I saw the re as soon I pulled into the driveway. A ame danced in the living room window. I sped up, pressing my foot rmly against the gas pedal.
“Whoa, what’s the rush?” Albert asked as he sipped on his bottle of Jack, completely clueless. Some of the liquid dribbled down his chin and spilled onto his shirt.
“I told you not to drink that in here.”
He gathered the liquid from his chin and pushed it back up to his lips with his pointer nger.
I slammed on the brakes. “Grace,” I yelled as I jumped out of the truck and ran toward the house.
Inside, I found Grace crawling away from the burning drapes. e re spread to the wall and ceiling, and the room was cloaked in smoke. Immediately, I sprinted to the kitchen, leaping over her. From beneath the sink, I snatched the re extinguisher.
Just as I stood and turned, something whacked me in the face. Blood pooled from my nose, and it took me a moment to realize Joe was standing right in front of me, seething with balled-up sts. He was dirty and bloody and didn’t look anything like my brother. ick, angry veins covered his neck and arms. His eyes were black like two pieces of coal had been shoved into his face.
“What did you do?!”
“What I should have done a long time ago,” he said, winding his arm back.
When he swung, I blocked it with the re extinguisher. His knuckles
cracked against the metal. He cried out in pain and tried to shake out his hand. His ngers wouldn’t straighten, and I knew right away, several had broken. I thrust the re extinguisher into his jaw, reeling him backward. Joe collapsed to the ground, and the back of his head slammed against the oor. He was out cold. I stepped over him and ran toward the living room. Grace was gone. Albert coughed on smoke while swatting the curtains with pillows.
“Stand back,” I yelled.
He looked over at me, dropped the pillows to the oor, and moved out of the way. I swept the re extinguisher back and forth over the curtains and the wall, not stopping until the re was completely out. I wouldn’t let this place go up in ames again.
Dropping the re extinguisher on the couch, I heard the oor creak behind me. Joe leaned against the kitchen table, barely able to stand on his own. His eyes were so narrow, a piece of paper wouldn’t t between his lids. I wasn’t sure he could even see me.
“Calvin the golden boy always saving the day.” Joe shook his head and let out a hu .
I threw my hands up. “What the fuck are you doing?” I took a few steps toward him, squaring up, ready to beat his ass again.
“It should have burned down the rst time,” he said.
I tried to look him in the eyes, but it was like he was looking right through me. “How could you say something like that, Joe?”
He opened them a little more, making it clear he could see me. “ e re didn’t kill Mom and Dad. Mom killed Dad and then killed herself.”
“No, they died in the re.” I shook my head. “You’re lying.”
I heard the screen door close behind me and quickly glanced back. Albert scurried out of the house.
“No, I’m not Calvin. Looks like you and Mom have something in common.”
I didn’t fully register what he was saying. I took a step back—actually, it was
more like I fell back. My vision blurred. It was like I was looking at my
surroundings through a dirty windowpane. All this time and no one, not one damn person told me the truth about my own parents—about what happened to them. Who knew? Obviously, the sheri ’s department and Dr. Reed. Did Betty know? Did Wyatt? Charlotte? Did this whole fucking town know?
“You’re lying,” I said in disbelief.
“You know I’m not the liar in the family.” He shifted his stance, trying to stand upright on his own. But his body slumped to one side. “You are. ere’s a darkness here. Can’t you feel it?” Joe stagged past me, through the living room and toward the front door. “I know you can feel it, Calvin, because it’s in you too.”
e screen door slammed behind him. Sirens roared in the distance. I was about to chase after him when I remembered Grace. My eyes went wide, and I bolted down the hallway. Her room was pitch-black and still. A draft of wind came whooshing in from the window, blowing up the curtains. I icked on the lights.
“Grace,” I called out.
e screen had been removed, and the window was pushed all the way open.
“Grace!” I yelled, sticking my head out the window.
I couldn’t see anything outside, just darkness and the red-and-blue lights in the distance. I put one foot up on the windowsill but paused when I heard a rustle in the closet. Placing my foot back on the oor, I pulled open the closet door. e end of a closed umbrella hit me right in the chest and I wheezed, falling backward.
Grace held the umbrella in her shaky hands.
I gasped for air and pressed my st against my sternum right where she drilled me. “Grace,” I gasped. “Are you okay?”
She nodded several times; the umbrella shook in her hands as she held it like a bat ready to swing again. I got to my feet and wrapped my arms around her.
“I’m sorry.”
e umbrella slipped from her hands but she didn’t hug me back. Grace was sti like a board and quiet like a mouse. She was just there, a warm body pressed up against me. I rubbed her back, hoping she’d soften, but she didn’t. I released her and stared into her eyes. e blueness was darker now. Trying to get a better look at her, I pushed a piece of hair from her face, tucking it behind her ear. She was like stone.
“Did Joe hurt you?” I asked. I needed to know. If he did, I’d kill him.
She didn’t blink. Her face didn’t move. But her head shook. I pressed my lips together and nodded. “Okay. Okay.”
Kissing her forehead, I pulled her into my chest again, reassuring her that everything was all right and that she was safe now.
“I want to lie down,” Grace mumbled.
I helped her into bed. She sat down, swung her legs over, and laid back, staring up at the ceiling. It was all very robotic, like she was just going through the motions. Her eyes were spellbound by the o -white popcorn ceiling. e sirens shut o but I could see the yard lit up with ashing lights.
“ e police are here. I’ve got to go talk to them.”
I wanted to ask her what happened, what Joe had said to her, what he had done, but it was like she was in a trance. I’m not sure if she was in shock or something else.
“Are you okay alone for a bit?”
She didn’t speak. She just rolled onto her side, facing away from me.
I stood there for a moment not wanting to leave her. But I knew I had to.
Outside, a deputy was talking to Joe. He had to have been new because I had never seen him around before. Joe was seated on the steps of the porch with his head in his hands. Albert was nowhere to be seen. Must have wandered o when he saw the sirens coming.
“What the hell happened here?” the deputy asked, glancing in my direction as I let the screen door close behind me. “We got a call from a woman. Where is she?”
e deputy put a hand on his hip and let out a deep breath. Another cruiser
rolled up the driveway. Sheri Almond stepped out of it, straightening his belt buckle.
“What’s going on, Deputy?” the sheri asked.
“Just arrived, sir. We got a call from a woman asking for police assistance.”
Sheri Almond took in the scene, eyeing up Joe and then me. He cleared his throat. “ is is my third time out here in a week.”
“I know, sir. I just got here.” I shu ed my feet. “Grace, the woman you met the other day, called.”
“Well, I’m going to need to talk to her then. Where is she?” Sheri Almond
cocked his head.
“Lying down in her room.”
“Is she okay?” the deputy asked.
I glared at the back of Joe’s head. “Yeah, I think so.”
“I need to see her now.” His tone matched the serious look on his face.
He took a step toward me and his hand went to his pistol. I’m not sure if it was instinctual or he genuinely thought Joe or I were a threat—that we had done something to Grace.
Joe hu ed, throwing his hands up. “Just take me down to the station. I’m drunk, and I started a re.”
“I’ll deal with you later.” e sheri scowled at Joe but then returned his gaze to me. “First, I need to check on Grace.”
Joe got to his feet, wobbly. It took him a moment to get his balance, and when he did, he put his hands in front of his stomach. “Just leave her out of this. Go ahead and arrest me. I know you want to.”
“Sit back down,” the deputy commanded, pointing to the stairs. He
clenched his jaw and retrieved the pistol from his belt.
“Jesus,” Joe said, putting his hands up and falling back into a sitting position.
I took a step back.
“Deputy, you stay out here with this goon,” Sheri Almond gestured to Joe.
“I’ll go and talk to her.”
e deputy nodded but kept his gun in his hand, carefully watching my dumbass brother.
I opened the screen door and led the way.
Sheri Almond followed behind. His hand hovered over his pistol. He took a quick look around the living room, surveying the damage from the re. His eyes were intense. ey scanned back and forth between my hands and my head as if he was anticipating a move on my part.
“Keep going,” he said.
I walked down the hallway deliberately, keeping my hands at my sides, so I’d give him no reason to put one of those bullets in me. But sometimes you didn’t need a reason.
In front of Grace’s door, I turned back slowly toward the sheri . “She’s in there.”
He tapped my shoulder, gesturing me to move aside. He knocked on the
door three times.
“Grace, it’s Sheri Almond with the Dubois Sheri ’s Department.” He kept an eye on me while waiting for Grace to open the door. It was dead quiet and nothing stirred on the other side.
Growing impatient, the sheri turned the doorknob and pushed open the
door. He icked on the light, revealing Grace lying on the bed with her back facing him.
“Grace,” he said again. ere was concern in his voice. He looked at me and then took a couple steps toward the bed so he was standing over her. I waited just outside the room, peering inside.
“Grace.”
She didn’t stir. She lay completely still. He bent down and placed his hand on her shoulder, shaking it. Grace jolted up into a sitting position. Her quick movement startled him, and he nearly leapt back.
She rubbed at her eyes. “What?”
“You called the police, Grace. I’m here to check on you. To make sure you’re
all right.”
She pulled the blanket up higher and brought her knees to her chest, hesitating with her response. Her eyes swung back and forth between the sheri and me like she had something she wanted to say. I was scared, scared she was going to ask for a ride out of town.
“I’m ne,” she nally landed on. I let out a sigh of relief.
Sheri Almond tilted his head and then turned back toward me. “Give us a moment.”
I nodded. “I’ll be in the kitchen.”
“Close the door,” he said.
I didn’t want to but I did as he asked. I hoped it wouldn’t be a mistake.
