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“Come on,” Rose tells her softly. “Let’s shower.”
I watch them disappear into the bathroom together with a smile on my face. What a strange yet perfect dynamic we have.
The next morning, Sam is silent during our entire breakfast. He cooked for us, checked with Xi that there had been no problems with the neighbors, and made sure Rachel took the pills Sean had prescribed her.
His silence isn’t unusual. However, I feel him sulking, awkward and uncomfortable. Something is wrong, but I’m the only one who seems to notice. Rose’s full attention is on Rachel, and the latter is more than accepting of her girl taking care of her. They slept in the same bedroom last night, and Sam and I in ours. It was strange to sleep without Rose between my boyfriend and me. In the last month, she’s slept here with us. Rachel had always had to go home.
I’m putting the dishes away when Rachel addresses Sam for the first time since yesterday.
“What am I going to tell my parents?” she asks him.
Her face swelled some more during the night, and her lips barely move when she talks. It’s hard to grasp what she says exactly.
“I’m still thinking about it,” he tells her. “How often do you see your parents?”
“Not very often,” she answers.
“If it can wait until your face heals, you’ll just be able to say you haven’t heard from Conor in a while. No one will trace anything back to you, I assure you.”
“Her face will scar,” Rose interjects. “That’s not the solution. They’ll wonder what happened.”
I watch Sam’s jaw tick, and the reason for his annoyance becomes clear. Rose didn’t listen to him yesterday and he’s still mad about it.
“You could also call them today and say you and Conor got attacked last night. That you don’t know where he is.”
“They’ll want to find the attacker. They’ll tell the police, ask questions. She can’t have that.” Rose’s voice is stern, and provoking. She’s mad at him too, and the result is going to be explosive.
Sam cracks his neck, but he doesn’t respond to her.
“Or,” he tells Rachel. “You could tell a version of the truth. That he was abusing you and that he’s the one who did this to you.” He points at her face. “And that he left. You can tell them he had a mistress that you found out, and confronted him about it and then he attacked you. Direct everyone’s attention to Beth rather than you.”
“Her parents don’t care that he was a cunt,” Rose snaps. “Why don’t you stay silent if you only open your mouth to tell us shit ideas.”
I barely have time to notice Sam move. In two strides, he’s grabbing Rose by the neck. Not stopping his movement, he keeps walking, lifting her off the chair and letting it fall back. He keeps going until he’s got her slammed against the kitchen wall.
“Sam!” Rachel gasps. She probably doesn’t think it has any effect, but I see him relaxing his hand around Rose’s throat.
“You’re mad at me,” he hisses in her face. “Why?”
“Because it’s your fault she’s like this, and you know it. I’ve wanted to kill him since I found out. You didn’t let me. The result is the same except that Rachel suffered some more.”
She smiles at him. That kind she uses when she wants to trigger him some more. He always falls for it.
“You’re dying for me to return the question, aren’t you?” She brings a hand to his cheek. “You want me to ask whyyou’remad atme? Huh?”
His nostrils flare, and I can see the battle to not squeeze her tighter. He doesn’t truly want to hurt her. She pulls her hand away from his face and wraps her fingers around his wrist.
“The problem, Sam, is that I don’t give a shit why you’re mad at me. You can use your big muscles on me. I still won’t care. Not until you admit you fucked up.”
24
SAM
Who Do You Want- Ex Habit
I try to swallow down my rage, but it’s becoming more and more difficult—the one against Rose, and the one against myself.
Sometimes, I make mistakes.
