Elsie’s My Little Pony bedsheets are twisted around her legs, and her nightshirt, which is actually Liam’s old T-shirt, dangles off her shoulder. The night-light plugged in on the wall near her bed casts a faint glow over my youngest sibling. Her face is red, her eyes swollen. Tear tracks mark her face.
She lifts her arms in the air, and when I’m within jumping distance, she launches herself at me and buries her head in the crook of my neck. Hot wet drops land on my skin and I close my eyes as I hug the little girl I wanted desperately to evade months ago.
I sit on her bed and she keeps herself curled around me, but the sounds of despair have ceased. Across the room, Zac watches me from the bottom bunk, Paul from the top. Both of them peek out from under their covers like owls terrified to wander from the safety of their nest.
“Is it true?” Paul asks. “Are you dating someone from the Reign of Terror?”
Elsie throws her fears into the mix. “Are Mommy and Daddy going to be mad at you forever?”
“Are they going to make you leave?” asks Zac.
Elsie’s dark eyes fill up again and her lower lip trembles. “I don’t want you to go.”
More questions pour from them about Razor and my parents and leaving and then the light flicks on. Liam and Joshua stride in and Clara hangs back to cock a hip against the door frame. From downstairs, Dad yells something about how Mom never has enough time for him and Mom shouts back asking why she should spend time with someone who doesn’t acknowledge her existence or worth.
I smooth back Elsie’s hair from her hot, sweaty face and consider laying my palms over her ears until the argument is over. Joshua picks up a pillow and swats Zac with it until he allows him room to sit and Liam rests his back against the frame of the bunks.
“You should be at work,” I say to Liam.
He hooks his thumbs into his jeans. “Getting a text telling me that there’s a picture of my little sister making out with a guy from the Terror at a bar changed my plans.”
“We didn’t do anything that night.” The making-out portion had come much later. “And Thomas is more than a member of the Reign of Terror.” Using Razor’s real name feels like a better strategy than his road name.
Joshua’s eyes narrow into slits. “They’re killers.”
“You don’t know that. You don’t know anything about them other than what people say.”
“Is it true?” Liam barks, and I rub my hand along Elsie’s back when she shudders. “Did you tell Mom and Dad you’re in love with this bastard?”
Anger tightens my muscles. “His name is Thomas, and yes, I am in love with him. He’s in love with me, and if you’d give him a shot, you’d find out what a great guy he is.”
Liam throws out his arms. “He carries a gun!”
“So what if he does? He’s a million times better than half of the people at school!”
He bangs the back of his head against the bunks so hard that the frame shakes. “Jesus, Bre, you’re too smart to be brainwashed. You’re too smart for any of this, but evidently you’re having a brain lapse and it’s time for you to get your head out of your ass!”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“You gotta break up with him.” Joshua squishes Zac’s pillow in his hands. “One—he’s dangerous. Two—the people he’s around are lethal.”
“I’m not going to break up with him.” I press my lips to Elsie’s forehead when she sniffs like she’s going to start crying again. “I’ll introduce him to Mom and Dad. They’ll see how great he is and how smart he is and—”
“Mom and Dad are sending you away.” Liam cuts me off and the breath is knocked out of my body.
“What?”
“The private school. The one you were accepted to. I’m here because they called me over to see if I would move home so I can pick up the slack that will be left when you leave.”
It’s what I wanted. Months ago. My mouth gapes, and like when Kyle had tried to squeeze the life out of me earlier, no sound leaks out. If Liam had told me this in August, I possibly would have leaped into his arms and cried like a newborn, but now I’m encased in cold numbness.
The bunk squeaks when Paul hops out of the top and scurries to Elsie’s bed. He tucks a pillow to his chest and doesn’t look at anyone. A few seconds later, Zac bolts over the invisible line that has always separated me from everyone else.
Zac encircles his arms around my waist as Elsie tightens her hold on my neck. I’m leaving them. I glance around the room. Joshua has his head down and Liam’s staring at the ceiling as if we told him of an impending death.
“What did you tell them?” I whisper.
“I told them I’d do it. I’ll do anything to keep you safe.”
My mouth feels like a desert and it’s difficult to breathe. “What if I don’t want to go?”
Liam meets my eyes. “It doesn’t matter what you want. The decision’s already been made. You’re leaving this week.”
RAZOR
We need to talk about Kyle as soon as you get back. That was the last text Breanna sent before I hauled ass to Snowflake.