“I’m sorry; I should have tried to talk to you or Mom. I was just so angry at you all. And I couldn’t…”
“I know. Nate told me about the money. He called me and told me everything. Said he heard it from Dylan. Guess I should have listened to Dylan when he tried to tell me.”Nate told him? Not Dylan?“And it was us that should’ve come to you. You did nothing wrong. Let’s go and see Mom. Dad’s not home tonight. He’s supposed to be meeting me in town for a drink to celebrate my good news,”Thomas continues.
I wipe tears from my eyes and look up at Thomas.“What good news?”
“I’m going to be the starting quarterback in the next away game. Our quarterback’s wife is having a baby, and things are complicated for her, so he’s staying home. I worry for him, but it’s good news for me.” He shrugs.
A little string pulls at my heart. Despite everything we’ve been through, I’m so proud of him. “Congratulations, Thomas. That’s fantastic news.”
“Thanks, Sum.” He smiles, but it doesn’t meet his eyes. “Are we going home? I mean Mom and Dad’s. I suppose it’s not home for you now.”
I cringe because he’s right. It will never feel like home again. “Aren’t you going to meet Dad?” I say, hoping for some way to avoid going back there.
“Nah, I’m coming with you. I’ll be with you through this. From here on out.”Great.
The drive over is quiet. Thomas has some techno shit playing softly through the speakers, and I almost laugh at the memories of hating on his music in the past. Thinking about the fun times we had and seeing Thomas beside me is both calming and throwing me at the same time. Either way, it’s taking my mind off things. As much as I’m not looking forward to this confrontation, I know that it’s unavoidable. At some point, I have to face her. I’ll probably have to face Dad too, but let’s not get too carried away yet. One step at a time.Wasn’t that step facing Thomas?
I almost laugh again at my inner thoughts when we pull up at the house and a familiar truck comes into view.Shit!
I leap out of the car, not even waiting for it to turn off, and run up the long driveway. I spot Dylan the second the front door comes into view, and I scream out in fear.
“Stop. Get away from him!”
Dad has Dylan pinned to the house with his hands pressed into his shoulders. I know Dylan’s stronger, so he must be holding back, but I also know the hurt my father can inflict.
Thomas curses behind me and starts to run. When I reach the front porch, I grip my father’s hand and try to pull it away. He lets go easily, throwing me off balance, and then his back hand whips out to smack across my face.
We both freeze in shock before I raise my hand to my cheek. Someone yells, “what the fuck,” but I couldn’t tell you if it was Dylan or Thomas. What I do register is my mother’s gasp. I turn to see her in the doorway as Dylan grabs the back of Dad’s shirt and throws him into the wall.
“You told me you’d never hurt her again,” Mom says in a quiet voice, barely above a whisper, but it’s loud enough.
“You knew?” Thomas says as he leaps onto the porch and takes over from Dylan, pinning Dad against the house. Mom doesn’t reply, so he turns his attention to Dad. “Why didn’t you ever hit me? Was it because you knew I’d fight back? Was it easier to prey on an innocent girl?” he says, getting right up in his face.
“I had no reason to hurt you,” my father replies, seeming perplexed that Thomas would even ask the question.
“And you had a reason to hurt Summer?” he yells, slamming him back a little, his knuckles going white from the tight grip on Dad’s shirt. “Really, Dad, she was a teenager for fucks’ sake.”
“Child,” Dylan adds bitterly. “She was a child.”Oh, no!I wince and try to mentally prepare myself for what’s to come.
“The fuck did you say?” Thomasturns his anger to Dylan.
“He hurt her as a child. She was ten,”Dylan whispers, looking broken.Shit!
Thomas’s face falls, and he turns toward me, never releasing his grip on Dad. “Summer?”
I can’t talk, so I simply nod and look away. Despite being told over and over that it’s not my fault, I’ll always be ashamed of the situation.
Thomas roars in anger and pain before slamming our father into the wall again and pressing his forearm against his neck. “What reason could you possibly have for what you did?”
The smallest hint of regret crosses my dad’s face as he whispers the words that shock me to the core.
“We never wanted another child. I wanted to focus on you. And your mother—” He speaks directly to Thomas, still acting like I don’t exist.
Thomas rears back from Dad and focuses on Mom. “And Mom what? Did you know about this? Condone it?”
At seeing the anger on Thomas’s face, my mother sobs. “Of course not, Thomas. I would never—”
“Your mother cheated on me,” Dad yells, forcing Mom to stop talking. “Summer could be another guy’s kid and yet I was forced to raise her. Chase her around whenever she ran off. I—”