Page 77 of Getting It Twisted

It’s April. She carries a plate of spaghetti carbonara with George on her heel.

“Hey,” she says in a soft, careful voice. “You didn’t come down for dinner, so we thought—”

“Have you been crying?” George asks gruffly.

“No.”

“But something’s gone down, right? Withhim?”

My glare probably isn’t as convincing with my eyes glazed over with tears. George and April exchange a look.

“Called it,” George says.

“Do you want to talk about it?” April asks.

I glance between the two of them. “I’ll talk to you,” I say, nodding to April. “But not to him.” I don’t feel like enduring hisI told you so’s on top of everything else.

George huffs. “She’s my girlfriend; she’ll tell me everything anyway.”

April shrugs and smiles apologetically. “He’s right. But we’re here for you, Daniel. Zero judgments,” she adds, giving George a look.

“Yeah,” he says with a nod. “Zero judgments.”

“You really expect me to believe that?”

“Come on, Daniel. You’re like my baby brother, you know that. I haven’t seen you like this since . . . you know. If it’s something Nathan did, if he hurt you . . . You know I won’t hesitate one second to give him what he deserves. But if you just want to talk,then I’ll keep calm, all right? We’ll just listen if that’s what you want.”

I step back, inviting them into my room. “Okay.”

It’s not like they can fix anything anyway. Everything’s already said, done, dusted, and ruined, and Nathan is probably on his way out of town as we speak.

George fiddles with a set of my drawings on my desk while April sits in the lotus position next to me on the bed.

Where do I even start? “So, uh . . . Nathan and I had a fight.”

“Yeah,” George says. “That’s pretty fucking obvious.”

April glares at him, then looks back to me and speaks in a gentle tone. “What happened?”

It’s not my place to tell them, but if I don’t, I’ll have to live with the knowledge myself, and I’m not sure I can do that. So I tell them everything I know: the photographs, Theresa, and the abuse Nathan suffered at the hands of those men. But I leave everything about the grad party unsaid.

George grimaces. “Well, shit. Poor bastard.”

“That’s horrible,” April says, face pale.

“Do you think Wayne knew about this?” I ask with a glare directed at George, who shakes his head.

“I don’t know, Daniel. If he did, he hasn’t mentioned it to me. My mom found out about the stuff with Theresa, that’s the only reason I know.”

I smile bitterly. “Well, even if he did know, he would’ve incriminated himself if he told anyone.”

“Again,” George says, “I don’t know.”

“Your mom knew, yet they’re still together?”

“That shit is complex, Daniel.”

“You’re the one who thinks Nathan is a horrible person just because he doesn’t follow society’s rules to a T.”

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