Page 114 of Resist Me

“Why would you bring her here?” he demanded.

“Have you tried stopping her from doing something? If I didn’t bring her, she was going to call a ride.” He glanced around quickly, then lowered his voice. “I’m trying to take care of her, man. She’s going through something.”

“And what exactly is that, Rick?”

“Oh my god,” Willow groaned loudly.

Kai pulled her toward the door and West kept his eyes on them until they were out of sight. Rick looked uncomfortable and irritated, but he didn’t try to push him away.

“I shouldn’t tell you,” he sighed. “But the other day, she mentioned a guy named James.”

West went rigid. I put my hand on his shoulder, but he shrugged me off.

“What about James?” he asked through gritted teeth.

“Apparently, he got released from prison. She didn’t want to say anything to you. Something about you feeling guilty and losing your shit. Who is this guy?”

West was paler than usual and his face was completely blank. Releasing Rick, he took a step back. Without looking at me, he left the room. I stared at the place he’d disappeared, unsure what to do. This wasn’t something I could fix and I knew he was going to find her, but I had no idea what direction that would take. I hated it, but I thought this was an instance where I needed to give him some space, at least until after they’d talked.

Chapter 38

West

“What the fuck is going on!”

Dad’s voice was louder than I’d ever heard it. He wasn’t just angry. This was worse than when he caught me trying to pocket a bag of sour patch kids at Walmart. This scared me.

I ventured forward, keeping my arms wrapped around myself. He’d only just gotten home from work. I didn’t know why he was so mad. James said something, but I couldn’t hear him well. There was a shout from inside, then he came flying through the door and landed on the ground.

“West, call the police,” Dad ordered.

“I don’t get it. Why?”

“Just do it!”

I flinched, then took off toward the living room. His phone was on the coffee table, so I grabbed it before I headed back up the stairs. Instead of looking at Dad and James again, I went into the bedroom. Willow was on the bed and seeing her crying made tears fill my eyes. She was under a blanket, holding it tightly.

I climbed onto the bed and pulled her down to rest her head in my lap. I didn’t know what was happening, but she was more scaredthan me. It made me more mad than I’d ever felt. My body shook with it. I held her tightly while I put in the number Dad taught us in case we were ever in trouble.

“9-1-1, what’s your emergency?” a man answered.

“Something is wrong with my sister. Please, she’s scared.”

He asked for my address and I recited it from memory.

“Can you tell me what happened?”

I looked down at her. A few of my tears fell into her hair. She was shaking so bad and I was afraid she was hurt. Did James hurt her? He couldn’t do that. He was nice. We’d known him our whole lives. He loved us.

“Something… something bad happened. I don’t know. Please. Something’s wrong with her.”

“Okay, someone is on their way. Is that all you can tell me?”

“W-we’re twins. I… Dad always said to protect her, but I don’t know what happened. I’m sorry. I’m… I don’t know what happened.”

With a roar, my fist connected with the wall. I pressed the heels of my hands against my eyes, trying to find a way to breathe. Ten years. Ten fucking years. I never knew how long he got. I was eight fucking years old and I didn’t pay attention to that. It wasn’t something I’d thought about since. I just knew he was in prison and I thought it would be significantly longer.

Flattening my palms against the wall, I drew in a shuddering breath. It left me just as quickly. I leaned my head against the surface, unable to hold back my tears. My body felt too weak to stand, so I dropped into a crouch.

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