Chapter 7
The next thirty days were the longest month my house had ever endured. Colter left dirty dishes in the sink. I placed them inside a plastic tub and set it outside his room. Brenna ran the washing machine after midnight. I switched off power to the laundry room and posted operating hours on the door. Colter tried to take my car without asking. The keys were locked in my bedroom. He accused me of treating them like prisoners. “You’re free to leave today,” I reminded him.
Maddox changed first. He began rinsing his dishes. He took out the trash without being asked. One afternoon, he carried my water upstairs while I struggled with the crutches. He placed it beside my bed and said, “I should have come outside.” “Yes.” “I’m sorry.” “I believe you.” I did not tell him everything was fine. Some apologies should be accepted without erasing what caused them.
My mother visited a week after the fall. She brought a box of pastries and wore the careful expression of someone who had planned a speech in the car. When she saw my cast, the speech disappeared. “Oh, Emmett.” She bent to hug me. I let her.
Then Brenna entered the living room. “Tell him this is too much,” she said. “We made one mistake.” I opened the black folder Camille had left with me. Inside were photographs of the porch, the medical report, bank statements, grocery receipts, unauthorized credit-card charges, and messages Brenna had sent me. One message had arrived three hours before I fell. Don’t forget Maddox’s protein bars. He hates the cheap ones. Another had arrived while I was still in the emergency room. Where did you put the extra laundry detergent?
My mother read everything. Her face changed slowly. She looked at Colter. “You let him pay your car insurance?” Colter shrugged. “He offered to help.” “I did not offer,” I said. “You used my card.” My mother looked at Brenna. “And you controlled his grocery lists while neither of you paid rent?” Brenna began crying. “I was scared. We had nothing.” “You had your brother.” “That’s what I mean.”
May you like
Mom closed the folder. “No. Your brother was a person. You treated him like a resource.” Brenna stared at her. “Whose side are you on?” “I am on the side of the man you left outside in the rain.”
Colter stood. “Great. Now everyone is attacking me.” My mother looked at him with a coldness I had rarely seen. “No, Colter. Everyone is ending your free ride.”
