Page 109 of Heavy
“Step, but even that won’t be for long.” I clear my throat and tuck my hands into my pockets. “This isn’t about our little squabble, Brother. So, I’m going to need you to keep your mouth shut about Cal being here.” When he rolls his eyes, I take a step in his direction. He tenses but doesn’t retreat. “Youwon’ttell Jasmine that you know Calista is staying here with me, do you hear me?”
He shakes his head. “I have to tell her now.”
“No, you don’t. You’ll allow her to tell her mother I’m here when she’s ready. You will do this for me, or I will blackmail you to make sure you keep those thin lips shut.”
When his head drops back, he sighs out through a loud groan. “How many times do I have to apologize?”
“Until you are six feet in the ground.”
The shock in his expression has me chuckling. “I never wanted—”
“Yeah, yeah. Save it. Again, I don’t blame you for what happened. I do for not coming when I called for help. In the courtroom, when I told the judge at seventeen that our uncle raped and abused me, you got up there and defended him!”
“I didn’t know! You were sick and on medication! What did you want from me?!”
“ToBELIEVEme!” I shout, removing my hands from my pockets and pointing at my chest. “To takemyside! For once in your fucking life! To have chosen me over everything else because that’s what you were supposed to do as my big brother. It shouldn’t have mattered if I was lying or not. You held NO hesitation to believe Dad and my rapist, Eamon. None!”
He looks away from me, just like he did that day in the courtroom. “You were a coward.”
“I was… but this time I want to make it better. I want to be better for you—help you!”
“No, you don’t. Because if you did, you wouldn’t only have been to this cabin twice, but instead a dozen times.” He just shakes his head, but I don’t stop. “I don’t want your pity, or your sympathy. It doesn’t mean you shouldn’t grovel wanting to try and give it to me.”
His chest rises and falls as his breathing gets heavier.
“Eamon, you won’t tell Jasmine—”
“I have to—”
“If you do, I will tell her about your affair.”
When his head snaps back to me, I tilt mine, waiting. We stand here for a moment, locked in a stare. Dread and a gut-wrenching fear flicker in his brown eyes.
I hate how much he looks like our dad.
“How…” I know it’s not really a question he wants answered.
“Thanks for the confirmation.” That deepens his sickly appearance. I’m pretty sure I’m beginning to see green.
I already knew that he was, not only because of the signs Cal was mentioning, but I asked Glen for some help with tailing my brother. When I said my obsession with Calista was unhealthy, I meant it. My means to make her mine without any complication has no boundaries.
“Our dad would always be out too, working late my ass. The pain he put Mom through… I hated him for it, but equally myself because he blamed me for his infidelity. The fact you hadn’t had dinner with your wife in weeks according to Cal, told me everything I needed to know. The fact that this ‘slip up’ happened months after both of us moved in here together, is also enough to solidify the fact.”
“I’m not.”
“Okay, Bro.” I release apfftand shake my head. “Don’t tell her, Eamon, I mean it. Also, while we are on the topic, you will start preparing for a divorce.”
Anymeans.
“W-What? Who the fuck are you to demand that?”
Rubbing my cheek, I grin. “A man obsessed, angered, and tired of not getting what I want. You want to begin fixing this?” I gesture between us. “That’s where you can start. Plus, how much love can you have for Jasmine if you arecheatingon her.”
“What would that even fucking prove, Ronan? Huh?”
I slowly turn from him, giving him my back.
“What would it prove?!” he delivers slowly this time.
