AllFreeNovel
Share Us
That’s what we’ve been doing—pretending. I realize this when I see Jane and Vanessa walking into the restaurant together. Jane’s got Vanessa’s hand in hers, almost guiding her toward us, dragging us into a confrontation. Jane’s eyes are glassy, I see, as she gets closer. They’re red too. She looks like Kelly. Like the filth that seems to be infecting this corner of the East Coast has somehow found its way into her veins.
“What is it?” Ellie says, beginning to turn.
I keep my hand on hers for a second longer, hovering in this moment before it all blows up.
CHAPTER
SEVENTEEN
Ellie
“I told you they’d be together,” Jane snaps the second we’re in the parking lot.
When I saw them, I stood up and strode from the restaurant. Jane has a weird, erratic energy. She’s typically dressed stylishly, with extra care like she wants to impress, but now she’s in a short leather skirt and a strappy leopard-print top. She’s wearing heels, and her hair is a mess. She looks like she’s been clubbing.
“I told you,” she says, waving a hand at us. “You didn’t believe me. Said I was ‘paranoid.’” She does air quotes. “Just because she promises you something, Vee, doesn’t mean she’s telling the truth. Your daughter lied to you.”
“Take it easy,” Mom hisses, glaring at Jane.
Jane holds her hands up and laughs in a way I don’t like. Low and mean. She steps toward us and reaches out as if to touch Max. Max immediately slides away, his eyes flashing angrily, his mouth shaping in disgust.
“What the hell are you doing?” I snap. “Leave him alone.”
“Oh, I should leave him alone?” Jane says. “Are we forgetting what this… this specimen did to me?”
Mom wrings her hands together. Right now, I can see her as a young girl, unsure of what to do, except knowing she has to take care of her sister. “Jane, just…”
“He hit me, Vee. You saw the bruise.”
“You’re high,” Mom says weakly.
“Forget high, Mom,” I say. “She punched herself in the fucking face to make it look like Max hit her!”
It all comes out in a long rush, an explosion of words. I wish I could take it back the second it’s out there—not the content, maybe, but the lack of control. The pain in my voice, the anger. Mom must know how badly I hate Jane for that lie.
“Is that what he told you?” Jane whispers, and, like clockwork, am I wrong? Am I being cruel? Tears appear in her eyes and flow down her cheeks in thick, almost ludicrous lines that glimmer in the moonlight.
Max steps forward, hands behind his back, as though he wants to clarify that he’s nowhere near reaching for her. “I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, Jane, but we both know what happened. I think you should tell your sister the truth.”
Jane glares up at him, then continues crying. It almost stopped there for a second. Then she remembered to keep going. Or maybe I’m that woman you hear about in documentaries, standing by her man despite what he did, although he’s a monster, but he’s not. The man I love isn’t a monster. He can’t be.
Jane looks at Mom, then back to Max, shaking her head slowly. “You’d really stand there and keep the lie going after all you did. I lost your baby an—”
“Vanessa is a good sister. She’s clearly one hell of a mother. If you tell the truth, she’ll forgive you. You can get help,” Max says.
“Why would I need help?” Jane snaps, not crying anymore, wiping her cheeks briskly.
“I’ve said you could talk to someone before,” Mom says quietly.
Jane wheels on her. “This isn’t about me, Vee. Don’t you see what they’re doing? We’ve caught them red-handed. They said they’d stop, and they haven’t. We need to call the police.”
Mom narrows her eyes. “The police? Why? Ellie’s a grown woman.”
“Yes, but, but… Ellie doesn’t want to be here, does she?” Jane laughs weirdly. Her eyes seem to get glassier. “You can make her say that, can’t you?”
“I can’t and won’t make her say anything,” Mom snaps. “Jane, you’re doing it again. I’ve told you before. Sometimes, you talk about her like she’s a toy or a tool.”
This is true, but it hurts to hear it out loud. I’ve ignored it for so long that I feel like a coward when somebody acknowledges it.
Jane laughs meanly. “Oh, don’t cry, Vee.”
Wasn’t Jane just crying?
“What’s the truth, then?” Mom says, turning to Max. “What’s your side of the story?”
Max keeps looking at Jane. Despite everything, there’s a glint of humanity in his eyes. He appears like he genuinely wants to help her end this peacefully. “Just tell her. It was a long time ago. You were young. I don’t want to take it any further, but the four of us here need to know the truth.”
