Chapter 55

“What is it?”

Calvin sighed. “All right, I guess you may as well see.” His fingers went to the buttons of his shirt and he slowly started to release them. He kept the shirt closed until he got to the bottom, and then he opened it to reveal the bare skin of his chest and stomach.

Matt stared at the scars slashed across Calvin’s abdomen. For a moment, he couldn’t catch his breath and he felt light-headed. “My God.”

Calvin turned away, leaving his back facing Matt. “Yeah, ugly huh?”

He stepped over to Calvin and wrapped his arms around his middle, pulling him tight against him. “Nothing about you is ugly. What happened?”

The man in his arms let out a shaky sigh. “My father attacked both my mother and me. He came home hallucinating from bad acid. His story was he thought we were possessed by the devil.”

“Calvin,” he said softly, kissing his hair.