Chapter 16: Beau Come Home

Deep in Marigold's dreams, she saw a younger version of herself aged 10. The younger version of Marigold had medium length hair that cut off right around her shoulders and was matted. She wore a white oversized shirt that cut off around her knees and had stains and small holes throughout it. On her face was dirt and soot. She looked malnourished. Her arms and her legs began showing her bones, and her cheeks were sunken. Under her crystal blue eyes were dark circles. She stood in her unfurnished living room looking at her father sitting on the floor. Her father wore navy blue dress pants and a white t-shirt that was untucked and dirty. On his face was a 3 o'clock shadow, and underneath his eyes were dark circles. He reeked of body odor and cigarettes, and his breath reeked of foul fish and garbage. In his hand, he held a picture of himself and his wife from before Marigold was born. Tears rolled down his cheeks, and Marigold said, "Daddy, it's been two days, and I'm hungry." He looked at her with anger behind his eyes, saying, "You're complaining about two days of not eating when you caused me a lifetime of pain and hurt. For the rest of my life, I will have to live without Alana all because of you." Tears filled her eyes, and she cried, "But Daddy, I didn't mean to. It was an accident and…" Arnold (Marigold's dad) interrupted her shouting, "And your little accident cost me the rest of my life. I will forever be in pain because of you! I will have to live without the love of my life because of you! You complain about food? Did your mother mean nothing to you, you worthless child?" Marigold looked down, gripping her shirt, and saying, "I-I didn't m-mean to d-do it. I'm sorry, Daddy. I didn't know." He scoffed, saying, "Didn't know. Well, I didn't know you were a killer because had I known, I would've shipped you off! I would have made you leave, I would have made you go far away. You killed my wife, your own mother! It's your fault she's dead! It's your fault that I'm miserable." Tears rolled down her cheeks, and he continued talking, saying, "You sit there crying because of your own mistake! Well, crying isn't going to fix the fact that you killed your mother. Your own mother. You took the love of my life away from me. Why? Just tell me why! Why did you kill your mother, my wife, my love?" She said, "I didn't know the spider was venomous. I didn't know it was going to kill her. I didn't know." He crawled over to her, grabbed her arms, and began shaking her while shouting, "Your answer isn't good enough! How can you say you didn't know?! All spiders are dangerous! We told you many times to stay away from spiders, and you disobeyed us and killed your mother in the process! How can you give me poor excuses for the damage that you cause to me and my life? Don't you know what you did is permanent?! She's never coming back." She cried, "Daddy, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! Please stop. You're hurting me." He stopped shaking her, grabbing her arms tightly while shouting, "You deserve to be hurt! You hurt me, you hurt your mother! She suffered because of you. You made her die a slow and painful death. SLOW AND PAINFUL! I had to watch your mother suffer while she slowly passed away because of your disobedience. You killed your mother. You killed her. You took everything away from me, Marigold! You destroyed my life, my happiness. You not only killed your mother, you killed me." She continued looking down, and he grabbed her face, making her face him and shouting, "Look at me, look at me, you killer. Look at what you did to me, how to completely destroyed my life. Look at the pain you cause me. You killed me, you destroyed me, and now all you do is complain! Stop complaining!" She cried, "I'm sorry, I'll stop, I'll be good, I promise. I'll stop complaining, and I'll make it up to you. Whatever I can, Daddy." He said, 'I can't work because of you, I can't function because of you, I can't do anything. I can't even supply our home with furniture because of you. You took everything for me. From my life to now my will to survive. If you starve, then who cares! You did this to me! You should be providing for me, making it up to me for what you did, for what you caused!" She said, "Daddy, I will! I will get a job and I will furnish our home. I promise I will support the both of us. I'll make money however I can and take care of the both of us. I promise I'll make things better." He threw her to the floor, saying, "You better because for the rest of your life, you will have to make this up to me. You will be the breadwinner, and I will retire early. You will be the sole provider for the family! It now all falls on you! Do not disappoint me. Do not let me down. Support us, or we won't have any support."

Marigold saw the years pass by in her dreams, watching herself get older and older. As she watched herself grow, she heard herself say, "From that day forward, I worked as hard as I could to make sure I provided for the family. I got the best grades and won many grants and cash prizes for my artwork and essays. I won thousands of dollars in prizes, hoping that my Father would be happy with me and turn back to that loving dad I once knew but…. It never happened. Throughout the years, as he saw my success and money, he would always tell me he was proud, but in reality, he was happy for the money. Always taking everything I earned and spending on himself. From clothes, to furniture, to shoes, etc… Anything he could buy for himself, he would, and I would sit there and let him do it. I would give him everything, I gave him everything. From the house, my mother left me in my will to every dime I ever earned, I gave it to him. I was always hoping he could love me again. Soon, he started working again and at a dead-end job. He was making a small living… 9$ an hour, and he was part-time. I was just happy he was working and he started putting food in our cabinets. It was always the bare minimum… I was just happy he was working and doing for himself again. I thought it was a step in the right direction… I was wrong. He made me give up all my scholarships and stop my education so I could support his dreams of retiring early. I always did what he asked because I always felt like I owed him. I took his love away. I killed my mother. I had to do something… I thought getting the job would make him happy but… It wasn't enough. Nothing I ever did was enough for him…" 

She saw her current self (still in her dream) standing in her living room. Trad holding on to her arm and Arnold standing there, saying, "I won't let you mess this up. This is an opportunity of a lifetime, Marigold. For me and for you. She felt a strong tug at her arm seeing Trad pulling on it. Trad dragged her out of the house while she begged her father to help. "Daddy, do something! Stop him! Daddy, please," She shouted but was ignored. She felt Trad's grip get tighter and tighter, seeing him (Trad) laugh in her face. 

Outside of her dream, she began screaming. "Beau, Beau, Beau, Beau," She screamed. Carls held her, saying, "He's coming, Master Beau is coming soon." She continued to scream, "Beau, Beau, where are you? Beau, Beau, Beau." Carls checked the time seeing it was 7am and thought, 'Master Beau should be getting here soon. I hope he hurries, I can't calm her down.' He continued to hold her tightly as she continued to scream for Beau. 

Inside her dream, she saw herself inside The Bax Residency. She saw Trad charge at her and begin hitting her while he laughed and mocked her, saying, "I can do whatever I want with you, and nobody can stop me. You are mine and mine forever." 

Outside her dream, she began kicking and pushing Carls screaming, "Beau, Beau, help me! Where are you?! Beau, he's hurting me!" Carls continued to hold Marigold closely, saying, "He's coming, Miss Marigold! Master Beau is coming soon!" She continued to push and kick Carls, screaming for Beau. 

Downstairs in The Bax Residency Beau and Nathaniel entered the home carrying their suitcases in hand. Nathaniel shut the door behind them as they walked further into the house. 

BOOM, THUD, BOOM 

They heard the sounds of Marigold's bed beating against the floor and wall. Beau looked up and rushed up the stairs. He ran until he got to her hallway. He heard her screaming, "Beau, Beau, Beau, Beau." He rushed down the hallway, to her room, and swung open the door, seeing Carls holding her. Carls stood up, saying, "Master Beau, she needs you," and Beau rushed over to her. Beau held her hand and said, "Marigold, Marigold, wake up, I'm here." She continued to scream, screaming, "Beau, Beau, where are you? Beau, help me, please! He's hurting me. He's killing me! Help me, Beau." Beau's eyes widened as he thought, 'Is she having a nightmare about Trad?" Beau held Marigold while she kicked and screamed for him. Beau said, "Marigold, please, please wake up. I'm here. You don't have to worry about anything anymore. I won't let anyone hurt you. Please open your eyes." She began calming down, saying, "Beau, B-Beau, why did you leave me? I needed you." Beau held her tightly and said, "Marigold, please, please wake up. I won't leave your side ever again. I will always be there when you need me." She calmed down, snuggling into his chest while she still slept. Beau looked at Carls with tears in his eyes and said, "Don't worry about taking care of her for right now. I will stay with her until she wakes up. I won't let her go." Carls nodded, saying, "Yes Master Beau." Beau said, "Leave us," and Carls left, closing the door behind him. Beau looked down, seeing her cuddled up in his chest with a soft smile on her face. He thought, 'She needed me, she needed me to stay and I didn't… I just thought she needed space but no… She needed me, she needed me to stay… I will never let her go again… I will never allow her to feel abandoned. I have to do whatever I can to make sure she knows I'm here for her… No matter what, I have to make this up to her. She's my wife and she needs me now more than ever. From all the pain, I hope I can make her feel better and more secure. She deserves the world, and I'm going to give it to her.' 

He held onto her until she woke up, staying awake the entire time. She slowly opened her eyes, hearing the sounds of his heart beating slowly in her ear. She felt his chest vibrate as he said, "If I had known you wanted me to stay, I would have stayed with you." She looked up at him, seeing him look straight ahead, and pushed him off of her, saying, "What are you doing in my bedroom." He looked at her saying, "Why didn't you tell me you wanted me to stay? Was it because I made you angry? I didn't know about your mother. I shouldn't have laughed." She said, "Just stop it Beau, it has nothing to do with my mother and everything to do with the fact that I hate you. I don't want to look at you. I can't stand the sight of you! Why are you even in my room? Where's Carls?" He said, "You screamed for me all night, Marigold. Carls couldn't calm you down. You were only screaming for me. Why can't you admit that you want me here?" She pushed him out of her bed, saying, "Because I don't want you here. I don't need you here. I want you to leave me alone forever." He grabbed her hands as she tried pulling out of his grip, and he said, "You want me to go? Fine! You wish for me to be gone forever? Alright, but if you want that, if you really want me to go, if you really hate me, then look me in my eyes and tell me you hate me and want me to leave and I will never bother you again." She looked away, saying, "I hate you, Beau Bax! I hate you, I…" He interrupted her, saying, "Look me in my eyes and tell me that Marigold and I will never bother you again." She looked into his intense silver eyes, staring into them. Her tears began to fill her eyes, and she looked down while saying, "I-I, get out Beau!" He sighed and walked to her door while saying, "Marigold, I want you to know I will always be there for you. I will always be there, and I will always come to your recuse no matter what. You can lash out at me every day, but I will still come for you. Don't ever think I will abandon you in your time of need… I will send Carls in with breakfast… Please relax while you wait." He left the room, closing the door behind him and thinking, 'No matter what, I will be there for Marigold… She is my wife.'