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“Yeah, it’s only me,” I heard my brother call back. Moments later, he appeared on the staircase. “What’s up?”
“What the hell took you so long?” I demanded, leaning over the banister. “I have been freaking out on my own for two hours, Hugh!”
“Why?”
“Oh my god. Oh my god!” Bouncing from foot to foot, I felt another wave of heebie-jeebies wash over me. “It’s so bad, Hugh.”
“What is?” he asked, joining me in the landing. “What happened?”
“Mark Allen!” I strangled out, eyes bulging. “He’s back in Ballylaggin.”
“That’s not funny,” my brother was quick to shoot down, eyes narrowed in disgust. “Don’t say shit like that.”
“I’m not trying to be funny.” Stamping my foot in frustration, I pointed in the direction of the street and eyeballed my brother, willing him to believe me. “He’s back, Hugh. I saw him with my own eyes.”
Hugh’s face turned a deathly shade of gray. “Tell me you’re joking.”
“I wish I could.”
“He’s back?”
I nodded vigorously.
“In Ballylaggin?”
Again, I nodded eagerly.
“Across the street?”
“Yes,” I strangled out, gesturing wildly. “He’s back.”
“Motherfucker!”
“Whoa, where are you going?” I called out, watching as my brother barreled down the staircase like he was chasing a rare Pokémon. “Hugh, wait. Don’t go over there!”
Too late.
Our front door was wide open, and my brother was stalking across the street like a man on a mission.
“Hugh!” I shouted, racing after him in my unicorn onesie. “You know what Mam said. We’re not supposed to take sides, remember? Sadhbh’s her best friend! We’re supposed to stay out of it!”
Ignoring my protests, my brother walked right into Gerard’s house without a hint of hesitation. Now, knocking or ringing doorbells wasn’t something Gerard, Hugh, and I ever did before entering each other’s homes, but this was different. Because usually we didn’t intend on spilling blood, something I had an awful feeling my brother was hell-bent on doing tonight.
“Hugh!” I called out when I reached their front door and caught a glance of my brother’s back as he bolted up the staircase. “Wait, will you?”
Moments later, the sound of a door slamming filled the air, followed by shouting.
Aw, crackers.
Clambering up the staircase, I didn’t stop until I was standing in the doorway of Bethany’s old room, eyes widening in horror. “Hugh, stop!”
“You have a lot of fucking nerve to show your face back here!” my brother roared while he pinned Gerard’s stepbrother to the bedroom wall. “You fucking monster!”
“I’m…innocent,” Mark strangled out, pulling and tearing at the hand Hugh had wrapped around his throat. “Ask…the…Gards…”
“I don’t give a shit what the Gards say,” my brother snarled, looking more furious than I’d ever seen him. “We all know what a piece of shit you are!” He slammed Mark against the wall. “How fucking dare you come back to this street!”
“Hugh, no!” Rushing to intercept my brother before he went too far, I squeezed between their bodies and pushed at his chest. “Let’s just go home, okay?”
