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I drop the nice guy act and let her see the devil that lives inside me. “Give it back. Or this time, I might actually behead you,” I sneer.
Emery doesn’t look scared. She looksamused. She dangles it in front of me before I snatch it. “You gave away your biggest weakness today, and it’s not her,” she whispers. “Till death do us part – that’s what we promised. It doesn’t matter what we do or who we become – it’still death do us part.“ She barges past me.
I clench the necklace in a tight fist. “Be careful what you wish for,” I call out without turning around, “because that can be arranged.”
30
May2005
Rhys’s sheepish look and the loud arguing from the room next door were my cue to leave. This wasn’t the first time they argued while I’d been around their house after school to play video games. Last time, I heard his dad throw something at his mum, and I didn’t want to face the awkwardness again.
I tiptoed down the stairs, not wanting to rudely interrupt the string of derogatory words he was calling her. With a wave to my friend, I began the short walk home. A few weeks ago, I’d have needed to call one of my parents, but I was given a key to the house. According to my dad, I was aresponsibleman. A grin broke out on my face as I planned to spend my free time playing video games and eating junk.
The dream was short-lived when I saw the white car that belonged to my mum parked in the driveway. She wasn’t supposed to be home yet. She had repeatedly told us she had to work late. She reiterated the instructions to heat up the casserole five times before writing it down anyway.
My key turned almost silently in the lock before I slowly pushed it open. Her soft voice travelled down the stairs. Her laugh matched the girls in my school as they giggled with their crushes. I had never heard her laugh with my dad like that before. Curiosity got the better of me as I crept up the stairs.
Her giggle made me nauseous. “Henry! You are so dirty.”Pause.“I’m just leaving now. I forgot my glasses. You know I can’t drive in the dark.”
My body became immobile. My dad’s name wasElijah, not Henry. I tried to convince myself that I misunderstood because it didn’t make sense for her to betray her husband. He was a good husband and an even better father. He doted on us like his life depended on it. Anything we wanted, he made happen.
What reason did she have to betray the greatest man to walk Earth?
Unable to tolerate her laughter and flirting, I let my presence be known. She cut the line and turned to me with a smile, but the panic in her eyes rang loud. I couldn’t hear anything over the blood rushing to my ears and blurring my vision.
“Darling! What are you doing home so early?”
“Rhys’s parents were fighting again.” I should have asked whyshewas there but I couldn’t bear to hear her lies.
Her bottom lip jutted out. “His poor mum.” She hooked her bag over her shoulder. “I forgot my glasses, but I’m leaving now. Are you going to be okay until your dad gets back?”
She didn’t deserve to mention him.
“Can’t Henry wait until my dad gets back?” My expression was blank. There was no direct accusation, but the tone expressed it all.
Her gulp screamed her guilt. “He’s my colleague.”
She thought I was stupid. “Why do you need to know if your colleague has condoms? I know what you use those for. I’ve had sex ed in school, and I’m not fucking stupid!”
“Xavier Rivers! You do not swear in this house!”
I threw my bag to the floor. “But you get to act like a slag and fuck someone else?”
In a swift move, her hand swung back before her palm met my cheek. The area burned, but not as much as my rage. She was the one cheating, but I got slapped. My cold fingers brushed over my cheek, where it still stung. She looked at me with no remorse.
“I hate you,” I spat at her. “You don’t deserve Dad. I hope you burn in hell!”
The tears in her eyes did little to put out the fire of rage in me. If anything, they were the gasoline, fuelling it further.
“I’m sorry. I got angry. Please don’t tell your father.”
The corner of my mouth twitched. “I won’t tell him you slapped me. But I will tell him his wife is awhore.”Rhys’s dad always called his mum that when they argued. It was usually the word that made her burst into tears or call him something ugly back.
I raced down the stairs before she could slap me again. I needed to get out of here. If I stayed there, I might say something worse.
She followed behind me with futile begs not to expose her disgusting affair. She pushed past me and blocked the front door.“You don’t know what he’s like! He will get angry and hurt me!”
Her tears looked real, but I knew she was a liar. She’d been lying to us for God knows how long.
