Page 6 of Atlas
River frowned. “How can it be arson if you and Maximum own the house? It’s not as if you’d press charges against him, would you?”
“No, but what if the fire spreads? Burning down the house isn’t going to solve anything.”
Nathan had been small for his age back when we were children, but he’d grown into a large man with a well-muscled body from his obsession with sports. It saddened me to see the proud man he’d become, dry his nose, and scrunch his face up. “Don’t pretend you wouldn’t feel a sense of satisfaction from seeing this place burn to the ground. We all hate this house andhim."
I raised both palms. “You’re right, but we aren’t mindless teenagers, and setting the manor on fire would be reckless. If you need to see it burn down, then I’m fine with it, but we’re doing it the right way.”
“And what way is that?”
“I don’t know. Maybe the local fire department can do it for practice.”
“No!Iwant to set the torch.”
“I’m sure we can arrange that, Nathan. But not tonight.”
He threw the stick back onto the fire and took a step back.
Lumi was right there to give him another hug. “Atlas is right. We don’t know if there’s something that could explode inside, and the neighbors are sleeping in their houses. It’s not safe.”
Nathan stabbed his index finger at me. “I want to see our childhood and this fucking haunted house in ashes.” He stormed off in the direction of the car, and River ran after him.
"Are you happy now?” Maximum tucked his hands in his pockets next to me and rocked back and forth on his feet. “That speech you gave us about proving to ourselves that Dad doesn't hold any power over us…” He scoffed. “The man planted so many phobias and traumas in us that he’ll continue to hold power for as long as we live. We’re cursed people."
“No!” I refused to believe that. “We can get past it. ”
“How? We’re all fucked up in one way or the other, and you know it.”
My tone was defensive. “That’s why I’m searching for answers. We need to understand what he did to you, and then we’ll know how to fix it.”
Maximum stared at me and gave an incredulous chuckle. “What he did tous? Don’t you know that you’re as fucked up as the rest of us? You’re the one obsessing about needing to understand what happened, but you never will. Dad was crazy, Atlas. Crazy and evil!” He nodded to the melted videotapes on the fire. “I wish we hadn’t come here tonight, and I wish you wouldn’t insist on digging for answers. All you find is more dirt and depravity.”
“Maximum, I…”
He cut me off. “That research project you’re running; who is it for?”
“It’s for us and anyone else who is broken by someone like Dad.”
Maximum shook his head. “I know you’re trying to fix the situation, but you can’t. No one can.”
“Give me time.” I took a step forward, but that only made him back away.
Shaking his head again, my younger brother walked away while I stood back with a heavy heart, promising myself that I would dedicate the rest of my life to finding a way to heal what my father had broken.
“Typical.” Lumi came to stand next to me.
I gave her a sideways glance. “What’s typical?”
“Others start the fire and leave it to us to put it out. It’s the burden of being the older siblings. We always get left with the clean-up.” Her brown eyes, which always shone with her sharp intelligence, told me we weren’t talking about the fire in front of us.
Feeling grateful for the support of my strong adoptive sister, I gave her a sideways hug. “Then we’d better get to it.”
CHAPTER2
Job Interview
Jolene
When I turned thirteen, I got a new diary for my birthday, and that night I planned out my future.
