Braxton
Chapter three
Ipace back and forth across my room, while Zander sits on the edge of my bed, his face buried in his hands, resting on a cold pack of peas.
So many questions run through my head. Is Sierra back home? Are Sam and her okay? Why did CPS show up today? Memories of being in foster care flood my thoughts. I was lucky to land a few good homes, but not all were.
“I’m going to text her.” Zan exhales deeply, picking his phone up from the bed, and his fingers fly over the screen.
“Do you think she’s okay? Home?” Hell, I know he doesn’t know, but I need to hear she’s alright and won’t have to go into foster care.
A soft knock at the door has both of us looking toward it.
It slowly swings open, and Colton steps in.
I love my brother—he’s my fucking other half—but I don’t like who he’s turned into.
I may have believed Wes at first, but I quickly came to my senses.
I hate that I can’t say the same about Colt.
I regret not being more like Zan. He never treated her like shit or believed the heinous rumors about her.
“What do you want?” My voice comes out harsher than I intended, but he deserves it for acting like a dick. I never thought I’d see the day when my brother and I would be against each other.
“Umm, shit—” He sighs, sticking his hands into his pockets.
“Just spit it out. Did you just come to gloat?” Zan asks, before glancing down at his phone, his lips clenched and brows furrowed.
“Did she answer?” I’m trying to stay hopeful, but I don’t think we will hear anything from her. Not tonight, anyway.
“No.” He keeps his head down, staring at his phone.
“Guys!” Colt shouts.
“What?!” We jerk our heads toward him in unison.
“I… was wrong.” He sighs, dropping into the chair at my desk.
“You need to be a little more specific about that. Since moving here, you’ve been wrong about a lot of shit,” Zander says sarcastically, as he drops his phone on the bed.
“Fine, I deserve your anger. I admit I may have been wrong about Sierra. After Dad sent us up here, I messaged Wes and asked him what Sierra did. He wouldn’t give me an answer, which got me looking back at everything I’ve been told and seen,” he confesses, his body slumping.
“And what decision did this big revelation bring you?” Zander asks, but his eyes keep glancing at his phone each time it makes a sound. Every time he frowns, I know it isn’t her.
“That I’ve been an idiot. Like I said, after I messaged Wes, I started looking back at everything, and it hit me.
I let what Wes and everyone at school were saying about her cloud my judgment.
Everything I thought was happening, like her flirting with Dad, was all in my imagination.
” Colton runs his hand through his hair in frustration.
“Colt, what the fuck are you talking about? She never flirted with Dad. That was fucking Wes screwing with your mind.” I shake my head at my brother’s ignorance.
Was Sierra polite and nice to Dad? Yes. Did she flirt with him? Hell no.
“I have to agree with Brax, and it’s about fucking time you came to your senses. Too bad you waited until her life fell apart to do it.” Zander shoots him a glare before picking up his phone and typing a message.
Did she answer?
“Umm, I did find something out while I was talking to Wes,” Colt mumbles.
“And that would be?” I ask, looking between my brothers.
“He wanted me to come out with him to celebrate—” He clears his throat and shifts in his seat. I can tell he’s nervous. “Wes said he ran into Sierra’s aunt and whatever she told him was the ammo he needed to call CPS.”
“What could she have told him?” I ask.
“It has to be bad, Brax. Why else would they show up?” Zan stands up, sliding his phone in his pocket. “I’m fucking worried. She hasn’t texted back yet.” He slowly walks out of the room, his head held low.
“I was so stupid. When did I turn into someone who just believes shit about people without knowing it's true? Brax, I was so mean to her. Even at her house today. There’s no way she’ll ever forgive me.” He tilts his head up as the first tear slides down his cheek.
“You fucked up, and once we know she’s okay, you can spend the rest of your life making it up to her. But right now, we need to find out what the fuck is going on. Because we don’t know jack shit.”
“What if I don’t get that chance? We may never see her again. You and I both know what it’s like when CPS shows up at your door.” Colt’s voice slightly trembles.
I step over to my bed and fall back on it. I want to beat the shit out of Wesley Johnson. Fucking douche!
Sierras in this situation because of him. What if they place her in foster care? If he’d kept his mouth shut, she would have never been under the radar of CPS. She could end up in a terrible home. What about Sam? There’s a slim chance that they will place them together.
I roar, punching my bed beside me. The what-ifs are driving me insane. The sound of feet pounding down the hallway makes me sit up. Zander runs into my room with wide eyes.
“What happened, Brax? Did you hear from her? Is it bad news?”
“No, sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” I blow out a deep breath. We need to stop panicking, it isn’t helping Sierra and Sam. What we need is a plan and level heads.
“Damn it. The messages I sent aren’t even showing read. That can’t be good.”
“Boys, time for dinner,” Dad yells from the bottom of the stairs.
We all shuffle out of the bedroom and down the stairs. Normally, we sound like a horde of elephants, but tonight we’re as quiet as mice.
John is setting the table when we enter the dining room, while Dad sets a bowl of salad on it. A tray of lasagna and a plate full of garlic bread is already in the middle. It’s our comfort food, but I don’t think it’s going to help tonight.
After we sit down, we pass the dishes around, filling our plates. No one says a word, the silence almost deafening.
Dad tries to break the somber mood by asking us about our classes, but it doesn’t do any good. Nothing will until we hear from Sierra—until we know she and Sam are okay. Then I’m going to beat the living shit out of Wesley. He’s a fucking punk-ass bitch who deserves everything coming to him.
“So baby, I was thinking we could go to the movies this weekend. I know you and the boys used to do it every Saturday night before moving here. Well, when you weren’t visiting me.
” John blushes, looking down at his plate.
I don’t even want to know what the two of them were doing when they didn’t have us around.
“What do you think, boys?” Dad smiles, and I try to return it, but I don’t have the energy.
“Sure, if you want.” Zander doesn’t even look up, just keeps sliding his salad across his plate.
“Okay, that’s enough moping, boys. There’s nothing we can do to change what’s happened. We don’t know the whole story, or why CPS is involved.” Dad drops his fork and tosses his napkin on the table.
“Wes called CPS on them. He ran into her aunt, and whatever was said between them gave him the idea to do it. That’s not all, though.
They’ve been harassing her nonstop. Wes seems to think, and I quote, ‘she betrayed and destroyed him,’ and has convinced the entire school to bully her.
She doesn’t have one friend there. Other than Zan and Brax.
I should have been one, but I was more concerned about what everyone would think of me.
” Colt stares at his plate, finally getting everything off his chest.
“Is that why you were so rude when she was here, Colton?” John asks.
“Yeah, Wes had me believing him. I misinterpreted her actions as flirting with you.” He winces and turns to Dad.
“But she wasn’t, Son.”
“Yeah, I know that now, but I didn’t then, Dad. There has to be something you can do to help her. At least find out if she’s okay,” Colton pleads.
“Yeah, Dad, you’re the counselor at school. Surely, they can speak to you. We can’t let her go into foster care. We know how bad it can be, and what it’s like to be separated from your sibling.” Just the thought of the six months Colton and I were apart makes me sick. It was hell on earth.
Dad places his arms on the table and looks at John. They stare at each other, silently communicating. As the seconds tick by, I get anxious. We all seem to be holding our breath, waiting for an answer.
Finally, Dad sighs. “Fine. I’ll see what I can do, but I won’t make any promises. This issue is beyond the scope of a school counselor and I don’t have any jurisdiction. I don’t even know if I’ll be able to find out anything at all, but I’ll try.”
It’s not much, but it’s something and I’ll take it. Anything is better than nothing right now. If he can find out what’s going on, maybe he and John could foster them.
“Do you think you could foster them?” Zander asks, literally taking the words right out of my head. It’s like he’s my twin instead of Colt.
“Boys, that's a large undertaking, and John and I haven’t even gotten licensed here as foster parents.”
“But you could be. You were back home, and you adopted us. Couldn’t they look at that and give you a pass?” I’m not letting this go.
“It’s not that easy. There’s nothing we can do now, so let’s just put this on the back burner and have dinner. Tomorrow I will see what I can find out.” I go to open my mouth, but he gives me a stern look. I don’t want to make him mad, not when I need him to help Sierra.