Page 41 of Semi Sweet
Beth’s eyes grew wide as she remembered something. “Oh, we’re going out for my birthday next weekend. I kinda told him you were coming. Please, please, please!”
I had no idea how I was going to convince Evan to let me go out, but that was something I could figure out when the time came. “I’d be happy to celebrate with you whether Sean is going to be there or not.”
“Awesome!”
“What’s the plan?” I asked.
Beth was practically dancing as she replied, “Drinks and karaoke!”
I was too happy to be included to tell her that singing in public was probably something our manager wouldn’t do even if I was coming to the party, ‘getting to know you phase’ or not.
***
Thanks to Sean’s bilingual talent, my ride home was one of the most uneventful I’d had since starting graduate school. I was in good spirits when I walked in the door, so much so that I was going to see if Evan would be up for a walk to the local convenience store for my favorite ice cream, chocolate covered cherry.
“Hey!” I called as I opened the door. “Where are you? I had the best day, I–”
I stopped in my tracks. It looked like someone had broken in. The table I typically threw my keys on was knocked on its side. The potted plant that had been on top of it was broken, soil littering the floor.
“Evan?”
I walked into the kitchen and noticed a similar situation. There were shattered dishes and glasses and food from the refrigerator was thrown on the wall. What the hell had happened here? Was I going to find Evan dead somewhere? I noticed his bourbon bottle was still in one piece and empty.
When I went into the living room, hoping to find him in his usual spot, I started to get anxious. My hands began to shake as I took in Evan’s beloved television and how it looked like someone had punched it or struck it with something. The screen was malfunctioning and flickering intermittently. I turned quickly when I heard something ripping in the distance. It was coming from the bedroom.
I inched toward the room, not sure what I was going to find. Was Evan okay? A thought nagged at me as I stopped outside the doorway, shivers going down my spine. What if this wasn’t a home invasion–what if Evan was the reason the house looked like this? My stomach dropped. Had he finally found out about the cupcakes? Had he discovered what I’d done with Sean at the disco masquerade? I heard more tearing so despite wanting to run and hide, I needed to see what was going on.
The bedroom looked like a cyclone had torn through it. At first glance, I noticed clothes thrown, books ripped, and breakable things in pieces. They were all my belongings. Half of my panda sweatshirt was on one half of the room and the other half was near the bed. Pages of the manga I’d brought from my parents house were crumpled on the floor. I’d had some of the volumes since I was eleven years old. I noticed my porcelain figurine of a robot from a popular science fiction movie was shattered near the opposite part of the room it had been displayed, like it had been thrown.
Evan’s back was to me. My heart leapt to my throat as I realized he was on his knees ripping pages from a notebook. It had a partial manuscript I’d started a couple years ago. I’d planned on going back to it. Someday….
“Evan…?” I squeaked, trying to ignore the fact that mementos, some of which were my only memories of my old life, were destroyed. “Are you okay?” I knew it was a stupid question.
“When were you going to tell me about the Rocky Mountain Press?” His voice was surprisingly even.
Crap.I was happy he couldn’t see my face when I shut my eyes and winced. The paperwork for my internship had arrived and he’d opened my mail again.
“I was waiting to find the right time.” I tried to keep my attitude in check. “I know how you feel about anything that isn’t Cash Value Market.”
Evan finally turned around and I took a step back. His eyes were slits as he glared at me. I’d seen him angry, loud and full of rage, but this made me more nervous. He held a manilla envelope in his hand. With the state of everything else in the house, I was surprised to still see it in one piece. I was less surprised to see the short glass he drank his bourbon out of in his other hand. Maybe this ‘little’ habit he had after work had officially gotten out of hand.
“Do you know what I’ve sacrificed to get where I am?”
“Yes, but I don’t understand why,” I emphasized each word as I spoke. “I don’t understand why you can’t be Evan Quittero, not this messed up version, but the guy I fell in love with all those years ago.”
“My parents and grandparents got where they are today because they didn’t have any distractions,” Evan bit back.
“If that’s the life you want, then whatever, but why do I have to? If I had any other job, we wouldn’t be having this conversation,” I reasoned almost desperately. “If I was a teacher or lawyer there would be no reason for me to be involved in the family business.” I continued to vent my frustration.
Evan growled at me. “But you’re not. You belong to me so you do what I say.”
I felt my hackles rising.I belonged to him? What was this, the middle ages?“Evan, it’s a paid internship, and even if it wasn’t, it’s not like we can’t afford it.”
Clearly money wasn’t an issue, as he had destroyed half of the townhouse in this episode.
“YOU DON’T GET IT!” Evan yelled and threw his glass down. It bounced on the carpet and out of reach. “I’ve told you a thousand times that you need to grow up and you still disobey me.” He smiled at me with a wickedness I knew had to be infused with alcohol. “I’ll have to find another way to get your attention.”
“Excuse me?”
