Sugar skipped off before Em could protest, and I laughed softly, sitting on the small ottoman outside her door.
“I am pretty sure that Mother and Father would not approve of these clothes,” she said as she shuffled and shimmed her body out of her jeans. “Abel would no doubt be sent to punish me.”
I cringed at her words.
It seemed as though my brother really was the enforcer of our family. I had to wonder how the sweet boy who used to kiss my scratches and scrapes when I was little, turned into the man who was the reason for them.
I could tell from the tone change in Emerald’s voice, that even speaking of our older brother made her feel uneasy. He still made me feel that way too, but I thought maybe if she heard what Eagle did to him, that she may feel a little stronger, more confident to know that he wasn’t invincible.
“Eagle punched Abel in the face,” I said suddenly, and I saw her feet freeze beneath the cut off door.
She didn’t respond at first, so I started babbling, trying to help make sense of what I’d just dumped on her.
“He was in Dallas last week when we were there. He approached me saying some bad shit. I poked fun at me running away while he was meant to be watching me and he slapped me.” Her tiny gasp encouraged me to carry on. “I told him what I do for the club, all of the boys with him heard, I just know that the whole Colony will probably know by now. I wonder what Father had to say about it.”
Emerald began to move again, I could hear rustling, things coming off clothes hangers and others going on. “I do not know if I could even guess what Father would have to say,” Emerald said softly as she slowly pulled the door open. “I have not seen him in over six months.”
I frowned as she once again peeked through the doorway. “Six months?”
Her head bobbed up and down. “We were relayed messages like we were not even a part of his family, but just like every other member of the Colony. We were no longer special or important, we were told he had a higher calling.”
It made me a little sad to think that my younger brothers and sisters were growing up without even knowing their father, but on the other hand, it made me glad to know that they wouldn’t have to suffer through what we did when he was unhappy with us.
Were there any times that I remembered loving my father?
Maybe when I was very young, and my mother talked about him like he was some kind of superhero who was going to save us and take us to this beautiful place so we could live forever.
But even then, how could you love someone who would so blatantly lie to their family like that?
Emerald stepped out, and I almost dropped straight to the ground. The floaty flower patterned dress she had on was three quarter sleeved and fell right on her knee. It was a pastel purple color with blooming pink flowers and complimented her extremely pale skin tone. The dress accentuated her waist with a high neck that kept the modest look while showing off her figure.
“Damn girl,” I laughed.
There was no embarrassment left, her face lit up brightly like she was seeing herself for the first time. “I never imagined I would be this pretty, not even on my wedding day,” she whispered as she stepped toward the mirror in awe of herself. I was so proud of her for finding even a little bit of confidence.
“You never told me what his name was, the man you were to marry,” I wondered out loud, and her shoulders tightened.
“His name was Brock Obrien,” she said, her voice laced with disgust that she even had to utter his name.
I screwed my nose up. “When did father let in this man who didn’t dress like us?”
Her eyes met mine in the mirror. “When Brock began bringing in women.”
My heart stalled. “What do you mean?”
“Strange young girls. Some of the men would start bringing them with them to church,” Emerald explained, her eyes glazing over as if she was watching it happen in her head. “Some would just look very scared. Others would ask us for help. I knew they were not there because they wanted to be, but there was not a thing I could do. I could be punished for even acknowledging them,” she said, shaking her head.
I opened my mouth to ask more, but Sugar came rushing in. “Oh wow,” she said in total awe of Emerald, then began gushing over how perfect the dress worked for her.
I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that these strangers, this man Brock and these girls from outside the Colony, were being brought in and going to church with the men.
Something was wrong, I could feel it in my gut, inside my fucking soul.
How many more people were they going to hurt?
How far would they go to get what they wanted?
I felt like I was getting closer to finding out.