“How long have you known?” Jake asks, his voice rising an octave.
“A few weeks. Didn’t know how to tell you.”
“Why the hell didn’t you?" He shouts.
"How about because I had been sleeping with the person responsible for our sister's pain?" I yell back. "For years, Jake. For years. I couldn’t fuckin' look in the mirror."
"No one is responsible for my hurt but the assholes who did that to me." She says, her voice calm. Way calmer than I've heard her for the past couple of years.
A pained cry comes from the doorway. I turn. Mom stands there, her hands raised to her mouth. "Assholes? There were more than one?”
A horrible feeling of an approaching disaster sets in my stomach, and I feel my blood begin boiling. I slowly turn to Alicia and notice Jake doing the same. Alicia pales once the weight of what she let slip settles.
"Alicia?" I try to sound calm, but I'm mad as hell.
"No. It's just a figure of speech." She raises her hand, attempting to calm me down.
“Alicia!” My voice booms through the small space of the bedroom. For the past couple of years, she never mentioned who it was, despite all our attempts to find out. No one was brought to justice. No one. I spent years trying to find the asshole. Now it turns out he wasn't the only one.
"I promise it's just a figure of speech." Her eyes dart between all of us. I glance at mom, making sure she's okay. My dad is hugging her shoulders, and she's leaning on him for support. "What happened with Kayla?" She asks nervously, switching her attention. I'll take it for now, but we're revisiting the matter later.
"Yeah, Jake, what happened with Kayla?" My eyes meet his, and his cheeks pinken. Good. Probably the first time he's genuinely felt embarrassed in his life. He swallows roughly and glances around the room, looking for a friendly face. But he finds none. Mom and dad never knew the whole story and never understood why Jake was harassing Kayla. Alicia has always been forgiving and has tried to move on. She really did. She took what had happened to her as fact and didn't look for the guilty ones. I just didn't tell her about Kayla and me because I didn't want to trigger any memories from that night, and for so long, we thought that Kayla was involved. I thought it would be hard on her, even if she'd forgiven her. I was the only one who found Kayla guilty without a trial. I am an idiot.
Jake takes a deep breath. "Do you remember Claudia? You hooked up a few times last year," he says, scratching his two-day scruff.
"Language!" Mom reprimands from behind me.
“Youwent on a datewith her a few times." Jake corrects, scowling at mom.
"And?" I urge him.
"Well, she was in town."
"And?" My blood's boiling by now. I’m sure as fuck he is not about to say what I think he’s going to say.
"And I was there to borrow your PS5, and she was there too, knocking on your door." He swallows loudly and continues, "Well, I let her in because she was there, and I was there; I didn't see any harm in it. I didn't know you crashed, man. Besides that, I knew where the key was; it's not like I've never been to your place without you." He shrugs. "Then she asked for a drink, and you didn’t have anything, so I ran to the store to get something."
“Why the fuck would you do that?” I growl.
"Justin!" Mom shouts in horror, but I ignore it.
“Because you were shagging the enemy, man, and it wasn’t funny anymore. I thought if Claudia stayed at your place, you would wake up and just carry on your previous relationship; you would all but forget about the trailer trash.” He snaps his fingers.
"Jake." My growl is his last warning.
"Sorry, I mean, Kayla. When I came back from the store, I saw Kayla going up the stairs to your place and thought that everything turned out even better than I hoped, because she saw Claudia getting comfy with you firsthand." He winces.
“What?” My voice booms through the room, deafening everyone.
“Yeah, not my proudest moment, but in my excuse, I thought she was to blame, you know. If you only told me earlier, it could have been avoided." He dares to look sheepish.
"Avoided what?" I yell, "Sending the only woman I ever loved away so I would never stand a fucking chance with her?” It's the first time I say it out loud. My real feelings for her. I just wish she'd heard it first.
Jake’s face twists with dread, while my mom lets out an excited cry, followed by Alicia's whistle.
“I don’t know where she is. I don’t know how she’s doing. She left the only town she ever lived in because she thinks I cheated on her. Because you fucking let a naked chick into my house! Are you out of your fucking mind, Jake?” A curtain of red clouds my mind.
“You love Kayla?” My mom coos from the door.
