Underestimated Too by Jettie Woodruff Read Free Book Online

it as
a form of punishment when she didn’t do what he wanted.  Michael would keep it
from her sometimes and then call the medics to come and get her. She’d be gone
for a few days and then he’d bring her back, keep her on her meds until she
pissed him off, or didn’t do what she was told.”
    “She was schizophrenic?” I softly questioned.
    “Yes. She’d see demons, thinking they were coming for
her for having a devil child. Sometimes the demons would send allies, spiders,
snakes, and armies of insects. She’d hide in a corner, kicking her legs, trying
to get them off her. That’s when Michael would call for help and she’d be gone
for a few days. I hated when Michael made me go to that hospital. It gave me
the creeps, and it was exactly the way my mother described it to me when she
had to visit her mother.”
    I attentively listened to Drew describe the crazy
house, the other patients, and the way his mother would tell him he was a devil’s
spawn. She blamed him for putting her there, not Michael. My heart was breaking
for him. I’d spent all these years thinking poor me. I never knew. I always
thought of Drew as a poor little rich kid.
    “Good job, Drew. I’m proud of you, and I feel like
we’ve made some progress today. I think that’s enough for one day. We’ll pick
up here next week,” Deidra proposed. I didn’t want him to stop. I wanted him to
keep talking. I wanted to know.
    Drew looked at me, realizing what he’d just said in
front of me. He didn’t like it.
    “Let’s go,” he ordered.
    I followed Drew’s quick pace to the car. He was
upset; he never walked in front of me. “Drew,” I softly tried, touching his
arm.
    “Don’t! You fucking happy? Is that what you needed
to hear? You can look down on me now. You can take me off your fucking
pedestal,” he yelled, jerking his arm away from my touch.
    I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything.
Drew got in the driver’s seat not opening my door and tapped the steering wheel
with his fingers. I was afraid, really afraid for the first time in a long
time. He drove like a crazy person, weaving in and out of traffic all the way
home. We rode in silence with me being terrified of my husband and Drew pissed
off at the world.
    “What?” he answered Celeste through the car speaker.
    “You on your way? We have a briefing, remember?”
    “I’m not going. You go. You can handle it, can’t you,
or do you need me to come and hold your fucking hand?”
    “Drew,” I tried calming him. He shot me a look to
shut up. I did.
    “Damn, sure no problem. Call me when you get your
shorts out of your ass.”
    Drew hung up.
    “Go upstairs,” Drew ordered, parking the car.
    “No, Drew. You’re upset. I’m afraid to be alone with
you.”
    “You should be, and you don’t want to defy me right
now,” he assured me through gritted teeth and a terrifying, hateful glare.
    I didn’t want to go upstairs with him. I was afraid
of what he would do.
    Marta met us at the door with Nicholas. I took him
from her and kissed his cheeks. He squealed, seeing Drew behind me. Drew didn’t
even talk to him, he took him from my arms and handed him back to Marta.
    “Take him,” he ordered, shoving me towards the stairs.
    “Morgan?” she called after me.
    “It’s fine. We’ll be down in a little bit.”
    Drew answered his phone, stopping me at the bottom
step. “Go upstairs and take your clothes off. I’ll be there as soon as I take
this call,” he quietly ordered in my ear.
    Of all times that I wanted to protest, this was it.
I could put Drew in his place just like Celeste and Deidra did, but not now,
not like this. I was afraid to defy him in his current state, knowing I’d only make
it worse.
    I sat naked on the bed, waiting for what seemed like
hours for Drew to come and do what I knew he was going to do. It brought back a
flood of emotions and memories. I used to hate waiting naked for Drew to come
to me. What the hell was I doing? I