บท 26: Xavier's Past
After they cleaned up, Angela and Bella were sitting beside each other on the kitchen counter, while Xavier had fallen asleep on the couch.
He was tired after the running he had done and sleeping was the best thing he could do to rest.
Lightly snoring, Xavier was deeply asleep in a matter of minutes, but despite being asleep, he also felt on edge.
His concept of time was hazy just like it would normally be when one was asleep, but he felt as though he could feel danger and still hear everything around him.
It was quite an uncomfortable feeling that he attributed to his Gangster Instincts.
-
"So Angela, you like him, don't you?" teased Bella.
"No. And don't speak so loudly, he is asleep."
"Don't lie to me. I know you better than anyone."
"Bella, please. We just became good friends, and I see him more like a little brother. He is too young."
"Whatever you say, but anyway, what's the deal with him? He can't actually be 17."
"He is, and he recently dropped out of his senior year of high school. There isn't much on him at the police station, but there was an incident that happened quite a while back..."
"Spill the beans. What happened?"
Angela appeared hesitant to tell her and didn't want Xavier to hear her talk about it, since he had made it quite evident he didn't want to speak about it.
But at the same time, she wanted to speak to someone about it and from how deeply asleep he was, there was no way he could hear them, right?
"From what the records say, he had an abusive father," she revealed.
As soon as she said that, Xavier's face twitched slightly as he clenched his fists, but calmed down and pretended to still be asleep.
He couldn't control his senses and even though he tried to sleep deeply and not hear what they said between themselves, he couldn't.
Bella fell silent, and remembering his reasoning for attacking the Black Hand Gang, she couldn't help but ask, "Did he hit his mother?"
"Yes. He was an alcoholic gambler that used to beat them both perilously and was diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder. There were times that Xavier was said to have even suffered broken bones, and his mother would always be covered in bruises."
"It said that his mother was frightened of him and afraid to tell anyone or the police. And he also used Xavier to threaten her and force her to hand over all the money she had or would earn, which he then used to drink and gamble."
The more Angela spoke, the more the terrible memories of the past would arise for Xavier, who was struggling not to explode as his face distorted in anger.
"It was said that Xavier got into a lot of trouble in school and even went to juvenile. His father would beat him, and he would do the same to other kids. He became wild and would try to attack his father, but couldn't overcome the size the difference."
"That is what the NYPD gathered on their case through their testimonies, and they wouldn't have gotten the testimony if it wasn't for Xavier who snapped one day..."
"What happened?" Bella asked, with tears in her eyes as she heard the story of his childhood.
Working as a nurse, her passion was to help others, and to hear how much a child suffered, how could she not be saddened?
"While his father was drunk and asleep, the report said that Xavier tried to kill his dad with a knife. At the time, he was only 12, and stabbed him in the eye. His father obviously woke up from the pain and began attacking him. Xavier managed to get the knife back and stab him again in the stomach."
"That day, his mother collapsed after seeing all the blood and what had unfolded. She was in the hospital for a few days and he almost successfully killed his dad, who, after being in the hospital for weeks, managed to pull through. That left Xavier in the care of the police and alone with blood on his hands. But on the report, it said that he didn't cry and was calm, even with a smile on his face. The only thing he worried about was his mother."
"He must have really hated his father, who must have done some terrible things to him."
"Yes, he did, and he didn't get charged or in any trouble, even though he nearly killed a man. Instead, he was forced into counseling that he had to attend even through high school, and since then he stayed out of trouble as much as he could. The only other times his name came up in his records are in school fights, but he hasn't had any charges pressed against him, so that's all there is."
"No wonder he is so protective over his mother and was able to act so coldly after watching someone be shot. I can't help but pity him," commented Bella.
"Yeah, and he isn't a bad guy. Even with a screw loose, he protected me twice."
"Twice?"
"Yeah, today in the gym," revealed Angela, who quickly realised what she had done.
"The gym?!"
"Don't tell me..."
"No, he didn't exercise. He just watched me," Angela said frantically, seemingly afraid of the gentle Bella that would become frightening when it came to her patients.
"Are you lying?"
"N-No."
She wasn't convinced, but she couldn't interrogate Angela any further with Xavier getting up.
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