Page 73 of Of Poison & Pumpkins
“Well, I guess you win again, congrats,” she says, in a flat, monotone voice.
I never wanted this for us. My older brother and I were never close, but Orion was at least decent. Now, I rarely hear from him, but can’t believe he’d ever pull a stunt like Brooke’s grand scheme. To be honest, I wouldn’t have thought she was capable of such drastic measures either. Something must have happened recently to tip her over the edge.
Maybe if we had been closer growing up, I’d have seen the signs of her decline and been able to prevent all this. But there’s no use wondering about all the ‘what ifs.’ These crimes were her choice, and she needs face the consequences.
When Brooke draws her limbs close to her body and lays her head on her arms in resignation, anger forms in my blood that she’s throwing a pity party for herself.
“You hurt people,” I try to keep my voice steady, calm.
“Just leave me alone.”
“No, your actions could’ve caused a catastrophe, and deaths, Brooke, do you understand that? What were you thinking!?”
“Oh, you’re one to judge!” Brooke spits out. “If it weren’t for your paint, none of this would’ve been possible. Those people out there technically have you to thank.”
“Why? Why would you plan something so destructive? Sure, you hated me, and I can deal with losing out on the sister I’d hope to have, but?—”
“Exactly! I was never the sister you wanted, not then and not now!” She throws her hands in the air. “Every time you looked at me, you wished I was a Fuzer too.”
“What?” Time feels like it slows down and I have no idea where this conversation is going anymore. “All I wanted was to feel accepted by you. Instead, you made my life miserable because I was different from you and Orion and Mom and Dad.”
Brooke shakes her head wildly. “No, no, don’t turn this around. When I was five, you asked me to make our lemonade magic, and I said, ‘only you can do that.’ Remember that day? You said you didn’t want to play with me anymore …” Her voice breaks. “What kind of big sister shuns her sibling for not being as perfect as she is? You. That was the day everything changed.”
“Brooke…”
“Don’t,” she says, waving a hand. “It’s too late for apologies.”
I spring to my feet. “I wasn’t going to apologize. Clearly, we misunderstood each other’s intentions, but we both made our choices of how to deal with it. I left home in order to?—”
“You abandoned us the second you could and never looked back! Never tried to fix what was broken or give us a second chance!”
“You pushed me away!” I scream, fists balled tight.
A knock comes at the door. “Hey, settle down, you two, or we’ll split you up.”
“Just give us five more minutes, please,” I say through the wall and exhale deeply.
We turn away from each other and my mind whirls with what she’s revealed. It feels like I’m in another dimension, hearing a confession from an alternate Brooke. I want to forgive her, but how? She stole my paint, broke all the rules, used Elias’s dad, and Goddess-knows who else to take away the passion and soul of my entire town. Why?
“I still need to know why. You could’ve targeted me instead of hurting everyone I care about.”
She clutches her knees, her knuckles turning white. “That’s not how heartbreak works, is it? I wanted you to feel how I did and then take your magic, so I’d never have to feel that way again.”
“Brooke, what happened? If this were just about us, you would’ve done this ten years ago. Why now?”
Her throat bobs, then she bites her lip and sniffs.
My body resists, but I force myself to sit next to her. “Tell me.”
So much time passes that I start counting the seconds by the ticking of the clock on the wall.
“If I had magic, I never would’ve lost her,” Brooke says.
“Who?”
“My girlfriend.” She wipes her nose. “Not that you care.”
My arms turn heavy. Part of me wants to scramble to reverse what’s been said but a knot forms in my belly and I know that’s not possible. I tuck a loose braid behind my ear.
