"Well, Lulu, why don't we go outside and you can play in the front yard and your mother and I will sit on the porch," Lesley said. Lulu nodded.
"Oh Mom, I don't want to go outside…" Laura weakly stated.
"Laura, you've got to give him some space. I know it's hard, but just trust him a little," Lesley said.
Laura sighed and went onto the front porch with Lesley as they watched Lesley Lu jump rope.
"Ok, Laura, now you can let it out."
Laura looked puzzled. "What?"
"You don't have to be strong in front of Lucky anymore, and you don't have to do it for me."
Laura's eyes teared up. "I think it's just hitting me now, how close we came to losing him again. If he had…" Laura choked on her words.
"No, Laura, don't think like that. He got off that bridge. He chose life!"
"But he almost didn't! What if it was something that Luke and I did? He was so angry. What if he was trying to tell us something and we missed it?" Laura cried into her mother's shoulder.
"Honey, you did everything you could." She patted Laura on the back.
"I just wish Luke was here. He needs to know."
*-*-*-*-*-*-*-*
Sly leaned his guitar against his chair and he rested his forehead against the top of it for a second. Emily wasn't sure what she should do, but Sly started to talk again.
"When I got to my grandfather's house, well, it wasn't exactly how he described it to me. He told me it was a ranch with views of the ocean, but it was a tiny cape nowhere near the water. The paint was peeling, the grass was high, and there was a rusted out car up on blocks in the backyard. Well, I thought I'd give him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe he was embarrassed, and he didn't want to tell me, or maybe he was sick and couldn't take care of the place anymore. He was there, and gave me a very warm welcome, which made me feel better. My aunt Cheryl came over and she cried. They both went on and on about how much I looked like my mother, which puzzled me, because I think I look like my father. I took it as a compliment, though. I thought my presence might be stirring up old memories of my mother, so I didn't ask too many questions at first. I registered and went to high school out there. I would ask them questions about my mom, and they would tell me some stories, but not too much. I met some of her friends, who also weren't much help. I was trying to adjust to life out there. I did a lot of work around the house. My grandfather and aunt started to complain about money problems. Naturally, I wanted to help, so I began giving them money from my inheritance. Well, after that, they started to get distant. My grandfather would say that it was because I reminded them so much of her, and it brought bad feelings, like I suspected. That made me even guiltier, so I stopped asking questions at all. I tried to make the best of it, but I felt like I wasn't fitting in. Of course I lied when I wrote and called home. I wasn't going to admit it wasn't working."
"Slowly, my grandfather started drinking more and more. I didn't notice it at first, or maybe I didn't want to notice. When he drank he got depressed, and when he got depressed, he got violent." Sly's voice dropped to almost a whisper. Emily's stomach churned. She was afraid of what was coming next.
"He started hitting me after that. I remember the first time; he slapped me really hard for no reason. I was so shocked; I just kind of backed away and went into my room. Now, I don't know why, but I didn't leave. I stayed, even as he got worse. He would beat me, apologize, and I would forgive him. I kept giving him money. He would always play on my guilt, make me feel like I deserved it." Emily heard Sly's voice catch. "And I guess that's what I learned from my family, that this was normal. You think the Quartermaines are screwed up? They've got nothing on us."
Emily started to say something, but Sly stopped her. "Please, let me finish." Sly took a deep breath.
"I got pretty good at hiding my bruises and scars. I learned to properly apply and blend foundation."" He laughed bitterly. "I would wear long pants and shirts, and I had a pair of mirrored sunglasses that I never took off. I'll admit it- I was embarrassed that this was happening. I was seventeen, and I couldn't stop it, and I couldn't leave. Well, my Aunt Cheryl was no help. She disappeared."
"I remember praying to God to make it stop. When that didn't work, I thought maybe I did deserve it. This was my punishment for something I did, or something my parents did. The only- the only consolation I had was that Jesus shared my sufferings. He took the punishment for our sins," Sly said slowly. "So I put my beatings, the pain, towards the sin of someone else. I would try to help some poor souls in Purgatory. I would distract myself with thoughts of those people going to heaven."
"Oh Sly…" was all Emily could squeak out through her tears.
"But one time, one time, he was really viscous. He was hitting me so hard; finally, I had to fight back. The weird thing was, it seemed to make him more excited. He wanted me to hit him, but I was too weak to do anything, really. It wasn't just the blows, it was the things he said…" Tears were running down Sly's face.
"And, and," Sly stuttered, "the final blow was when he took my guitar and broke it in two, right in front of me. It was the only thing that was keeping me sane. He, he broke it," Sly said in a childlike voice. "Then he threw me out of the house, and he left me there to die."
Emily gasped. She continued to cry softly.
"I tried to move, and I did manage to crawl down the street. I collapsed in the gutter somewhere. Emily, I thought I was dying. I remember trying to think through the pain, and I thought that I was a waste. I was just some seventeen-year-old orphan who was dying alone. Worthless. So I just closed my eyes and let the darkness envelop me. The next thing I remembered was being lifted by very strong arms. I was being taken out of the gutter. I woke up a day later in some hospital room. They didn't even know who I was. A very kind man, Abraham Moore, picked me up from that street, and basically saved my life. I will always be grateful for that." Sly paused for a minute, and Emily could see the tears streaking down his cheeks.
"Once they figured out what happened to me, they went looking for my grandfather, and they found him. He was dead on the floor from alcohol poisoning. He couldn't even be punished, but maybe he was in the afterlife."
"The people at the hospital called Jenny. She and Paul came out and saw the shape I was in. I had a broken arm and leg, tons of internal injuries, blood loss, and both of my eyes were swollen shut. That was scary; I couldn't even see for days. Well, I knew when Jenny and Paul came in, because she immediately burst out crying when she saw me. I was finally able to see myself in a few days, and I didn't recognize the monster in the mirror. I was covered in bruises, and everything was swollen. They took a lot of pictures of me, to document it for the police, I guess. I hope you never have to see those pictures." Sly wiped a tear away.
"One of the hardest parts of my recovery was admitting what happened to me to Jenny and Paul. I guess it shows how far I've come that I can tell you this. They brought me back to Port Charles to recover as soon as I could. I hid in my room for the most part. Finally, Jenny thought I should start to face the world again. She started by calling Lucky, and he came over."
"I was still stuck in bed. Jenny had told him what happened, but when I saw the look on his face when he first saw me, I just lost it. I finally let myself cry. Lucky sat there and cried with me. He was the first person to whom I told this whole story. Then Helena sent some sort of threat on his life, so I didn't see him for a long time." He sighed.
"So that's what I was talking about on the bridge. I just pray that Lucky can, I don't know, make peace with whatever happened to him. One thing I know, it's that you never 'get over it.'"
"Sly, I had no idea." Emily had a tremendous sense of guilt that she didn't notice something. Had they really lost whatever sense of connection they had?
"I didn't want anyone to know, at least not at first. I swore my aunt and uncle to secrecy. I even made Lucky swear that he wouldn't tell his parents. So I ask the same of you, that I can tell this story on my own."
Emily nodded. "Of course."
"I can't see what good that time in my life did me, or at least I couldn't until last night. When Lucky came back to me again, and I could see what he was going through, I used my experience to help him. If that's the only reason that I went through that hell, well, it was worth it for me."
Emily approached Sly and gave him a fierce hug. "Oh, Sly, I am so sorry."
"Don't be sorry. It does neither one of us any good."
Emily said nothing; she just held on tighter.
"Well, I may not know too many details about her, but in a way, I finally know my mother. I just hope that I don't become as bitter as her."
Emily looked up at Sly. "No, Sly, you could never be bitter, but I will say this. I think you inherited her sad eyes."
Sly looked away, but Emily lifted his face and looked into his eyes. She unexpectedly became acutely aware of how close they were, but she didn't care. It felt like the most natural thing in the world.
Sly didn't realize it at first, but suddenly, they both began to lean in for a kiss. There was nothing else he wanted more.
Just as their faces were inches apart, they were both startled by the sound of the door opening.