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“I know why he’s mad.” Brinley sat next to Fallon, pulling her legs up so she could wrap her arms around them. “He gave me a phone and told me not to tell Mom about it.”
“Well, that doesn’t sound right.” Fallon wished they were doing something other than talking about this. It wasn’t her business, and she’d worked so hard to keep her life separate from Savannah’s. And yet, wasn’t that why she was here tonight? To remove the barrier that she’d put in place and bring them closer together? To be vulnerable with her? Let her in a little more?
“He said he’d be able to see where I was at all times in case something bad happened. And I think…” Brinley paused, jumping when Forrest’s voice boomed through the apartment.
“She’syourresponsibility!”
Savannah’s much quieter voice echoed after, but they weren’t able to make out what she said.
“He’s so mad…” Brinley folded in on herself even more. She buried her face in her knees, and Fallon knew she was scared. But of what exactly, she wasn’t sure.
Was it just her father’s anger? Or was she afraid of Savannah being hit? Or afraid of Forrest barging in here and stealing her back?
“He is,” Fallon responded, eyeing the door but keeping as much of her attention on Brinley as possible.
She had to ward herself from the memories popping back into her mind. Of the times she’d hidden Monti away in the back closet, using the clothes on the floor as a blanket to lull her to sleep while their parents yelled at each other for what seemedlike hours. She had to protect Brinley at all costs, because neither of her parents were willing to do that.
Not right now anyway.
“He’s mad because I wasn’t home.”
“What?” Fallon turned on Brinley.
“Because I was at Aunt Kyla’s… because Mom wasn’t here with me.”
“She’s allowed to take you other places.” Fallon clenched her jaw, her molars pressing hard against each other.
Brinley didn’t say anything. She continued to look at the door like her father was going to pounce into the room and beat her down. Was he? Fallon’s father certainly would have. When he was done with her mother, he would have come looking for them if he was still mad.
“Are you scared of him?” Fallon asked, not able to force herself to look Brinley in the eye.
“Aren’t you?” Brinley’s voice was so small. She clenched down when Forrest got particularly loud again.
“No.” Fallon straightened her shoulders, determined to tell the truth. “I won’t let him do anything to me, or to you. So no, I’m not afraid of him.”
“That makes one of us,” Brinley mumbled.
Fallon sat in silence for another minute or two before she stood up. Could she really sit here and listen to the two of them argue? But what would she even say? She wasn’t a part of this argument, was she?
Standing in front of the door, Fallon debated.
She had to protect Brinley. With her hand on the doorknob, Fallon looked back at Brinley.
“Stay here. Don’t come out until I or your mother come for you.”
“What are you going to do?”
Fallon shook her head, her gaze downcast. “What I should have done before.”
Stepping through the doorway, Fallon walked down the hallway. Each step was heavy. She could barely even manage to make her feet move. Her steps were silent on the carpet as she went, and she pushed each and every one of those flashbacks of her childhood away as fast as she could.
This wasn’t about her memories.
It was about Brinley, and making sure she didn’t have the same memories.
Forrest was barely out of the entryway. Savannah had her hands on her hips, facing him, and she wasn’t going to give him an inch. The pleasure of seeing Savannah so riled up and ready to attack was beyond what Fallon had expected.
“You again,” Forrest growled.
