31. Thirty-One #3
But I was frozen. Until he moved. Like lightning, and before anyone could say another word, Xavi’s fists swung. Hard. He must put his entire body weight behind that punch, judging by the way Cole staggered backwards.
“I’ll kill you.”
Xavier had never sounded more sincere or more serious. The anger surged from him in palpable waves.
“Do you know? Do you have any idea what you did? What you put her through?” Xavier berated as he hit Cole over and over again, until his lips were cut and bleeding.
His jaw was already swelling from the repeated assault.
I’ve always hated violence. Always hated it when the boys used to tussle.
But I was so angry, I could have hit him myself.
Seeing Xavier tear him apart on my behalf soothed a bit of my own rage.
It was Brennon who couldn’t stand it. He dove between the two, wrapping his arms around Xavier. “Stop. Just stop.”
Xav screamed, “NO!” Pushing back against Brennon, his shouts verging on hysteric, “All year, they tortured her. Abused her. They STARVED her!”
Cole’s eyes snapped to me, surveying my face as if the truth of what I’d faced all year would be written there. My grim features weren’t enough, clearly, since he looked to Bren for confirmation. Brennon’s slim face was a tragedy, dipping his head to confirm that Xav was in fact telling the truth.
Somewhere, deep down, I had to think maybe some of the old Cole still survived. Was clinging to the last threads of life, because one nod from Brennon was seemingly enough for him to believe. And before our eyes, the mighty, defiant, angry Cole Michaels didn’t just deflate, he paled and withered.
“He didn’t know, Xav.” Brennon’s eyes cut to me, glassy with tears, “We didn’t know.”
The reminder that Cole wasn’t the only one who had abandoned me, us, made Xav sink into Brennon.
We might have made our peace; we might be working on finding our way back together but both Xav and I still had a ways to go toward forgiveness and trust. What was so easily shattered was much harder to rebuild.
We just had to hope that the third time really was the charm.
Once he was confident Xavi wasn’t going to resume his assault, Brennon released him.
He immediately came to my side and pulled me into a hug so tight I struggled to breathe.
I inhaled his cinnamon smell, while he mumbled words of love and care.
Meanwhile, I watched Brennon. He knelt at Cole’s head and if Cole’s brown eyes were wide with fear, I swear mine were even wider when Brennon used his thumb to softly wipe the blood from his lower lip.
In many ways those two had been on their own journey this summer. Been just as much a team as Xavi and I. In that one caring gesture, I saw how Brennon was torn into two by what was happening.
Staring up at me from the dirt, Cole bleated, “I swear, Toni, I didn’t know. I was just so angry and heartbroken. Michele had broken up with me and-”
“Oh, boo-fucking-hoo, Cole!” I jabbed at him, “You are always so busy playing the victim, you never bothered to ask!”
“Yeah, instead, you went running blindly to Carl. I guess years of treating you like shit finally paid off, huh?” Xavi sneered.
One of the things that had always united us, from the very beginning, was our shitty families.
It hadn’t taken long, maybe even before the end of that first summer, for us to place more faith in each other than we’d ever had in them.
Somehow, this felt like a betrayal, not to me now, but to those kids who loved each other so damn much. It made the blood roar through my ears.
Unable to hold back my disgust any longer, I spat it back at him, “I trusted you. We all trusted you. You were our hero, Cole! You defended us, stood up for us, fought all of our battles. You were our knight in shining fucking armour. Right up until you let that armour rust! I might have kept secrets, but you let Carl turn you into someone I don’t even recognize.
And I’m done waiting for you to turn back. ”
I spun on my heel and left Throw. Xavier followed, swinging his arm over my shoulder where I could reach his hand and massage his swollen knuckles.
Cole might have been our defender when we were kids, but Xavier was my warrior now.
Footsteps jogging up behind us, had me looking over my shoulder at Brennon. He was smiling, but he didn’t mean it.
“You could have stayed with him, Bren, we would have understood.”
“Speak for yourself, Nettie,” Xavi growled, “I’d have been pissed.”
Brennon shook his head, “There’s no point, Birdie. You were right, we’ve all spent enough time waiting for Cole Michaels to come around.”
He leaned in and kissed the loose curls at the back of Xav’s head, and then my temple. He cast one last look back at Throw before sighing, “Let’s go. I guess we’ll have to figure this out without him.”
I grabbed his hand, interlacing our fingers. Leaving Cole behind, alone, tore at a piece of my heart I didn’t know I was still clinging to, but he hadn’t exactly left us with much choice either.