Talk To Me

Chapter thirty-three

Present

Oliver inhaled deeply before stepping onto the porch of his father's house. The fresh scent of cut-off grass hindered outside as he looked at the front yard. He felt it was time to tell James everything, and he knew the conversation would be hard to handle for both of them. He unzipped his black hoodie as the weather change surprised him and knocked on the front door.

"Oliver," James said in a chipper tone. "Why are you knocking?" he asked. "It's still your home, son."

"Too many places to call home at the moment." Oliver lowered his head.

James furrowed his eyebrows. "What is that supposed to mean, son?"

"Can I come in or are we going to keep talking in the doorway?"

"Sure, sure, come in. Sorry, you just came a tad early." James stepped to the side.

Oliver took off his shoes as James closed the front door. The smell of garlic and parsley lingered in the dining room, and Oliver gulped as the scent felt appealing to him.

"Sit, son." James waved his hand at a chair on the right side of the table. "Kathy making us dinner."

Oliver nodded and sat down at the appointed place. James took a seat at the end of the table, as usual. His father's demeanor and the way he spoke to him were clear to Oliver. When Kathy was around, James seemed always more chipper and held a different tone while speaking.

"Did you get a cat?" Oliver asked, taking off his hoodie.

"It's Kathy's." James glanced at a ginger cat lying on the windowsill in the dining room. "We need to talk, son."

Oliver nodded. "Yes, we do."

James furrowed his eyebrows. "Do you have some news?"

"Yes, but my story is long." He cleared his throat. "So you go first."

"Alright." James nodded as his cheeks turned slightly pink. "Kathy and I are not just friends," Oliver laughed. "It's not a joke," James said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"I know, dad. It's just so stupid of you to think Leah and I didn't know that you have been dating for a while now."

James' eyes widened. "You knew?" Oliver nodded, holding a smile on his lips. "So she moved in this week, hence the cat." James motioned to the feline.

"Good." Oliver nodded. "You seem better. Which is why I'm not sure where to start the conversation?" He rubbed the back of his neck. "It might stir a bad feeling again."

"You saw her?" James concluded.

"Yes." Oliver nodded. "And the story is quite long and confusing."

"Well, hurry, then." James glanced at the kitchen door. "We have around fifteen minutes until the food is ready."

"As we suspected, Leah wasn't using drugs by her choice, nor did she was into kinky sex as Rodriguez suggested." James shut his eyes for a few moments. "Cassie sold her and her friend Lily to human traffickers."

"That red-haired bitch." James widely opened his eyes. "She sat there," He pointed to the chair on the right of him. "sat there and lied straight to our faces, remember?"

Oliver nodded. "Yes, I remember. I'm not going into details. But the men dosed her and shackled her to the bed." Oliver gulped. "Well, and raped her." James' eyes watered. "She led us to her friend."

"Us?"

"Mark and I, we rescued the girl. She is Leah's friend. As I said, those guys held both of them."