Page 41 of Crash into me
Brett’s here now. I see him from the corner of my eye tucked away with Mrs. Rita. Normally, I would want them to go away and to never see this, but the feeling in my gut is telling me that everyone needs to witness what’s happening here tonight.
Dad cuts his eyes at me. A tight rope of tension has everyone performing a balancing act. “These are the kinds of things you’ll learn about in my industry, Skyler.” To add insult to injury, he shakes his head. “But none of that will matter once you marry Warren, since he will be the bread winner.”
Warren gives me an uneasy look from across the table. It’s a look that tells me he needs help. He continues standing, and during all of the chaos, he looks his father straight in the eyes. “Dad, Mom…” He pauses, looking to me for something I can’t decipher. Inhaling a deep breath, he places his palms on the wooden table. “I’m not marrying Skyler.”
I smile as everyone’s face falls into a frown. “Yes, you will. We’ve already decided upon it.” His father brushes him off.
His fist slams down. “We aren’t checks that can be signed away, we are your children!” he screams. “And I’ll be damned if I marry someone I don’t love.” He looks to me, as if to say no offense, but none is taken.
To show him I agree, I stand as well.
“Sit the fuck down!” Kent’s order bellows through the room. I wonder if the guest outside can hear, but like I always say … a big house allows more room to scream.
“Love?” His father stands, a growing fire sweeps across the room. Covering the tables, and fancy gold plates in its sizzling blanket. “Won’t get you anywhere.”
“You don’t understand, I will never love her …” He points in my direction as Brett walks out beside me from the shadows. “Because I love him.”
18
Along silence stretches across the room and I burst towards Warren to hug him. Tears well in his eyes the longer he waits and waits for someone else to say something.
His mother cracks a smile, her pink lips turning upward. “Warren, honey—”
Her words are cut off by his father’s boiling rage, “No son of mine!” he sneers, dashing out of his chair and into Warren’s face. Brett slides in between them, facing Warren’s father.
“Oh,” Warren says, looking over to Kent, “and you have no hold over her anymore.” He points to me. “I’m paying for everything.”
Brett looks confused by his words, and then it clicks. The reason Warren was so worried about me is because Brett’s who told him about my situation.
“Paying for it with what?” his father spits, still blocked by Brett. “You’re done. Cut off, if you choose to be with him.”
Warren laughs. “It’s not a fucking choice, Dad.”
William lunges towards his son, but Brett is immovable. “Calm down,” he advises, his nostrils flaring.
“You’re a disgrace,” he tells his son.
“Fuck you,” Brett sneers, his knuckles colliding with William’s jaw.
Holy shit.
The room stills for a split second. You know when a massive storm is coming? When there’s a calm in the air that’s unsettling, like you just know shits about to go down?
The brief moment of worried peace right before absolute fucking chaos ensues?
This is that moment.
William is on the ground, but not for long before he rises and lunges for Brett. Warren attempts to pry his father’s hands back, to keep them from harming the one he loves.
Mom and Laurene shuffle to the corner, turning their faces away from the violence. But they’ve been doing it all wrong. You’re supposed to relish in, run to it instead of away. How will you ever get out if you don’t go through?
I rush to Brett to try and protect my friend, but my body gets slammed into a wall.
It’s a chaotic mess, with my father rising to scream at me, his hands pinning down my arms. No one seems to notice with everything going on, except for Mrs. Rita.
Her hands wrap around his arms, trying with all of her tiny might to pull him away. “You’ve fucked up everything! You stupid, fucking child!” Kent screams, wrapping both of his hands around my neck.
He’s suffocating me.