CHAPTER 60: FAMILY HISTORIES.

He straightened in his seat, and instantly, all eyes turned toward him....curious, attentive, and perhaps just a little bit braced for what he was about to say.

"Well... my father is dead," Joe finally spoke, his voice thick with emotion. "But I have a mother."

As he spoke, Joe tried so hard to control the tears threatening to break free, but they shimmered visibly in his eyes.

"Even though I have a mother," he continued, voice trembling, "it doesn’t feel like it anymore... because she’s not here with me. She might actually be leaving this world soon too."

"What do you mean?" Rose asked softly, raising an eyebrow as she gently placed a hand on Joe’s shoulder. "Where is your mom?"

Joe let out a bitter scoff, and the first tear slipped down his cheek.

"She’s in prison," he replied, the words dropping heavily into the room. "She’s in prison... because of me. She went there in my stead. Took the fall for me."

More tears streamed down his face, and this time, Dickson moved to hold him, pulling him into a supportive side hug.

"It’s okay, man," Dickson said, his voice low and soothing. "You didn’t do anything wrong. You only saved your mom that night. If you hadn’t stepped in, she would’ve been the one killed and that motherfucker of a father would’ve run off, scot-free."

Joe’s shoulders shook as he cried silently, the weight of his past catching up with him in the middle of the room.

"I still don’t understand," Blonde said, tilting her head with concern. "What exactly happened that sent your mom to prison?"

Joe took a deep breath, wiped his eyes roughly, and tried to compose himself before responding.

"I was born into a violent and abusive household. My father... he used to beat my mom, constantly. On that horrible night, during yet another brutal fight, he had her on the floor. He was going to kill her I knew it. I didn’t even think. I just acted. I stepped in... and I killed him. I killed my father to save my mom."

He looked down, almost ashamed.

"But instead of running, instead of letting me take the blame, my mom... she confessed. She told the police she did it. And they believed her. She’s serving life in prison now. It’s been five years... and she’s still not been granted mercy. I don’t know if she ever will."

He rubbed his face, forcing himself to stop crying. "I feel terrible every time I think about it."

"It’s okay, Joe," Rose said gently, squeezing his shoulder. "Since your mom took the fall for you, the least you can do is live well. Make her proud. That’s what she’d want...no, what she needs when she finally gets out. Don’t lose hope. Life sentences can still be reduced. You don’t know what might happen."

Joe nodded, grateful for the support.

Rose sat upright and heaved a heavy sigh. "Well... as for my own mom, I’ve got two."

The room grew quiet again.

"I was born from both of them," she continued. "Two of their eggs were fertilized with a single sperm. It was a complicated but beautiful process. One of my moms carried the pregnancy. She was supposed to give birth to twins... but on the day of delivery, one of the babies...my sibling died. I was the only one who survived."

She paused, her face hardening slightly.

"To cut the long story short, both my moms are currently in prison. Charged for possession and distribution of hard drugs. But here’s the thing... it’s not new. They’ve been in and out of prison for years. It’s always been a cycle. But this time, it’s different. They’ve been in for much longer than expected. And after digging around, I found out..."

She clenched her fists, and her voice dropped into a growl.

"Someone from this rotten academy is responsible."

Her eyes flared with rage as she banged the table with her fist, causing everyone to flinch.

"They set my moms up. Got them arrested, and now they’re stuck in there. I had to take over their business just to survive. They always tried to keep me away from that world, but what choice did I have? Starve? Die of hunger? So yeah, I picked it up. And I came to this damn academy to find the piece of shit responsible and fix this my way."

There was a heavy silence until Blonde finally said, swallowing hard, "I’m so sorry, Rose. I really hope you find whoever did this. They need to pay."

"Thanks," Rose replied curtly, still fuming.

"Well..." Dickson spoke up next, drawing all eyes to him. "There’s really nothing special about my story. I’m an orphan...been one since birth. Don’t know the details, just that I was left at an orphanage. I grew up there, and when I turned eighteen, I was kicked out like garbage."

He chuckled without humor.

"I made ends meet thanks to sugar mummies. Yeah, I said it. Thick, thin, short, tall.. didn’t matter, as long as I got paid. I had to survive somehow."

The others burst into soft laughter, and Dickson grinned.

"And yeah, Joe and I? We’re best friends. When I had nowhere to go, he let me live with him. Took me in like family."

"Oh yeah?" Joe cut in, managing a small smile. "Except you’re always trying to drag me into your sugar mummy drama. I told you, I’d rather work as a club wine boy than sell myself for cash."

"Pfft, wine boy?!" Dickson scoffed, rolling his eyes. "Always embarrassing me with your saintly behavior. Just imagine...bastard money! Gone. Because you wanna serve champagne to drunk strangers. But hey, it’s fine. It’s who you are."

Then Rose raised an eyebrow, smirking as she asked, "So is that why you’re chasing Nicole? Trying to bag one more sugar mummy?"

"Hey, I like her!" Dickson protested with a dramatic sigh. "And yeah... she’s rich. I heard her relationship with her girlfriend is falling apart. She’s bisexual, sure, but I’m convinced she doesn’t need pussy anymore. What she needs is dick. A strong one like mine."

He grinned shamelessly. "One that’ll make her feel something."

Joe, Rose, and Blonde could only shake their heads in disbelief, muttering under their breath.

And just like that, their gazes fell on Jamaila, who was sitting off to the side with her hands clamped over her ears, eyes shut tightly, murmuring softly to herself.

Dickson turned toward her, smirking. "Now what’s up with the holy girl?"

"What do you expect her to do when you keep casually throwing around words like ’dicks’ and ’pussy’?" Joe finally spoke up, shooting Dickson an unimpressed look as he rolled his eyes. "Come on, man. You know how she is. And I doubt she zoned out because of Rose. She didn’t walk away either...not because she wanted to stay but because there was nowhere else to go. She couldn’t just return to class to avoid the rich brats, so she stayed and just... endured."

"Hey, Jamaila," Blonde said gently, reaching out to place a comforting hand over Jamaila’s. "Dickson’s done now. You can open your ears again, holy girl."

Jamaila slowly opened her eyes, removing her hands from her ears. She looked down at their clasped hands, then slowly exhaled.

Blonde offered a soft smile. "You’re the only one who hasn’t shared yet. What about you? What’s your story....what’s going on in your family?"

Jamaila hesitated, glancing around nervously as though unsure whether to speak. But the quiet warmth in Blonde’s eyes gave her the courage to open up.

"Oh... well," Jamaila began with a weary sigh. "I come from a deeply religious family. We’re Muslims. A very holy household. And... I’m not a werewolf. I never awakened a wolf like others here."

A hush fell over the group as she continued, her voice soft but steady.

"I was born into a family of six....my parents, two brothers, and two sisters. But now... only two of us are still alive. Just me and one of my sisters. The rest... are gone."

"Wait..what?" Blonde whispered, brows knitting in confusion.

"My two brothers went missing years ago. We don’t even know if they’re still alive or where they are. They just disappeared." Her lips trembled. "My older sister fell in with the wrong crowd. She joined a gang, started doing all sorts of terrible things....drugs, theft... rebellion. She completely lost herself. Now, she’s in rehab, trying to recover, but it’s been hard. Really hard."

"Huh? Rehab?" Rose raised an eyebrow with a snort. "Isn’t someone ’holy’ supposed to be far from a place like that....?"

Before she could finish, she was met with hard glares from Joe, Dickson, and Blonde.

"Don’t," Joe said sharply, his voice low and warning. "Not now."

Rose scowled but kept her mouth shut.

Jamaila blinked back tears, continuing quietly.

"My parents are devastated. I’m the only one they have left to rely on. Their last hope. They count on me more than ever to stay strong, stay obedient, stay ’clean,’ stay perfect... to make them proud." Her voice broke as tears began to stream down her cheeks. "But the pressure... it’s unbearable. I’m terrified of disappointing them. If I fail, I know they’ll disown me completely."

She quickly wiped her face with the sleeve of her shirt, trying to pull herself together, but her voice was still shaking.

"I carry so much on my shoulders every single day. It’s not just about faith... it’s about survival, about being their light in the middle of darkness. And sometimes... I don’t know if I’m strong enough."

The room fell into a deep silence.

Even Dickson looked solemn now, the usual cocky grin replaced by a more thoughtful expression. Blonde gently squeezed Jamaila’s hand in support, and Joe gave her a small, empathetic nod.

"You are strong enough," Blonde whispered. "You’re already stronger than most people in this academy. You’re still standing... even with all of that."