Chapter Twenty-Three Sarah
Two nights after dinner with Sammy, Maksim and I were eating quite a different meal around the massive twelve person dining room table. I had to pinch myself that I was eating a three course meal prepared by Maksim’s personal chef.
“How’s the food?”
With a smile, I said, “It’s delicious, but why don’t you ask me again, but this time using your triggers.”
“Seriously?”
“You said you wanted to accelerate your treatment.”
With a roll of his eyes, he muttered, “Fine.”
A thoughtful expression came over his face as he cut one of his steak medallions. I watched as he relaxed his jaw. “Do you find the food…good…this evening?”
“Very nice,” I remarked with a smile.
I reached to pick up my vintage wine when my phone rang. “Sorry. I forgot to turn the ringer off.”
“Should you answer it?” Maksim asked. ‘
I shook my head. “It’s just my mom. I can call her back.”
When my phone went off again, Maksim shook his head. “Answer it.”
“But–”
“It’s okay.”
With an apologetic smile, I answered Mom’s call. “Okay, what is it that’s so–”
At my mother’s anguished cry, my blood ran cold. “Mom, what’s wrong? Has something happened to Dad?”
“Silas broke into the house. He’s tearing the living room apart.”
As my chest twisted in agony, I replied, “Mom, call the police.”
“I can’t. They’ll put him in jail this time, not the hospital.”
“I don’t care where they put him as long as you and Dad are safe!”
At my brother’s belligerent screaming in the background, my heart shuddered to a stop. On most days, Silas clung to a fragile thread of sanity. Within those threads, I could still see flashes of the brother I’d once known and loved.
Tonight it was very evident how frayed that strand was at the moment. When it fully snapped, there would be nothing left of the son my parents loved.
They wouldn’t be the people who gave him life–they would be a means to end.
“Mom, please call the police. I’m begging you.”
“Stay in the bedroom, Hollis. Don’t go out there,” Mom called.
“Someone has to get him to stop,” Dad argued.
“You can’t help him–not in the state he’s in. He’ll hurt you.”
Desperation sent stinging tears to my eyes. When Maksim grabbed my hand, I jumped. Tugging me out of my chair, he said, “Come on. Let’s g-o.”
“Wait, what?”
“T-They need help, and they won’t call the police. We have t-to help them.”
“Um, okay.”
In a stupor, I let him drag me out of the living room. Maksim’s free hand went to his phone where he started barking orders in Russian.
“Sarah, what’s going on?” Mom questioned.
“Mom, try to push something against the bedroom door. I’m coming to help.”
Mom gasped. “You can’t put yourself in danger.”
As Maksim threw a glance at me over his shoulder, I replied, “It won’t be just me….” I swallowed hard. “My friend can help. He’s…”
“Ex military,” Maksim suggested.
“Yeah, military,” I echoed.
“Just please be safe.”
“You be safe,” I countered.
Maksim eased me into the garage. When his hand left mine, I missed his touch. But then my mind imagined Mom barricaded into the bedroom with Dad, tears welled in my eyes. “Please, Mom, don’t let him hurt you guys. Promise me you’ll call the police, okay?”
A long pause came on the line. In the silence, I heard glass shattering and Silas screaming. Finally, Mom said, “I will.”
A relieved breath whooshed out of me as I hopped into the waiting SUV. The bodyguard cranked up the SUV and then threw it into reverse.
“Listen, I’m not going to hang up, okay?”
“Are you sure you don’t need to concentrate on driving?”
“My friend’s bodyguard is driving,” I replied before I could stop myself.
“Bodyguard?” Mom questioned.
“Yes, he’s an important man.”
“He’s an important military man with a bodyguard,” Mom assessed.
“Yes.”
“What’s his name?”
When I glanced at Maksim for confirmation it was okay to give his name, he bobbed his head. “His name is Maksim,” I replied.
“Is he Russian?”
“Yes, Mom. Does that matter?”
“Maybe to your grandfather. He hated communists.”
At my embarrassed groan, Maksim chuckled. “Seriously, Mom?” I hissed.
“Well, you asked.”
Dad’s voice suddenly boomed in the silence. “We had Russian neighbors when we were first married. Remember?”
“We did?” Mom questioned, her voice vibrating with shock.
“Yes. It was that horrible apartment building that never had hot water. They invited us for Borscht, and the best vodka I’ve ever had.”
Mom and I both gasped at the sudden clarity that had cut through Dad’s foggy memory. “Yes, Hollis, I remember them,” Mom replied with a sniffle.
And the moment shattered when he asked, “Remember who?”
“Nothing, honey. I’m just talking to Sarah.”
Dad didn’t respond, and I couldn’t help wondering if he even realized who I was.
“We’re almost there,” Maksim said in a low voice.
“Is that him?”
Rubbing my forehead, I replied, “Yes, Mom.”
“And you were at his house or yours?”
With a nervous laugh, I asked, “What’s with the inquisition?”
“You didn’t tell me you were seeing someone.”
My eyes met Maksim’s. “It’s not like that.”
“Why not?”
Maksim’s stare was so intense I had to finally avert my eyes. It sent a myriad of emotions swirling through me. “Mom, it’s a little too complicated to talk about right now.”
“I just want you to be happy, sweetheart.”
“So do I,” I whispered.
At that moment, the SUV screeched to a stop in Mom and Dad’s driveway. “Listen, we’re here, but don’t come out until I tell you it’s okay.”
“Okay, honey. Please be safe.”
I opened my mouth to respond when Maksim said, “She will.”
“Oh, my,” Mom murmured before I disconnected the call. If she was that affected by his voice, I couldn’t imagine what she would do when she saw him.
When I started to open the car door, Maksim stopped me. “Stay here,” he ordered.
“No way.”
With his jaw clenched, Maksim gritted out, “Sarah.”
I shook my head. “I need to check on my parents.”
“Fine. But you stay behind me.”
Glancing at the bodyguard, I asked, “You aren’t bringing him?”
Maksim shot me a look. “Seriously?”
With a roll of my eyes, I replied, “It’s not a statement on your masculinity. We don’t know if Silas is armed or not.”
“Trust me. I can handle this.”
Deep down, I knew he could, so I nodded. We then exited the SUV ad quickly made it up the sidewalk. With all the noise inside the house, we didn’t bother trying to mask the sound of our footsteps on the porch.
To my surprise, we found the front door open.
Maksim didn’t even draw a weapon when he started into the foyer.
Glancing left, I eyed the dining room to see my grandmother’s china out of the cabinet and in jagged pieces along the floor.
At the thought of all the happy meals I’d eaten off of them, I couldn’t stop the sob that echoed through me.
“Easy,” Maksim murmured.
Nodding, I swiped my eyes as we followed the loud noise across the foyer to the living room. When Maksim stepped into the archway, Silas’s voice echoed through me. “Who the fuck are you?”
From Maksim’s silence, I knew he was inwardly working to regulate his speech. “It doesn’t matter who I am. What is important is you get the fuck out of here.”
Peeking around Maksim’s form, I recoiled at the sight of the man I’d once known.
His dirty clothes hung on his emaciated form while the bones in his cheeks protruded. With his dark hair and eyes, Silas had once looked so much like our father. But not anymore.
He narrowed his eyes at Masksim. “Yeah, fuck you, buddy. This is my parents’ house, so I’ll do whatever the fuck I want.”
“Silas, please,” I said.
His manic gaze flicked from Maksim to me. “Well, well, if it isn’t my sweet little sister. Or should I call her by her actual title: Mommy and Daddy’s Golden Child.”
Although I was almost thirty, his words still wounded me as they had when we were teenagers, and his mental state began rapidly deteriorating. “Can’t we please just sit for a moment and talk?”
Silas threw his hands up. “About what? How you always have to bail me out of trouble? How you’re such a success, and I’m such a screwup? Fuck, even Sammy’s holding down a job and living on his own.”
Shaking my head, I countered, “Don’t bring him into this.”
Silas rolled his eyes. “Jesus, he’s not even here, and you’re still playing his protector.”
“Someone had to be there when you were always going off on him,” I replied softly.
Pinching his eyes shut, Silas countered, “He made me crazy, always trying to be up in my face with that same goofy smile.”
Slowly, I shook my head as I stepped out from behind Maksim. “Sammy wasn’t to blame for your issues. All he ever wanted was to love you.”
As Silas’s eyes popped open, Maksim tried to grab my arm, but I slung him away. “He was so fucking needy. He sucked everything out of Mom and Dad that I needed.”
I shook my head. “They gave you so much. We all did.”
“Oh fuck you, Sarah.”
In that moment, the weight of all of his years of abuse caused something within me to snap. I went into defensive mode, but this time it wasn’t out of fear. It was out of anger.
“No. Fuck you, Silas. Fuck you for putting Mom and Dad through hell all these years because you thought you knew better than all the specialists they took you to. Fuck you for physically and emotionally abusing Sammy and me when we sure as hell didn’t deserve it.”
I sucked in a ragged breath. “But most of all, fuck you for constantly fucking up my life, you selfish prick!”
The words had barely left my lips when I deeply regretted them. Fighting with Silas was wrong because we weren’t on an equal playing field because of his illness. Even when he refused his medicine and used drugs, it all led back to his disease.
Just as I was about to apologize, his palm cracked against my cheek.
“Fuck you, cunt.”
I’d barely brought my hand up to cup my aching cheek when a roar came out of Maksim. The next thing I knew, he launched himself at Silas, wrapping his hand around his throat before slamming him into the wall.
“Maksim, no!”
As I tried pulling on his arm, the expression on his face made me shudder with fear.
“Don’t kill him. Please.”
His menacing gaze flicked from Silas over to me. “Please.”
With a grunt of frustration, he released Silas’s neck. As Silas dropped to the floor panting and wheezing, I exhaled my own relieved breath. After giving Silas time to recover, Maksim kneeled down beside him.
“The next t-time you raise a hand t-to her, I’ll cut it off. Do you hear me? I don’t care if you’re fucked in the head or not. You never, ever hurt her.”
When Silas didn’t answer, Maksim grabbed his face in one of his hands. “Did you hear me?”
I should’ve been turned off by his brutality. But in that moment, my heart swelled at him standing up for me. No man had ever done that. Sometimes, not even my father when it meant keeping peace with Silas.
Silas grunted as he fought against Maksim. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. Never hurt the precious Golden Child. Let me guess. She has a perfect golden pussy for you to be here sticking your nose in our family business.”
Even though I wanted to hit him myself, I feared for Silas at that moment. The absolute venom emanating from Maksim made me shiver in fear.
“Y-You just don’t know when to shut your fucking mouth, do you?”
Silas’s lips curved in a maniacal smile. “From that pathetic stutter of yours, I’d say you’re one of her guinea pigs, but she only works with the kiddies. But maybe you’re a pet project. She scratches your back with the treatment, and then you scratch hers by fucking her?”
I braced myself when Maksim returned Silas’s smile. Only Maksim’s wasn’t just crazy–it was certifiably insane.
He slammed Silas’s head onto the floor before throwing two harsh punches at his face. Blood sprayed out of Silas’s mouth and nose and onto the floor. Just when I thought he might hit him again, he sucked in a harsh breath and backed away.
A psychotic laugh tumbled from Silas’s lips. “Is that all you’ve got?”
“Shut the fuck up, Silas!” I hissed.
Maksim reached into his pocket and pulled out a syringe. From the clenching of his jaw, I knew he was centering himself for his speech. Squatting down beside Silas, he held up the syringe. “Since it would hurt Sarah too much to kill you and you won’t shut up, it’s time to knock you the fuck out.”
Silas’s eyes bulged as he tried to slide away, but Maksim was too quick. He plunged the needle into Silas’s thigh. “You fucking bastard!” Silas shouted.
“Night, night,” Maksim said.
Silas’s thrashing began to wane. Within a few seconds, he went limp. “What did you give him?” I demanded.
“Ketamine.”
“Is it safe?”
Maxim’s dark eyes narrowed. “After everything, do you think I’d give him something that wasn’t safe?”
“It’s not like that. With his history of substance abuse, God only knows what he’s taken today.”
“He’ll be fine.”
As I stared down at Silas’s sleeping form, tears pricked my eyes. “He wasn’t always like this.” With my emotions threatening to overflow, I wrapped my arms around myself in an attempt to dam them up.
Memories of the good times flickered like a movie reel through my mind. “Growing up, he always had some issues, but it was nothing like when he went through puberty. Not only did he get angrier, but he got stronger.”
“I’m so sorry, Sarah.”
His voice sucked me out of the past and into the present. Swallowing hard, I asked,
“What happens now?”
“I have two associates waiting out in the car to take Silas to my family’s home where there’s a medical bay and hospital rooms. After he arrives, he’ll be made comfortable. In the next twenty-four hours, he’ll be evaluated by the top three mental health practitioners on the East Coast–”
“No, I can’t let you do that.
He held up his hand. “There’s no p-point in arguing with me. It won’t g-get you anywhere.”
I hiccuped a cry. “There you go being a beast again.”
“You know I’m right, so stop arguing with me. Y-You’re messing up my speech p-patterns.”
After staring into his dark brown eyes for what seemed like an eternity, I finally relented. “All right.”
“Go talk t-to your parents, and I’ll handle Silas.”
With a nod, I started to turn and head down the hall, but then I stopped. I couldn’t leave Maksim without somehow showing him how much I appreciated what he had done tonight.
Grabbing him by the shoulders, I leaned up on my tiptoes to bestow a kiss on his
cheek. The scruff of his stubble felt harsh against my lips. Before he could say anything, I whirled around and bolted out of the living room, hoping I could leave my out-of-control emotions behind with him.