Page 49 of Atonement

"I need to brush my teeth," I said. "My morning breath feels insecure against your minty freshness."

She smiled as I disentangled myself from her and climbed out of bed. "Are you making a joke?"

"Trying my best." My heart still felt like a heavy rock weighing down my entire body, hunching my back, threatening to drop out of my chest and leave me broken and bleeding on the floor. At the same time, there was a lightness that seemed to seep throughout my entire being, the knowledge that everything had changed last night in the flash of a gun. Somehow I made it through the motions of brushing my teeth and washing my face, and when I came out of the bathroom, Madeleine was dressed again in my old clothes and sitting on the edge of the bed. She smiled shyly as I crossed the room to her and kissed her softly on the lips.

"Better."

She smiled wider.

We went downstairs when I was dressed, walking straight for the kitchen and avoiding even looking in the direction of the office where I had last seen my father's body. Every cabinet door in the kitchen was flung open. Eva stood at the stove with a pan full of batter, and a plate stacked high with pancakes on the counter next to her. She looked up as we entered, smiling softly at both of us.

“Did you sleep—”

“Dad, no!” Maddie interrupted her mother and suddenly pushed me behind her. Coming across the room like a missile, the look of pure hatred on his face, was the man who’d called himself Madeline’s father for her entire life. And he was staring straight at me.

“Thisboyand I need to have a talk,” he growled, spitting the words like a curse. Eva moved between us as well, holding her husband back with both hands.

“Joseph, I’ve told you how things are going to happen with Meyer.”

“He nearly killed both of you.”

“He also helped save us.” Madeline pressed back against my chest. That look in Joseph’s eyes was too familiar to me, even though I’d only met this man twice. “Dad, you need to stop.”

I’d thought I wouldn’t have to suffer under it anymore. I was wrong. But I couldn’t let the fighting continue, couldn’t stand the shouting between Maddie and her father. There had been enough bad blood between family members for a lifetime.

Which reminded me…

“Anita’s still locked in my bathroom,” I blurted. Joseph looked at me like I was speaking jibberish, but Eva sighed in relief.

“That’s good. Conrad wouldn’t tell me where she was.”

“I don’t think he knew. She killed Shawn and went into hiding. She probably would have resurfaced once it was pretty clear he was going to be blamed for the whole mess.”

Joseph pointed his finger at me over his wife’s shoulder. “Don’t try to change the subject.”

“I’m not, I swear. Someone should go get her, though.”And it’s not going to be me.

“I will,” Joshua said. The four of us turned our heads in unison to see him standing in the entrance to the kitchen. “I might as well. Been cleaning up messes all night.” He looked like it, too. His jacket was gone, and his rumpled shirt was open halfway down his chest.

“And whose fault is that?” Maddie snapped. “Go get her and lock her up in that same room where her father kept his slaves chained to the wall.”

“As you wish,” he muttered, and turned to go.

I looked at Eva. “Can we trust him?”

She bit her lip. “I’m not really sure. I’ll go along.”

“Eva, no!” Joseph tried to keep her from following Joshua, but she was already gone. He leveled a glare at me. “We are not done here.” Then he followed her out the door.

Maddie sighed heavily, her face in a grimace, before it changed to an expression of mild panic as she ran to the stove. She yanked the skillet off the burner and tipped the smoking contents into the trash. “I think that’s enough pancakes for now,” she said, turning off the heat and picking up the larger stack. She looked around the kitchen, mystified. “Um, where do we eat?”

“Here is okay.” There was an island in the middle of the room, meant for food prep, but bar stools hid under the edge on the far side. With some hunting, we found utensils, butter, and syrup, and sat down to eat.

We ate silently, still famished from the night before, and demolished most of the stockpile my mom had accumulated. We were washing our dishes in the sink when we both jumped at the sound of a door slamming open, and less than a moment later we heard the unmistakable sound of Anita’s screaming. I backed up against Maddie, pushing her away from the door, as Joshua walked in holding Anita around the waist, looking completely unamused by how much she was fighting. Joseph and Eva were close behind him.

“Meyer!” Anita struggled harder to break free. “Don’t let him put me up there. I deserve better than that.”

“Fuck off,” Maddie snapped, and I shushed her while staring down my sister.

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