The Devil You Know: Chapter 41

“So, how so you think this dinner will really go?” Clint asked his wife as he pulled out a chair for her at the Metrocourt.

Viki pointed around the room.  “Notice something?” she asked.  As Clint lifted an eyebrow to the empty room, Viki said, “I may be many things, but stupid is not one of them.  I asked Carly to close the restaurant to us for the evening.  This may get bad with Todd and I don’t think it behooves any of us to see it splashed across the front page of any paper, ours included.”

“Good move,” Clint complimented, “But you think it could be that bad?”

“With my brother, anything is possible.”  With that, Viki let out a sigh.  “I just wish…we had realized all this sooner.”

“How much sooner, Viki?  Last month?  Last year?  When you learned he was your brother?  After he raped Marty?”  Clint shook his head.  “You cannot beat yourself up over this.  These memories he has been hiding, they’ve been with him since he was a little boy.  And I’m no psychologist, but I’d wager that they are just about all of what is wrong with him.”

Viki nodded as Tina and Cord came over to them.  Tina sat down next to Viki and took her hand.  “We’ll both be strong for Todd, right?”  Viki had called to tell her about the memories Victor had accessed and Tina had broken down in Cord’s arms when the conversation had ended.  She could not believe all that Todd had gone through when he was so young. 

Viki nodded and smiled reassuringly.  She was so proud at how Tina had been lately with Todd.  She had shown she had grown up  and truly put her family first.  “Yes, we will be.  From the sound of it, he’s going to need us.”

A few minutes later, Victor and Tea arrived.  “Is the sacrificial lamb here yet?”  When he saw the look Viki gave him, he actually looked contrite.  “Sorry, but since our talk with Jack and Starr…”

Tea looked from him to Viki.  “He was up all night, remembering.”

“Remembering what?” Viki asked.

Victor shook his head.  “Nothing concrete.  Just flashes, images I can’t…I mean Todd couldn’t place.”

The family continued to chat when Todd and Blair arrived in the restaurant.  At seeing his sisters, brother and their spouses, he made a turn to leave, but Blair caught his arm.  “Come on, it won’t be that bad.”

“You promise?” he asked like a kid getting a shot.

“Todd, they all love you,” she reminded him.

“Not Victor,” he said.

“Yes, even Victor.  You’re their brother and they do worry.  You’ve been through so much in the last year alone, not to mention all that time you were taken.  Come on, buck up and maybe there’ll be something in it for you when we get home,” she tempted him.

He huffed out a breath and said in a growl, “Fine, let’s get this dinner from hell over with so I can psych myself up for tomorrow night.”  With that, he made his way to the table.

Viki’s eyes lit up when Todd joined them.  “Todd, hello,” she said as he sat down.  She nodded to Blair.  “Everything okay?  You were running a little late.”

“I was just trying to find the emergency exit to get out of here,” he said sarcastically. 

“You and me both,” Victor replied. 

“So, how are things going for the Nurses Ball?” Tina asked.

Todd eyeballed her.  “How should I know?  I just write the checks.”

Blair rolled her eyes and replied, “It all seems to be going well.  I’ve got my number rehearsed as does Starr and even Sam is in one.”

“He must be excited about that,” Viki said.

“Yeah, he is.  He was trying on his costume before we left tonight and I had a hard time getting it off of him,” Blair told them.

“Well, I know Lucy is a jumble of nerves,” Tina commented.  When the words were out of her mouth, she merely shrugged her shoulders.  “I offered to help her with the Ball.  I’ll be running the raffle table.  It was what Auntie Lila used to do.”

“ ‘Auntie Lila’?”  Victor asked, derisively.

Tina sat up straighter and gave her brother a look.  “Yes and now that I mentioned that, we have a meeting with Tracy Quartermaine, for breakfast after the Ball.”

“What?” Victor asked, a look of confusion on his face. 

“It was something Tracy mentioned to me a few weeks back.  And you,” she looked at Victor “and you” she looked at Todd “will be there.  And I am not taking no for an answer.”

Todd and Victor exchanged looks.  To change the subject, Victor asked, “How’s everything been going with you?”

Todd threw him a look of suspicion.  “Why do you ask?”

“No reason, just was wondering,” came the reply.

“Just …fine, I guess,” He replied slowly.  “Again why do you ask?”  Then he looked around the table.  His paranoia kicked in.  “Is something up?”

While Viki and Tina tried to play dumb, Victor came right out and said, “I remember about Bitsy.”

Todd’s eyes narrowed.  “What about her?”

“The night of the concert.  The night…Peter beat her to a bloody pulp.”

Todd’s eyes glazed over momentarily but he seemed to regroup.  Shaking his head, he replied, “Still not sure what you mean.”

Victor stood up and pulled Todd out of his chair, heading to the balcony.  Clint and Cord were about to follow, but Victor said, “I need to have a private conversation with my brother.”  With that, they headed outside.

Todd had stumbled a bit and tried to put emphasis on his injury, but Victor was having none of it.  When they were outside, he told his twin, “I remember that night.”

“Victor, I really have no idea what you are talking about,” he tried to lie convincingly. 

“Oh, stop this bullshit.  Because of our bitch of a mother, you forget, I have all of your memories.  I remember.  I remember you wowing the crowd at the recital and being so proud of that accomplishment.  And then, you came home and Peter was furious.  He ordered Bitsy to stop with the ’girly nonsense’.  She begged him to let you continue and he slapped her.  And he kept slapping her,” Victor explained the images playing over his face.  “And he kept slapping her until you found her lying on the floor.”  He turned away, his eyes becoming wet.  “She told you to run and you did.” 

When Victor turned back, Todd’s face was utterly blank, but his twin knew.  He knew Todd knew exactly what he was saying.  Victor had to laugh.  “You know, I think in this moment, I hate you more than ever.”

“Why?” Todd asked, completely guileless.

“I don’t want your memories.  I don’t want to see a woman beaten on a floor.  Or another one doubled over a fearing for her unborn child.  Or a third on a bed, being raped.  But I’m stuck with them.  Because of you.”

“No, because of our hellhound of a mother,” Todd replied calmly.

“You don’t get it.  Todd, doesn’t it break you up inside, seeing the woman who raised you, who loved you--”

“Victor I really don’t know what your talking about!” he yelled, his heart pounding.  His brother was hitting too close to home and it was starting to affect him physically.  He knew he needed to get out.  “Look, I have apologized to you for what Irene did to us.  But other than that…”  He turned around and headed to the elevator.  He heard his family call for him but he ignored them and hurried out as fast as his legs could move.  As the door closed and descended, he was having a hard time breathing.  Mercifully, he was in the lobby in no time.  As he headed to the doors, he heard Carly call him.

“Todd, what’s wrong?  I thought your family was having dinner in the restaurant?”

“Yeah, we’re not so big on family get togethers,” he stopped momentarily.

Carly looked at him, pale and shaking and became alarmed.  “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.  I just need some air.”  He walked out the door as the elevator chimed and Blair and Viki stepped off.

“Where did Todd go?” Blair said, in a panic.

Carly looked back and saw his body get into a cab.  “He just left.”  Blair walked past her and stared at the departing taxi.  “What the hell happened?”

“Just what we were afraid of,” Viki said vaguely.  She looked at Blair as the younger woman was on the phone.  One of the kids had apparently picked up and assured their mother that they would keep an eye out of Todd, calling if he made it home.  “Todd is remembering his past and he can’t cope with it.”

The cab dropped Todd off at his front door and he opened it, making sure the coast was clear.  When no one appeared, he made his way to the bathroom of the master suite and splashed cold water on his face.  Then he laid down, praying to go to sleep.  An hour passed and none came.  That was when the door opened again and he could see the silhouette of Blair in the doorway.  He turned his back to her, but turned back when she touched his shoulder.  She climbed on the bed with him and crooned to him, “It’s alright to remember.”

Todd shook his head fiercely from side to side.  “No, I can’t,” he replied in a whisper.  “If I do…”

She opened her arms to him and he cradled his head in them, a tear slipping down his cheek.  That led to a cascade of tears and his whole body was wracked with sobs.  She just held him and prayed this would pass.   

A little later on that night in Metrocourt, Victor woke up in a sweat.  The motion startled Tea awake and she turned on a light.  “What‘s wrong?” she asked.

“I…remembered…”  He couldn’t continue forming the words. 

“What did you remember?”  She noticed he’d turned pale, as if he’d seen a ghost.

“I remembered the first time I saw Todd.  And it wasn’t at the Sun offices,”  he replied, almost whispering. 

Tea sat up straighter.  “When?  Where was it?”

“It was on a street, in Chicago, and I was a little boy.”


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