Chapter 4

She didn't go to his apartment the next day. Pushing him would only make him retreat further. Instead, Genesis parked her car across the street, in the lot of a small coffee shop, and waited. It felt like stalking, and a part of her was deeply ashamed, but the larger part, the part that remembered him dying for her, didn't care.

After an hour, he emerged. He was limping more noticeably than before, and he moved with a stiffness that spoke of deep aches and pains. He didn't head toward the construction site or the bus stop for school. He boarded a city bus heading east, toward the suburbs.

Genesis started her car and followed at a discreet distance. "What are you doing, Cas?" she whispered to herself.

The bus wound its way into a neighborhood of modest, tidy houses with green lawns and picket fences. It was a world away from his grim apartment building. Cas got off at a corner and walked to a small, pale blue house.

A middle-aged woman with a sour face opened the door before he could knock. Dori Duffy. His aunt. Genesis could just make out her sharp, whining voice through the closed car window.

"About time. You have the money? Your mother's monthly expenses are due."

Cas reached into his pocket and pulled out the crumpled bills Mitch Kowalski had thrown at him. The money he'd been beaten and humiliated for. He handed it over without a word.

Dori snatched the cash and counted it quickly. Her face soured even more. "Is this it? Is this all? At this rate, that settlement money from your father is going to be gone before she is."

At the mention of his mother, Barb Morrison, Cas's entire body went rigid.

A large, slovenly man with a cigarette dangling from his lips appeared in the doorway behind Dori. Dale Duffy, his uncle. He saw Cas and, without breaking stride, hawked and spit a thick glob of phlegm that landed inches from Cas's worn-out sneakers.

"Bad luck follows you everywhere, boy," Dale grunted.

Genesis felt a surge of hot, violent anger. These were his family. This was how they treated him.

Cas ignored his uncle's greeting. His voice was low, almost a plea. "Can I... see her?"

Dori rolled her eyes. "And get her all worked up? No. The doctor says she needs calm. The sight of you is the last thing she needs."

The words were designed to wound, and they hit their mark. Genesis saw the flicker of pain in his eyes before it was replaced by that familiar, icy mask.

Dale stepped forward, puffing out his chest. He jabbed a thick finger into Cas's shoulder. "You heard her. Get lost. We don't want you here."

Cas stood his ground, his silence more defiant than any shout.

Dale, enraged by this passive resistance, shoved him hard in the chest. "I said, get out of here!"

Already off-balance from his limp, Cas stumbled backward, catching himself just before he fell. He looked up, and for a second, the mask slipped. His eyes blazed with a pure, undiluted fury.

The look was all Dale needed. He swung his open hand, the crack of it hitting Cas's cheek echoing in the quiet suburban street.

The sound was like a gunshot to Genesis's heart.

Cas's head snapped to the side. A bright red mark instantly bloomed on his skin. He didn't make a sound. He just took it, his jaw clenched so tight Genesis worried his teeth would shatter.

Dale raised his hand again, but Dori grabbed his arm. "Not on the porch, Dale! The neighbors!" she hissed.

She gave Cas one last shove. "Go on, get out of here. And don't come back until you have the rest of the money."

The door slammed shut, the sound final and brutal.

Cas stood on the welcome mat for a long, long time, staring at the closed door. A statue of rejected grief.

Genesis finally understood. The money wasn't for him. It was for his sick mother. And the very people entrusted with her care were the ones torturing her son. His world was smaller, darker, and more cruel than she could have ever imagined.

Eventually, he turned. He didn't go back to the bus stop.

He started walking.

Genesis followed, keeping a long distance. She watched as Cas limped down the suburban streets, his shoulders slumped in defeat. He walked for miles, through manicured neighborhoods and past busy intersections, all the way back to the rotting heart of the city. Back to his tiny, empty apartment.

The journey was long and silent. And for every painful step he took, Genesis's resolve hardened into something unbreakable.

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