My words seem to enrage him even further. His face is turning an alarming shade of red.
“My brother. So you think you know me, huh? MY BROTHER WAS A DISGRACE. MY FATHER SHOULD HAVE KILLED HIM THE DAY HE WAS BORN!”
I gasp, falling back two steps.
Someone bangs three times on the door so loudly that I jump almost ten feet high. “Eleanor? Is everything okay in there?”
Maggie.
My dad swivels around so fast, his wide eyes on the door. I scoot to the side and twist the door handle. Cole barrels in with Maggie in tow.
He’s at my side in a matter of seconds. “Are you okay? Mom told me she heard some noises coming from here.”
I nod at the same time Dad lumbers toward me, grabs Cole by the neck of his shirt and swings a punch. Cole doesn’t have enough time to block the blow. It connects with Cole’s jaw, causing him to stagger. One minute Cole is stunned by the punch and the next he’s on his feet, his arm raised and fists raining down on my father. I’m so shocked that at first I just stare at the scene unfolding in front of me. My dad delivers a punch, but misses, which gives Cole an opening. He lands punch after punch, fury written all over his face. I catch a glimpse of my father, eyes wide and terrified as he looks around, cornered by my boyfriend’s big body.
Maggie hurries forward to stop her son and I leap in action hot on her trail. Then everything happens at once. Josh sprints through the open door, launches himself on his brother and tries to get him off my dad. Police sirens fill the air and then they are there, holding off Cole and my father. Cole struggles against their hands, fighting to break free, his furious eyes centered on my dad. Another police officer joins the first one and grip Cole’s arm, pulling him back. One of them slaps handcuffs around Cole’s wrists, while reading him his rights. The words ‘anything you say may be used against you’ slam into me, jolting me and reminding me that this is not a dream. They drag him out of the house and inside one of their cars with flickering blue lights on top. I run after the police officers, wanting to explain what happened. But one of them shakes me off as if I’m a fly.
Dad is leaning against the wall on the porch, staring down at Maggie coldly.
“I warned you, Maggie,” he says in a low voice that doesn’t carry too far. “He stood between you and me. He is the reason you refused to come back to me. He had to go.”
“God, Stephen. He’s my baby. You started it. You hit him first. You can’t do this to me.” Tears are running down her face as she pleads with my father.
He sneers and speaks loudly, for the benefit of the police, I think. “He came to my house and he hit me first. Hell, I couldn’t defend myself. I told you that son of yours would get in trouble one day. He has a temper. You should have dealt with him before it came to this.”
What feels like a hundred pairs of eyes cast glances between my father and the car. But Cole is staring ahead, his jaw set in a defiant line.
“Hey Steve. We need you to come down to the station to record your statement about what happened here,” a policeman with a protruding belly says to my dad.
My father nods and winces when he lifts his arm. “I will as soon as they check on me.” He sounds friendly, easy going and I realize I don’t know who this man is. Does anyone even know him?
“Are you okay, Sir?” A deep voice says. I follow the voice and see a paramedic jogging toward us, carrying a first aid kit.
Everything is happening so fast and I’m dizzy. My sight is blurry. I want to look away, but I can’t. I’m nauseous and sweating and shaking.
Two more paramedics join the first one at my father’s side with a stretcher as if he’s dying. What the hell did he tell them? That is my passing thought. They load him on it and strap him down and then hurry toward the ambulance. The stretcher disappears inside the vehicle, but not before I catch a glimpse of my dad’s face. The triumphant look on his bloody face as he cranes his neck to look out.
He did it. He has probably been waiting for an opportunity to seek revenge. Cole and I played right into his vengeful hands. He might not have orchestrated everything, but he won.
The cars start to pull off, the sirens piercing the dark night. I chase after them, trying to catch Cole’s eyes. His jaw already has a huge red spot forming.
He doesn’t lift his head to look at me.
He just continues to stare ahead, his chest heaving, his wrists shackled behind his back.
I finally give up, stop and stare as the lights of the car flicker, disappearing around the bend at the end of the street.
I turn and stumble back, tears streaming down my face. Maggie is weeping quietly, as she shifts her gaze to me, her face filled with so much regret and hate.