Page 1 of Silent Damage

Chapter 1

Gabe (18 Years Old)

This is what I wanted. From the moment I was old enough to know what was happening, I wanted him dead. But seeing his lifeless body on the floor, blood pooling at his side—

I don’t know anymore.

I look down at my hands to find that they’re clean.

That doesn’t make sense.

Mom is crying on the opposite side of the trailer. She’s on the phone with someone—probably Doug. That’s who they were arguing about.

Mom loves Doug.

Dad hated Doug.

Dad’s dead.

“I can say it was self-defense,” I hear her explain through gasping tears. “I had no other choice. He would have killed me. It’s self-defense.”

My stomach twists. Self-defense?

The trailer feels cold even though it’s August.

I’m shivering.

The lights above are too harsh, and they shine on Dad.

My eyes land on his face.

I haven’t looked at his face since he hit the ground.

There’s so much blood.

All I can see is red. Pools of it stain our dirty trailer that reeks of Coors Light and cigarettes.

There’s a frantic knocking on the door, and Mom opens it to let Doug inside.

He jets into the trailer but freezes when he sees Dad's lifeless body. “Fuck me,” he hisses.

Doug looks at Mom, about to say something, but gasps when he sees her bloody nose and black eye. “He did this?” he asks.

Mom nods, her gaze locked on the floor where my dad lies. Then she looks up, and our eyes meet.

And something breaks in me. Seeing her face like that—the sad look in her eyes.

I don’t even feel it happen.

I’m crying.

Loud.

Ugly.

I can’t stop.

She rushes across the trailer to cradle me in her arms.