The Final Truth


"Don't make me throw you out of here." Punk shook his head, looking across at his mother as the room fell silent.

"Well since the truth means so much to you all." Sam shrugged, holding onto the door to keep herself steady.

"Just get out." Punk nodded.

"You know what? I was always jealous of you." Sam said, walking further into the room, "Both of you." She looked over at Dean, "You guys have the… perfect marriages, perfect families-"

"Perfect?" Punk laughed a little.

"Well… some of you seem perfect." Sam said, "Some of you… could do with some work, I guess." She turned to Thea who glared back at her.

"Fuck you, Sam." Thea shook her head, hurt of course, "Take the kids upstairs." She told Dominic who nodded, collecting the kids and getting them out of the now hostile area.

"If you've came here with something to say then say it, otherwise Thea is gonna show you out." Punk said.

"I have something to say." Sam nodded, "But I'm not the only one in the room who knows about it." She smiled to herself as Punk watched her, "Isn't that right, April?" She turned to AJ who stood beside Dean, folding her arms.

"You need to leave." AJ suggested, "Now."

"Your precious April… is just a big a liar as I am." Sam nodded, "Granted, she has no idea about your dad and Hamilton and all that mess but… she does know who we were running from that night." She said.

"What are you talking about?" Punk shook his head.

"The Mendez family, that's what I'm talking about." Sam said, "Come on, you know her family are dealers and suppliers. It's how they wound up friends with Rio, right?" She said.

"Stop it." AJ warned as Punk looked over at her, "Phil, just get her out of here."

"You were running from AJ's family?" Punk asked as Sam nodded.

"Yeah, we were." Sam said, "April found out the night you were arrested. She went to her parents, called them out for dumping Marina's debts on you and they told her." She said, "They also told her something else."

"What the hell is wrong with you?" AJ shook her head.

"What? He wants the truth so he's getting it." Sam said as Punk looked over at AJ.

"Is this true? Did you know?" Punk asked her as she looked across at him, not saying anything.

"Yes she knew. I had to go get her that night. She almost killed her parents." Sam said, "You ever wonder, Phil, why you got sent out the night that Rio was supposed to get arrested? Back when you were nineteen? Why Rio made you go that one night when every other week he would go himself?" She asked.

"Sam, I swear to God…" AJ shook her head.

"April's parents told Rio about the set up. They asked Rio to send you there instead." Sam said as Punk shook his head.

"How do you know all of this?" Punk shook his head.

"April told me the night she found out. She was a mess. She didn't have anyone to turn to so I picked her up and she told me. I thought about filling her in about your dad and whatever but… I figured her brain had had enough for one night." She said.

"So it was… it was her parents? Both times?" Punk asked as Sam nodded.

"Why would her parents be chasing you for debt?" Dean asked.

"Because they were drug dealers. Bad ones." Sam said, "The good news is April isn't like them. She's like us. She keeps secrets so that no one gets hurt." She said as Punk turned, looking across at AJ.

"How did they know that April was trying to set Rio up?" Punk asked, feeling numb with all this new information, all this new information that pointed the finger at his in-laws.

"I don't know, they just found out and they warned Rio. They asked if he could send you out that night. I guess they thought it'd be funny to watch April feel like she sent you to prison that night." Sam said.

"You need to leave right now." AJ warned, walking over to Sam, grabbing her by the hair and dragging her out of the living room.

"Get off me!" Sam yelled as AJ used what little strength she had to drag her out of the house, throwing her out the door as Sam fell over.

"How dare you." AJ looked down at her.

"Yeah well… they want the truth, April. If I have to give them it, so do you." Sam spat, getting to her feet and staggering away as AJ ran her hands through her hair, taking a deep breath and closing her eyes for a second.

She walked back into the house, closing the door over and walking back into the living room, watching everyone stare at her.

"Can everyone get out, please?" AJ asked, "I want to talk to my husband." She made clear.

"Is all of that true?" Thea asked with confusion.

"Thea, please. Just give me a minute with your dad." AJ nodded to her as Thea backed off, walking out of the living room as they all spilled out after, closing the doors behind them and leaving AJ and Punk in the living room.

"Why… Why did you keep all of this from me?" Punk asked calmly as AJ looked across at him.

"Because you'd suffered enough in prison without knowing that… both times it was my parents." She said, "It just… Phil, it didn't matter."

"It didn't matter?" Punk shook his head, "April, your family are the reason I grew up abused. Why-Why would that not matter?" He asked.

"It had nothing to do with me. I… I didn't know any of that until the night you were arrested. I went to my parents and… I called them out, I told them this was all their fault and they came clean. They told me everything. About their history with your mom and then about warning Rio that I was setting him up." She said, "I almost killed them, Phil." She said, "And your mom… your stupid fucking mom… she came and helped me, she calmed me down, she took me home and I… I told her about it all." She said.

"So… not only is my mom a liar but… my wife too." Punk nodded to himself.

"Hey, no… don't put it like that." AJ warned him, "We're better than this. I'm sick of all of this." She told him truthfully as he looked at her, "I'm sick of my parents, your mom, all the lies-"

"Which you were keeping." Punk said, "It's been twenty-one years since that conversation you had with your parents. Twenty-one. You had time to tell me."

"There just didn't seem like a point. It wasn't gonna change anything." AJ said as Punk closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

"The point is, April… I think I deserved the truth." He told her calmly, "From you of all people." He said.

"I wanted to tell you. I wanted to run to you and tell you but you were in prison and I… I was a mess." AJ said, "They told me all this stuff and it made sense but I… I couldn't believe it."

"Why did they warn Rio? Why did they want me to take the fall?" Punk asked her.

"They… found out I was pregnant and wanted you gone." AJ said as Punk nodded to himself, "And they figured that I would blame myself so much for it that I would go to Puerto Rico with them. That I'd show up at their house since I didn't have anyone else." She said, "But they were never my family." She made clear, "Even back then."

"So they've done all this to us… why? Because they don't like me?" Punk shook his head.

"Because they're not good people." AJ said, "And I'm sorry I never told you but I just wanted things to be normal." She said, tears in her eyes, "When you got out of prison I was just… I was so sick of all of it, I didn't want to tell you about it." She shrugged, "I thought you'd suffered enough."

"Wait… wait a minute, though… when we met you were new to school. You were the new kid. You didn't always live here." Punk shook his head with confusion, his brain having to travel back and forth to understand all of this.

"I was born here, moved to Puerto Rico when I was little and then we went back and forth. Once my family got friendly with Rio, we decided to stay here permanently." AJ said, watching as he walked over to the couch, taking a seat and running his hands over his face, "I'm sorry I never told you. I just… I didn't think this family need to suffer anymore pain at the hands of people who are meant to love us." She shook her head as he took a deep breath, looking up at her.

"It's not your fault." Punk shook his head, "I'm just starting to see a little bit of a pattern, that's all. With your parents." He looked up at her.

Things he thought he was sure of, now had completely different backstories, all which involved his in-laws. He knew they weren't good people from the minute he met them when he was a teen, but he never could have thought they were at the heart of so many problems.

"When they told me everything, I didn't believe it at first and then I… I started thinking about it. It made sense." She said, sitting down beside him on the couch, "Then this week in the hospital when you were telling me about your mom and your dad… I knew this was about to come out." She said.

"Why didn't you just tell me?" Punk shook his head, "Years ago."

"Because… I just wanted us to forget about all of that stuff. You, especially. You lost eight years of your life. I wanted us to move on from all of it." She said as Punk sighed to himself.

"Well I was nervous about them being in town anyway but… now I'm extra nervous. Seems like whenever they're around, I go to prison." Punk turned to AJ who shook her head.

"They're probably on their way back to Puerto Rico." AJ shook her head as Punk sighed to himself.

"I think I need some air." Punk stood up.

"I'll come with you." AJ nodded.

"No, just… I want to be on my own." He said, "And you need to take it easy." He told her.

"Phil, we should talk more about this." AJ stood up.

"There's nothing more to talk about." He shook his head, walking out of the living room and leaving the house as AJ sighed to herself tearfully.