Page 23 of Hot Summer Nights

He takes a step toward me, and Gavin grabs my hand. I know that he’ll pull me back if my dad or anyone in my family gets much closer to me, and having him on my side only has me feeling more confident.

“I never liked the house, and it’s not mine, so I’m not paying to live there. I’ve moved out and I’m not coming back. Not ever,” I state firmly.

No one says anything for a beat, but I can see my parents sizing me up and trying to find a weak spot.

“I know that you were stealing from me. That’s why I had a different hiding place and a secret bank account. I’ve been putting half of my paycheck there for years so that you couldn’t touch it.”

My mom frowns at that, her eyes flashing. I know that they’ve been taking from my “secret” hiding spot in my room, but really I set that up so that they would stop asking me for money.

My sister, Callie, steps forward. She looks pale and maybe even a little sad. I’m surprised because she always just seemed to go along with my parents, and whatever they said or did to me, she did too.

“Can I talk to you for a minute?” she asks and Gavin’s hold on me tightens.

“Um…” I start and he looks over to me. He shrugs and I nod. “Okay.”

We walk a few steps down and she turns away from our family, giving them her back.

“Please come back,” she whispers and I blink at her.

She sounds like she’s crying. I don’t know what to do in this instance. I’ve never seen Callie cry.

“I can’t take it any longer,” she says and tears start to really come then, spilling onto her cheeks and rushing down to her chin.

“Can’t take what?” I ask.

What could our parents have been doing while I was gone?

“I can’t take being you!” she sobs.

I blink. “What?”

“Ever since you’ve been gone, they’ve been treating me like they did you,” she admits and she looks up at me with red, miserable eyes.

“Oh… yeah, I guess you can’t be the golden child when they need a scapegoat,” I say, and she starts to cry harder. “I’m not coming back, Callie. Never.”

She looks down to her shoes, trying to wipe the tears away.

“So, you knew that they were treating me like shit then?” I say when I realize what she said.

She nods. “Yeah, I’m so sorry. It was just easier to go along. They seemed to love me more when I started doing it,” she admits and I take a step away from her.

She notices and looks up at me with real regret swimming in her eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Record. I’ve been a terrible sister. I should have helped. I should have told them to stop or something. I just… couldn’t.”

I’m probably never going to be able to understand why she didn’t help me, but I can’t leave her with them. Not when she’s sobbing like this after only being alone with them for a few days.

“You’re eighteen. You can move here with me until you start college in the fall,” I offer.

“Mom and Dad will never pay for my college if I don’t stay with them.”

“I hate to break it to you, but they don’t have money for their own mortgage. There’s no way that they’re paying for college.”

She sniffles and I let out a deep breath.

“You can still go though. Do what I did. Take out loans then. Work and save your money. Maybe see if you can get financial aid or some scholarships. Hell, pick a cheaper school.”

She nods, looking away from me.

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