Page 34 of My Brother's Enemy
“Hey.”
“Why are you whisper—oh my God. Did you go and fuck that girl from the hospital? Also, since when do you bring girls with you to see your twin sister and your niece? You don’t bring women around us, but it is so like you to sleep with your team’s shrink. You won’t use her for her job, but you’ll get between her legs. Though, it’s usually them coming on to you.”
I cringed. “You have way too much energy for this conversation at whatever fucking time it is right now. Why are you calling? I was asleep.”
“Oh.” She laughed. “The nurse just came to check on Zoey, and I couldn’t get back to sleep. I keep thinking about what the social worker said earlier. They want Zoey to go to a mental health clinic.”
My sister was fully awake. Now that Zoey seemed out of the woods, she was returning to her usual self, and that was happy. She was happy almost all the time, which was annoying because I was generallynot. I guess we balanced each other out.
“She needs to go to a mental health clinic, Ski.”
“What? Why?”
I closed my eyes. “Because she overdosed. She almost died.”
“But it might’ve been an accidental overdose.”
“Does it really matter? She overdosed. She did drugs. Maybe it’s not so uncommon for a teenager to do drugs, and maybe it was just one time, but I think it’s better to proceed with caution. Did she say anything about it yet?”
“No.” She sighed, sounding glum. “And I know Zoey. We can’t force her to talk.”
“This is why you called me?”
“They want to start paperwork tomorrow. I’m worried. If she goes in, she’ll be away from me for even longer.”
“Ski.” I gentled my tone. “Zoey’s not impulsive. If she’d only done drugs once and she overdosed by accident, she would’ve told you. It would’ve been one of the first things she said because she wouldn’t want you to consider the alternative.”
My sister started crying. I hated that.
“Talk to the social worker,” I told her. “See if she can go into a clinic where you can see her or if there’s a compromise. Money isn’t a problem. I’ll pay for it. You know that. I think it’ll be good for Zoey. You two have always been close. You’re a great mother, but Zoey’s always been sad. If anything, it might be good for someone to look into that. It could be connected.”
“You fuck a shrink and suddenly you’re Dr. Phil?”
“Ski—”
“Forget it. We’ll figure it out by ourselves.” She ended the call.
I pulled the phone away to stare at it for a second. That wasn’t my sister’s normal behavior, but with the stress and the disruption to her sleep, any person would’ve lashed out. My sister also had a brain injury, so that could be a factor as well.
I knew what she was thinking. I was pushing for Zoey to spend time away from her, and my sister couldn’t see how itwas for Zoey’s good. She was only focusing on them being apart. Again. The overdose and the coma had shattered my sister’s heart. It shattered mine too, but eventually Skylar would calm down. She’d rethink how she spoke to me.
She’d regret it… Eventually.
Tyler: I love you, and I love Zoey. I’m not saying this to hurt you or her. I hope you know that. I really just want the best for you both.
Skylar: She needs to be with me! Not some stranger. You don’t understand. You don’t have kids.
No, but I raised you, didn’t I?I wanted to tell her that, but I couldn’t.
Tyler: What if it happens again? What if you don’t find her in time? You need to focus on preventative measures. No matter what, the overdose happened. She’s underage. She needs to get some help.
I didn’t want to send that because it was so direct. Too harsh. Even if Zoey wasn’t my kid, she was the most vulnerable in this situation and needed help the most. Losing our parents had been a blow. Skylar got pregnant. That was another blow. Then she was in a car accident and emerged with a brain injury. A third blow. I’d always done what I could for both of them, but it’d been hard for us. We’d gotten some breaks with a neighbor and when my billet parents decided to take us in, but I’d always tried to minimize how much we leaned on them. They were supposed to just host me during the hockey season. They hadn’t needed to say yes to all three of us. It wasn’t fair. They were good people,but a year later I turned eighteen, and I’d been taking care of Skylar and Zoey ever since.
Thank goodness for hockey and thank goodness for my sponsors that helped with the costs to get me through my training. Finally I started earning enough to afford a tiny apartment for us. The other guys roomed together and took in the newer teammates. Because of my situation, I never got that help, but fortunately Skylar’s brain injury didn’t prevent her from getting a job. She was high functioning, though her emotions were sometimes too intense for her to regulate. She didn’t think rationally and couldn’t calm down at times either. There were other things, but at a time like this, I couldn’t pull my punches. I had to think of Zoey first.
I sent the text.
As I waited for her response, I used the bathroom and tried to brush my teeth with my finger. She hadn’t replied by the time I was done. Leaving the bathroom, I eased open the bedroom door.
