My hand trembles against the notebook paper, fingers sliding over his handwriting as my dad drives us to the police station.
Larry was sitting next to me, and Lisa was in the passenger seat.
A tear falls down my cheek as I stare at the last thing in the notebook. The last thing that he wrote before he left this world.
He wrote to me, of all people.
Larry wraps an arm around my shoulder, holding me close, and a small half-sob leaves my lips.
I still can't believe he's gone.
I didn't save him in time.
We sat parked in front of the police station for a while, so that I could calm down.
This felt worse than when my mom passed away.
Because this time, I could have saved him.
We get out of the car once I stop crying, Larry and Lisa walking ahead, while my dad wrapped an arm around me like Larry did.
"If it gets hard to speak, we'll be here to help you. You're brave for doing this, son." He smiles reassuringly as we step into the police station.
~~~
"Kenneth Phelps should go to prison for being abusive, and causing both his wife and son to kill themselves." I explain, and the officer nods, jotting something down.
"And why do you say this? Because it says here that CPS has already checked in on the household when Travis was young, and everything was fine."
"You don't think it's odd that both of the people in that household killed themselves, and Kenneth is just fine?" My hands clench under my thighs as the officer sighs.
"Kid, Kenneth's wife had a history of depression, it most likely got passed down to Travis."
My brows furrow before I place the notebook on the table. "Then read that. It's all Travis's handwriting. It's his notebook."
The officer reaches out and picks it up, flipping through a few pages, reading a few sentences before placing it down.
"How do you know it's Travis Phelps's handwriting?"
I sigh, closing my eye for a moment before continuing. "If you don't believe that's Travis's handwriting, then why don't you go to the school and collect some of his paperworks from the teachers? It will be the same."
The officer doesn't respond, but I could see him write something else down.
"Kenneth doesn't deserve to walk free for this. Travis suffered every single day  with abuse, and nobody did anything."
"Why didn't Travis himself say something about this when he was still alive, or even his mother?"
I open my mouth to speak, but my dad says something first. "When people deal with physical and mental abuse for years, you think that they even know right from wrong anymore? From what I can tellâ Travis dealt with this since he was just a boy.
He was most likely so messed up that the poor boy didn't know if it was normal or not, and if he didâ He probably didn't know if anyone would believe him."
The officer just nods.
~~~
We went over so many things, and I talked about things that I wish I didn't have to speak of.
But, I think we got somewhere.
In the end, he told us that they would look into it. Properly, not just glossing over it like they did last time.
I sit on the floor against my bed, Gizmo purring at my side as I pet him softly, my hands trembling.
"He would've liked you, Giz." I whisper, and Gizmo meows in response.
There was a soft knock on my door before dad peaks his head inside. "Hungry?"
I shake my head, but he steps inside anyways, two plates in his hands.
He sets them on my nightstand before he slowly sits down, then grabs the plates once more, placing one on my lap.
"Well, we're going to eat together. It's you and your mom's favorite, pineapple and pepperoni."
My stomach growls at the mention, and suddenly I'm reaching over and wrapping my arms around him, sobbing into his shoulder.
"Oh, Sal..." Dad whispers, his arms wrapping around me as he holds me close. I haven't been hugged by him like this since mom died.
"I could have- I could've saved him-" I sob out, my hands gripping his shirt, the pizza completely forgotten about.
"You did what you could, Sal... I just... I wish you would've told me, or told Lisa. We would've helped you." He sighs, his hands rubbing my back softly.
"I didn't know that he was that bad, dad." But I did. I knew he was that bad and worse. But I didn't reach out to him when I should've.
"Don't blame yourself, son. You made him happy. Don't blame yourself for not fixing him completely. Just... Just think about his father getting caught for the horrible things he did."
"I love you, dad." I whisper, and I heard him take a deep breath.
"I love you, too, Sal. I'm sorry I haven't always been the dad you needed."
Suddenly, I think I start crying more. I think I needed to hear that. I needed my dad more than anything right now, and for once, he's actually being the dad that I've always needed.
Pls don't tell me all of y'all are still in denial btw...