by S. J. Sylvis
That wasn’t the truth.
I hated to admit it, but it ruined the memory of her a little. The perfect image I’d had of my mother was no more. Now, she was like a mirror having a tiny crack near the corner, or like one of Michelangelo’s statues with a missing chunk of marble.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to know more about my mother’s past, or my real father, but in the end, I asked anyway.
“How?”
My father leaned back in his seat, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation. “How what? How did he die?”
“Yes.”
He answered short and curt. “Alcohol overdose.”
A sarcastic chuckle left my lips. “So, that was why you always got onto me when I partied last year. Addiction runs in the family. On both sides.”
My father’s voice was stern. “No, I got onto you because you are a teenager who has a bright future ahead of him. And because you are my son.”
I ignored him. “You stayed with her after she cheated on you with your brother?”
It was a hard thing to wrap my head around. How could his own brother do that to him? Christian and I would never fucking do that. It was breaking the code. It was wrong on so many levels.
A heavy breath was shared between us both. “Your mother had her ups and downs, Ollie. I loved her when she was up, but I gave up on her when she was down. It led to some bad times between us.” He cleared his throat and leaned forward, resting his elbows in front of him. “I’d just found her stash of pills a few months after she’d had Christian. I was livid, threatened to take him away from her. We fought. She left for a few days and came back like a new woman, apologizing. She swore she’d never do them again and that she’d be a good mom from there on out.”
“And then what?”
“And then she told me she was pregnant, and I did the math. Long story short, she ended up telling me she had slept with James, my brother. I had no idea how we would proceed. I was pissed as hell. I wanted to strangle them both. We were set to all meet shortly before you were born to talk. I had calmed some, and we all needed to figure out how to proceed. But he never showed, so I went to his house. That’s where I found him, lying face down in a pool of vomit. He drank himself to death and choked on his own puke.”
My father’s words were like a sucker punch to my stomach. I wanted the conversation to stop. It was too much. So much negativity and pain. I felt for my father. I truly did. It was the first time in my entire life that I looked at him and felt bad.
He wasn’t a good dad when my mother died. He was absent and left Christian and me to deal with the trauma on our own, but sitting here looking at him, the broken pieces of his soul were shining so bright I needed to shut my eyes.
Daniel Powell was not a bad man. He was just broken.
“I’m sorry.” There it was. I had said it. It was in the open. I was sorry. He shouldn’t have had to go through that. None of it. Maybe it was why he was the way that he was. Maybe that was why he had been absent for so long.
“You have nothing to be sorry about, Ollie. I’ve been trying to do better by you and your brother. I’ve been trying to be present. To make up for the way I had acted before.” He paused before adding, “I should have told you and your brother all of this a few months ago when some of the truth about your mother came out. But there just never seemed to be a good time.”
I nodded, still feeling completely warped inside. “I get it, Dad.”
The side of his lip twitched. “So, you’re still calling me Dad then?”
A chuckle came out of my mouth involuntarily, and it helped ease the tension just a little. “I guess.”
My dad smiled, looking relieved when the door clamored open.
A policeman gestured for us to leave, and my father and I slowly followed after him.
“Let’s finish this conversation at home. I think we probably need to include Christian in this, too.” I nodded to my father as we walked down the long hallway, trailing the officer.
“They’re right outside, you know.”
I stopped walking. “Who is?”
“Your brother and Hayley.” My dad put his hand on the doorknob after grabbing a slip of paper from the officer with my fine information. He glanced over his shoulder at me. “And the girl. She was the one to call me.”
“Piper called you?”
He nodded, ready to push through into what I assumed was the lobby of the station. “Yes. And on my way over here, the first thing I said I was going to do was ask what the hell you four were doing out there street racing, but I’ve decided I don't even want to know. Just stay the hell out of trouble from here on out. You got it?”
“Yeah, okay,” I answered, preparing myself for the worst.
I didn’t expect to see Piper so soon after the race, and although my issues with my father were presumably solved, for now, the thought of facing her after I’d encouraged her brother to turn himself in along with Tank had my stomach dropping to the floor.
Piper.
I had no clue what she was feeling or if she hated me, but I was seconds from finding out.
Chapter Forty-Five
Piper
I could still hear the sound of my mother’s voice booming in the background of the call I’d made to my father. She was all but shrieking, freaking out, and I was pretty sure she wanted to kill me.
My father was the level-headed of the two, always staying cool, calm, and collected. When he’d thrown Jason out of the house and changed the locks, he didn’t act angry. He simply packed up his things, walked them to the front door, placed them on the porch, closed the door, and that was the end of it. Not a single word was muttered from him. I sensed his anger. Saw the redness of his face. But nonetheless, he had stayed quiet. My mother, on the other hand, wouldn’t shut up. She was angry and baffled at his behavior, and at one point, I think she even said good riddance.
I knew it pained her, though. It pained both of them. That was why they never came home. That was why they buried themselves in loads of work, only checking in on me occasionally. My mother thought that if she checked my bank account and saw that I wasn’t spending excessive amounts of money like Jason—the first clue that he was using drugs—that I would stay out of trouble.
I was a good girl. I’d always stayed in between the lines. I knew right from wrong, but now, the truth was beginning to surface. Their perfect, straight-A student wasn’t so perfect anymore. They thought my loyalty was to them, but it wasn’t. It was to Jason.
Or so I thought.
Crickets chirped in the background of my thoughts as Christian, Eric, and Hayley sat beside me, our backs resting along the side of the police station. Ollie would be coming out any second now, per what Michael, their family lawyer, relayed to Christian a little while ago. Tank was in custody, and Jason… Well, none of us really knew what was going on there, other than Eric dropping him off so he could confess to something that would incriminate him but take Tank down, too. It was all part of the plan that Ollie had whipped up.
And as I nervously sat there, my back against the rough brick, kicking a small pebble back and forth with my shoe, I realized that somehow, over the last few weeks, my loyalty had completely shifted.
I realized that fixing Jason’s problems wasn’t my job. He was my brother. I didn’t raise him, and it wasn’t my responsibility as his younger sister to protect him from the choices he made. The person I was most worried about was Ollie.
Oliver Powell.
The boy I used to hate. The boy who stepped in and protected me, who was potentially in some serious trouble for me. How could I ever have hated him? He was pure. He was good. And I was pretty certain I loved him. I didn’t realize it before, but when I saw him take off down the gravel road, dust flying out from underneath his tires, I saw my life flash before my eyes. Then, when he had cuffs slapped on his wrists, my heart shattered. I would have done anything in that moment to take his place.
It was a scary thought. But it was there.
I was still concerned for my brother. I still cared about him, but Jason had made his bed, and now he had to lie in it. I just hoped Ollie would make it out unscathed.
Suddenly, the door swung open, and light filtered onto the sidewalk. I was the first to jump up, my nerves completely frayed on the ends.
Ollie’s dad walked out first, but then I was met with a blue-eyed boy who looked almost fearful to see me standing there. Before I knew what I was doing, my feet took off, and I was in his arms. Air whooshed out of his lungs as I all but tackled him. My arms wrapped around his warm body, and my head buried into his chest.
I whispered, “I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry.” Tears gathered in an instant, but I clenched my eyes in an attempt to keep them stowed away.
“Hey, hey, hey…” Ollie’s voice was like a salve to my wound. He pulled me away, and his troubled eyes cast down into mine. “Why are you sorry? Jesus, why are you crying?” His fingers hurriedly swiped over my cheeks as he brushed away the salty moisture.
My head shook back and forth. “This is all my fault. I was so wrapped up in Jason that I was blinded to what really mattered.”
He frowned. “Which is?”
“You!” I shouted frantically, not caring that everyone was watching us, including his dad. “You matter. I should have never let you get involved in this. I should have just gone to my parents and been done with it. Jason is not my concern. I’m so tired of fixing his mistakes.” I dropped my head and looked down at my ripped jeans, feeling so incredibly guilty. “I am so stupid.”
“Shh.” Ollie pulled me into his body. “Your brother knows he was wrong to drag you into this. Why do you think he turned himself in?”
I pushed off his chest and peered up into his face. The planes of his high cheekbones rose as he gave me a half smile. “He did it for you, Piper. He’s trying to fix his mistakes.”
“But what about you?”
In typical Ollie fashion, he chuckled. “Don’t worry about me. All I got was a fine. I’m just glad you don’t hate me.”
My heart was slowly molding back together. “I could never hate you.”
Hayley snickered behind me. “Says the girl who swore she hated him.”
We all laughed, even Ollie’s dad who looked a little lighter than when he had first shown up. I questioned Ollie with a look, and he gave me a slight nod. He bent his head down. “Christian, my dad, and I are gonna head home to have a talk.”
Good. This is good. I grabbed onto Ollie’s hand and gave it a squeeze, letting him know I was here for him.
“Eric will take you home?” Ollie looked at Eric for reassurance, but I interrupted him.
“Actually…my parents are on the way. I called them as soon as Eric let us know that my brother was here.”
“Oh, good. That’s good.” He nodded as if he were pleased, and I glanced at Hayley. “Hayley, will you stay with me until they’re here?”
“Of course.”
“I’ll catch a ride with my dad and Ol. You can just drive my Charger to my house when her parents get here, yeah?” Christian asked. “I think I need to get filled in on whatever is going on with you.” He glanced at Ollie and grimaced. I gave Ollie another squeeze.
“Yeah,” Ollie answered, squeezing me back. His palm felt nice along mine, and I hated to let it go, but we both needed to get things sorted out.
His dad and Christian began walking to the parking lot as Ollie stayed back. He tugged me closer as his lips hovered over mine. Our eyes locked for half a second before he pressed his mouth against mine. Things were chaotic, to say the least. Emotions were running high, but with his lips on mine, I suddenly felt grounded. Like everything would be okay.
When he pulled away, he took my breath with him.
“Call me when you get home, okay? The very second.”
I wrapped my arms around my middle after handing him back his phone. “I will, and then you can fill me in on that?” I nudged my head to his father and Christian.
“Yeah.” He kissed my forehead and started to walk away but not before he whispered, “And when all of this drama bullshit is over…it’s you and me, okay? Just you and me.”
“Us,” I whispered back.
“Us,” he repeated, and then he was gone.
Hayley, Eric, and I all went back and sat against the brick wall, waiting for my parents.
We sat silently as I ran my fingers over my lips. The second Ollie was gone, I was back to feeling too much. There was a lot of uncertainty dealing with my parents and brother, and I wasn’t really prepared.
Eric’s voice had my hand dropping from my mouth. “I’m not gonna lie. Having you two around is a lot like walking into a fucking real-life soap opera. So much drama.”
I was the first to snicker, because it was true, and then we all busted up laughing before Hayley popped up, bringing her legs underneath her to sit cross-legged. “No one asked you to stay, you know. You can leave us and our drama fest.”
He groaned, pulling his knees up and resting his arms along them. “And miss out on all the entertainment? Yeah fucking right.”
I giggled. “Why are you still here? You can leave. My parents should be here any minute. For once, they were actually in the state instead of halfway across the world.”
He didn’t glance at Hayley or me. Instead, he kept his expression in front of him. “I’ll wait until they’re here, and then I’ll take off.”
Hayley crooned, “Aw. Eric! I knew you cared about us.”
He still kept his gaze straight, but I saw the rise of his cheeks.
I laughed quietly and leaned back onto the brick, waiting patiently for my parents to show up.
The past few days had somehow flown by with minimal fights between my parents and me, but that was only because they were basically ignoring me all together. Things moved quickly as soon as they had arrived at the police station. I sensed the rising disappointment from them when I began telling them what had happened. I started at the very beginning and barely took a breath as everything tumbled out. It was like a waterfall; I couldn’t stop the words even if I wanted to.
My father had barely blinked in my direction since that night. And my mother… Well, I’m surprised her teeth weren’t cracked with how hard she clenched her jaw anytime I walked past her in the house. They took the entire week off from work to stay home and figure things out, which was a surprise to me.
I assumed they’d rip me out of the police station whilst putting a tracking device on me and leave my brother there to fend for himself, but that was not exactly what happened.
To be honest, I wasn’t even sure what happened. I'd been shut out of all things relating to Jason. He won’t talk to me either.
The police released him early Sunday morning, and he’d been here since, but again, I had no idea why. I should have been happy that I was left in the dark, because after all, it was what I’d been wanting since the very beginning, but I wasn’t happy at all. My house was like a ticking time bomb—one wrong move and the entire thing was going up in flames.
My phone vibrated against my desk. A tiny bit of happiness filtered through when I saw it was Hayley.
“Hey, Hay.”
“Hey, how are things tonight?” Hayley was whispering through the phone, and I had no idea why. I glanced at the clock. It was after ten, so maybe Ann was asleep.
“Things are the same. Jason has barely come out of his room unless my parents drag him out to talk.” I sighed, flopping onto my bed. “He still won’t talk to me. I don’t know, but I will say it still feels like we’re on the verge of World War III in our house.”
Hayley laughed. “We all miss you at school. Ollie walks around like a lost puppy. I can’t believe your parents are having you stay home.”
Ah, yes. My parents decided to keep me home for a few days until they sorted things out. Why? I had no idea. I guess they were afraid that people would find out that not only was Jason a troublemaker, but their precious, straight
-laced daughter wasn’t the princess they thought she was, either.
“I know,” I huffed. “But they were so angry with me that I didn’t even argue. I did, however, almost go to school today just to spite them.” Hayley laughed again. “But seriously, things are weird here, Hayley. So weird.” My stomach dipped with nerves, thinking back to this morning when I crept downstairs to find my mom and dad arguing. It was rare. Not the arguing, but just them being in the kitchen on a Wednesday morning. They didn’t say a word as I grabbed some orange juice and a granola bar. When I went back upstairs, my nerves coiled tight, I stopped in front of Jason’s door only to hear nothing at all. When I peeked inside, I saw him sitting on the edge of his bed with his head hung low. I was certain he knew I was standing there, but he wouldn’t turn in my direction. He was icing me out.
At first, I was pissed that he wouldn’t talk to me. Part of me wondered if he was angry with me, but once I’d talked to Ollie later that day, he helped me realize that Jason was probably ashamed. He was mad at himself, not me.
Ollie. I missed him. I wanted things to go back to normal—well, semi-normal. I wanted the freedom of seeing him when I wanted.
“Why are things weird?” Hayley asked, still whispering.
“I’m just confused. My parents won’t tell me much, and I’m too afraid to ask. Jason won’t talk to me.” I slowly sat up on my bed and tucked my damp hair behind my ears. “I have a bad feeling, and I can’t shake it.”
“You know what I think you need?”
“What?”
I could tell Hayley was smiling. “I think you need your best friend…and your boyfriend.”
I do. Ollie and I had talked every day since Saturday. In fact, we talked so long on Sunday night that we both fell asleep on the phone. We had a lot to say. He filled me in on what was going on with his dad and Christian, and I filled him in on everything going on at my house. He dropped off my homework yesterday and gave me a quick peck on the lips before leaving me at the door before my parents came.
It only made me miss him more.