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The walls will look nice with a fresh coat of paint after I’m finished filling holes and fixing nail pops. It would’ve made Dad happy to see.
Not sure how much the noise carries outside, but even though it’s after nine o’clock at night, I raise the volume on my Bluetooth speaker. It’s “Bodies” by Drowning Pool, and you can’t not rock out to this. Hopefully the neighbors will understand.
Music has a way of making me feel as if I’m not alone in my pain because there’s someone out there who feels as much as I do. The lyrics articulate the things I can’t bring myself to admit to anyone, sometimes not even myself, and for those few minutes, it heals my broken soul.
Draining the last of my water, I make my way into the kitchen for another bottle. I close my eyes as I belt the chorus down the hallway. But when I open my eyes, a bloodcurdling scream tears from my throat. A man in a black baseball cap is halfway through the window above the sink. Glass shards are scattered across the counter and on the floor. And I’m frozen where I stand as an intruder breaks into my home.
Again?!
His dark eyes meet mine as he hoists himself into my kitchen and plants his feet on the tile. He raises a tattooed index finger to his lips. “Shh. You’re going to wake the neighbors.”
The neighbors. My neighbor is a cop. Go!
I spin around and bolt down the hallway. Skidding to a stop in front of the door, I flick the lock, swing it open, and run face-first into a brick wall on my porch.
James grips my shoulders to steady me. “What’s wrong?”
I point toward the kitchen. “There’s s-someone… in my house.”
He pushes me behind him as he stalks down the hall.
I pull out my phone and stop the blaring music. “Is your dad home? Should I call the cops?”
“Iamthe cops.”
My head jerks back.What?But before I can ask what the hell that means, James spots the man in my kitchen and his hands ball into fists.
“Hey, big brother,” the stranger says, as if it’s the most normal thing in the world to smash in a window and climb into someone else’s kitchen.
Wait, brother?
James lunges at him, but the man darts away and runs straight for me. I don’t have to do much to stop him though. He slips on the tarp I have laid out on the floor in the entryway where I’ve been spackling, and his legs go up while the rest of him slams down onto the tile. His hat flies off, and then James is on him. He bends down to grip his hoodie and drags him toward the door like he weighs all but two pounds.
I step aside to let him pass and follow him out onto the porch. “Did he just say he’s your brother?”
James ignores me as he slides the guy’s body down the stairs like a sack of potatoes.
“Ow! Jesus, fuck. Watch my spine, dude.”
James lets out a sardonic laugh. “Oh, I’m just warming you up for what’s coming.”
“Hold on a second.” I run down the stairs behind them. “Is this the brother that’s been missing?”
His brother answers while he’s being dragged across my lawn. “I just took a little vacation.”
That strikes James’s last nerve. He lets his brother fall onto his back as he mounts him and slams his fist into his face. “You selfish piece of shit!”
His brother chuckles, revealing a bloody mouth. “And where does being selfless get you, James? Tell me, how’s that Captain America bullshit working out for you?”
James lands another punch. He hammers him again, and again before he pushes off the ground to stand, and swings his foot, the toe of his boot connecting with his brother’s ribs.
The quiet, composed man installing my lock this morning has been replaced by an explosive angry one. He’s kicking the shit out of him, and I can’t say I blame him. If my brother went missing and acted as nonchalant about it as this guy, I’d be pissed too. But if I’ve learned anything about family over the years, it’s that you can’t make them be who you want them to be no matter how hard you try. Beating his brother’s ass won’t make a difference.
James winds back for another punch, but I catch his elbow. “Enough! You’re hurting him.”
He freezes, and his brother rolls over onto his side, coughing and clutching his midsection.
“Breathe.” I slide my palm over James’s shoulder in slow circles, hoping to soothe his rage.
