness dulled his eyes. “Those were hard years. I knew he was risking his life every time he came to see me, and it wasn’t like we could afford cell phones. I’d tell him not to come, because I was afraid for him, but he ingrained into my head that we were supposed to protect family at all costs. I’d seen him pull guys off our mom dozens of times and stand up to them fearlessly. I knew that when he said family, he meant her, too, despite how she was. Tru says Bear taught him about loyalty, but I know better, because Truman was protecting me years before he met Bear.”

“It sounds like you were right when you said Tru was born having it all together.”

“Yeah,” he said softly. “But I was so used to following his lead, on the days when I didn’t see him, I lived in fear, waiting for the ax to fall. We’d been told horrible things about the foster care system, and because of that, we’d never let any teachers or other kids know about what went on at home. And there were no outward signs for anyone to see, because Tru made sure I wasn’t a malnourished, dirty kid. Like you, I’ve always been great at school. I like learning, and just as you disappeared into dance, I lost myself in schoolwork and books. But the whole time, I was terrified that someone would find out about how we lived and take me away, and I’d never see Tru again.”

“I can’t imagine living like that. I’m so sorry. I feel silly for thinking I had it bad having to run home from the bus stop or block out noise at night, when you lived in the thick of it.”

“That’s not silly, babe. You did have it bad. We both did. It was just different kinds of bad. But we survived, and that’s what we need to focus on.”

He came closer, though not as close as he had earlier, and definitely not close enough, but she sensed he needed that space.

“What I’m about to tell you is really bad, Roni. I’m ashamed of it, and I don’t like bringing this ugliness into your world, but honesty is important to me, and I take responsibility for all of my failings. I’m going to ask you to please hear me out all the way to the end and not ask me to leave before I get there, because after all the bad, there is some good.” He held his arms out to his sides, and she wanted to cry from the vulnerable, pleading look in his eyes as he said, “That guy who caught your eye at the auction, the one who hasn’t been able to stop thinking about you since that night, is the person I was up until the point I just told you about. I was the good kid who grew up in a hellhole, with a brother who loved him and a mother who had no idea what love was. And that kid, the one who tried his hardest to do all the right things, eventually grew into the good, loyal man that I am now.”