Chapter 53
***Memphis***
Remy shoved Jackson farther into the guesthouse, his face a mask of rage. “What the fuck is going on here?”
I rushed over to my little brother and grabbed his shoulders. “Jackson? Why are you here? How are you here?”
Wells took the knife from my hand and pointed it at Charlie. “Who’s this?”
I shook Jackson when he just stared right through me. “Jack. Jack, look at me.”
“He’s high out of his fucking mind, Fish.
He wanted to stop on the way up so I helped him find something to take the edge off.
That rehab you had him in was a piece of shit, by the way.
” Charlie leaned against the island and smirked at everyone around him.
“And I’m Charlie. This one’s ex before she got a taste for the good life, apparently.
Although this house is kind of pathetic compared to the big one up front.
Maybe your shit just isn’t that good anymore, baby. ”
“You got him out of rehab? How? How did you do that? He was supposed to stay for a year and...why did you take him out? He was getting clean! I used every last dime I had to make sure he’d be okay and you just took him out and gave him drugs?
” I was crying as I grabbed Jackson again.
I slapped his cheeks harder. “Jackson, honey, look at me.”
“You know how the trailer park works, baby. It was easy to find that piece of shit place you stowed Jackson in. Once I promised him a hit and got him out of there, he was all too happy to spill his guts. Seemed you told him all about your plans before you left. You never were that bright.” Charlie snorted.
“Finding a surrogate named Memphis wasn’t hard, either.
You guys really pissed off that rigid bitch from the agency you used.
She was all too happy to share the details with me. ”
I stroked Jackson’s face, ignoring Charlie. “Jack, buddy. Hey, it’s me. Can you look at me?”
“He was in our mother’s room, stealing her jewelry.” Remy’s voice was as black as night as he spoke and I knew he would never forgive me.
Jackson finally turned his glassy eyes to me and he smiled crookedly. “You look just like Mom when you cry, Fish.”
I stumbled back a step and clutched at my chest and throat, feeling like I couldn’t breathe.
I spun around until my eyes landed on Charlie and rage unlike any I’ve ever felt surged through me.
I charged at him, ready to kill him with my bare hands if I had to, but Boone caught me from behind.
I struggled against him as I screamed at Charlie.
“You monster! Why would you do this to him? Why would you hurt him like this? We never did anything to you!”
“Someone had better explain to me what the fuck is going on.” Remy put himself between me and Charlie. “The truth.”
Charlie’s cruel laugh filled the house. “You knocked up a con artist, boys. I don’t know who you thought you fucked, but this here is Trailer Park Princess.
She was the kind of poor that the trailer park folks felt bad for.
Between her whore mother and her runaway daddy, she was destined to be trash forever.
But it looks like she got her hooks in the money now.
Y’all boys prepared to support a trailer park? ”
I stared down at the floor, feeling my world shatter apart around me.
My heart was beating so hard it hurt. My entire chest hurt.
I shook my head and tried to stop Charlie.
“You don’t know me, Charlie. I’m not that girl.
I never wanted to be that girl. You need to leave.
I don’t know why you found me, but I don’t want you anywhere near me. ”
“He’s not going anywhere. None of you are.” Remy growled so loudly that I flinched away from him. “I want to know everything, starting from the beginning.”
Tears were steadily streaming down my cheeks. I’d been so close to happiness. It was in the palm of my hands.
Jackson’s faded voice grew in volume. “Stop yelling at my sister!”
I turned and watched in horror as Jackson swung a wild punch in no one’s direction and fell forward. He hit one of the many shelves and I watched as a beautiful piece of pottery fell to the floor and shattered. Jackson slumped to the floor and tried and failed to get up over and over.
I sobbed as I watched him, my baby brother. I’d changed his diapers and rocked him to sleep when I was still a kid myself. I knew him before he was the zombie scrambling around in the living room floor while everyone stared on at the horror show.
I knelt by his side and tried to calm him down. “Jackson, it’s me. It’s Fish. You’re okay. I just need you to calm down, okay? I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”
He was so strong that when he shoved me I fell back on my ass, but I got right back up and grabbed his face. He struggled but for one small second, his eyes connected with mine and I jumped on it.
“Hey, hey. Look at me, kid. I’ve got you.
Just like the time you thought you could ride your bike off the roof and land a trick on concrete.
Remember what happened? Would you believe me if I said I caught you?
” I let out a teary laugh while Jackson got calmer.
“Well, I didn’t. But I was there to pick you up and carry you to the hospital.
And I carried you back home after you got that cast. I’m here, honey.
It’s me. You know I won’t let anything bad happen to you.
You just have to try to stay calm for me. Please.”
“Watch this. It’s hilarious.” I saw Charlie move closer and before I could stop him, he shouted over my head at Jackson. “What happened to your momma, Jacky?”
I jerked around to push Charlie away but Jackson was already reacting, probably to the image in his head of our mother dead in our bathtub. He’d found her. He’d stayed by her side until help arrived. He’d taken the brunt of that trauma.
Before I could slap the shit out of Charlie, I felt Jackson’s hands grab both of my shoulders before shoving me with what looked like all of his might.
I fell backwards hard and cracked my elbow on the floor as I landed.
My head jerked back and hit the floor next to Charlie’s foot.
I felt darkness creeping in and I tried to fight it.
I could hear a commotion around me and the sound of Jackson screaming.
Unable to breathe, I tried to make myself as small as possible, in a tight ball around my baby. I couldn’t hear anything but screaming and fighting as everything faded to nothing.