Page 68 of Brenna, Brat

“I’ll grab some garbage bags,” I volunteered.

They took possible damage to their possessions seriously, at least seriously enough to go upstairs to gather their things. A few were still giggling and more seemed peeved about their vacation ending early. But they were finally gone and that left the four of us, Campbell, Carrington, Dion, and me, in the living room. Dion looked defiant, his arm still around her shoulders.

“I could have handled them,” he announced.

“What the hell happened?” Campbell demanded.

“Bro, you know what happened…”

I stepped in as realization came over Campbell and he looked, suddenly, as if murder was on his mind. “Everyone’s an adult,” I reminded him. “Your sister can do what she wants, even if it might be a bad idea. Terrible.”

Carrington was suddenly roused to action. “I’m getting dressed,” she said, and disappeared.

“Dion, how could you do this?” I asked him. “I thought you were a changed man!”

“I have changed!” he told me. “She’s not just…” His eyes flicked to Campbell. “It’s not just sex.”

“I mean that literally,how?” I pressed. “You told me that you couldn’t get an erection, remember? You pointed to your penis and said that it wasn’t working!”

“Why are you two talking about his erections?” Campbell asked me. “Why in the hell is his penis in your mouth?”

We stared at him.

“I meant, the word,” he said, shaking his head. “I meant, why are you discussing his penis—what the fuck is happening here?”

“I like her,” Dion said. “I like Carrington.”

“You took advantage of my sister, you piece of shit,” Campbell told him. “She’s at another low point and you jumped in to use her. You get the hell out, too.”

“That’s not true,” Dion said. “Yes, we screwed, but…”

I thought that Campbell would go for blood. “We don’t need to discuss it,” I stated loudly. I put my arms around his waist, like Addie had done to me back when my siblings and I were kids and trying to kill each other. “You and I should go home to Detroit, and let them deal with the mess here.” And it was, I noticed, a real mess, and not just in an emotional sense. Apparently, the party at the bars last night had continued as a party in the living room and on the deck, and those areas were cluttered with what seemed like a hundred empty wine and liquor bottles, half-open bags of chips, glasses, more glasses, and more glasses.

“I’m not leaving,” Campbell said. His chest heaved and I could feel his heart pound. He was absolutely furious.

“Yes, we are,” I stated. “Dion, you go, too. Get out of this room right now.”

He ignored that and started talking again, which wasn’t helping at all. “Just because your sister and I were together four or five times—”

“Go!” I ordered. He did, but it took me a while longer to convince Campbell that we were also going. First, he wanted to supervise all the other women, hurrying them out and also checking their rooms to see what damage they had done.

“They always break shit, rip it, ruin it,” he told me. “They just cause destruction and they don’t care.” He shoved open the door to one of the en suite guest bathrooms. “Move out of the way so I can inspect the shower!” he barked at the woman who was at the vanity, busily scooping up piles of cosmetics. It was like hehad morphed into the meanest summer camp counselor in the world.

But eventually, they were all gone, although they did leave some property damage behind them. Dion and Carrington hadn’t emerged from her bedroom yet, and I didn’t have much inclination to try and establish a détente. The house was even more of a pigpen since the guests’ hurried departure, and I didn’t want to approach that, either.

“Let’s just go,” I said sharply, wishing that I was large enough to carry Campbell out, like Nicola had done to us until we all grew and passed her in size. She was still strong, though, and you didn’t want to cross her.

He shoved his own belongings into his bag and left the house without another word. I had never seen him this way, angry but also not speaking. I packed more carefully but just about as fast, and before I joined him in the driveway, I did walk a few steps down the hallway that led to Carrington’s bedroom.

“Dion, we’re out. Get a ride with her,” I called, and the door opened partway. Carrington stood in the gap, more dressed and much better groomed than the last time I’d seen her.

“He’s really mad?” she asked me.

“Your brother? Yes,” I said. “Yes, because you’ve let him down repeatedly. You wouldn’t talk to him, then you invited a bunch of mean women to ruin your house, and now you’ve taken up with a guy who—”

“Watch your mouth, Brenna,” Dion said, yanking the door open further.

“Who are you?” I asked incredulously. This was not the same person who had whined about vacuuming and disappeared early from the gallery four or five days out of the week, after also arriving late. “Dion, I’m so disappointed. I thought that you were working on becoming a better person, but you’re still the same guy who had ‘whore’ written on his back in permanent marker. Campbell offered his house and we brought you up here because of the threats and your stolen car—”

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