Page 7 of Rot

From this angle, I could see the squareness of his jawline, the bobbing of his Adam’s apple as he spoke. It wasn’t a bad position, all things considered. Gave me other things to focus on.

“Why do you hate me?” I asked. “We’ve never met before yesterday. You don’t have any reason to hate me.” Even though the anger came off him in waves, I refused to get up. I continued to lay there, staring up at him lazily, not letting his annoyance get to me.

A slow smirk spread across his face, and he was even slower in leaning down, his wide top half lowering enough that he could set his arms on either side of me and completely block out the rest of the room. His hands were still balled-up fists. He whispered, “I hate you because you’re here. You shouldn’t be. This is my fucking house, not yours. It’llneverbe yours. You shouldn’t have bothered to unpack. I’ll get my mom to throw you and your useless mother out by the end of the week.”

Ah, so it was a territory thing? He thought I’d swoop in and, what? Try to act like this house was mine? Please. I knew I was a visitor. I didn’t want to be here as much as Elias didn’t want me here… but that didn’t change the fact that I was, indeed, here—and it was because of his attitude that I was going to try my best to stay.

I sat up, propping myself up on my hands. Elias didn’t move; he still hovered over me, so when I sat up, I brought my face near his. Breathing in through my nose, I could smell his soap. A fresh, clean body.

“You’re so confident you can get us gone,” I whispered back, studying his jawline up close. It was the kind of jaw that could cut. “You’re her son, but I’m the niece she’s never met, the daughter of the sister she abandoned over twenty years ago. You really think she’ll kick us out, knowing we have nowhere to go?” I sounded innocent, but that’s the thing about innocence.

It could be a weapon, just like anything else.

“I don’t give a shit about who you are,” Elias growled out. “If I want you gone, you’ll get gone.”

“And if I want to stay, I’m staying.” My voice was firmer that time, and I let myself smile. A real smile, too. This was fun. “So, you better get used to me, because I’m not going anywhere.”

What happened when an immovable object met an unstoppable force? Only time would tell. I wasn’t sure which one of us was the object and which one was the force. I’d have to get back to you on that.

All Elias could do was glare at me. I was pretty sure his stare fell to my neck, just for a split second, and I wondered what he could be thinking. If I was him, I knew what I’d be thinking if I stared at such a small neck.

How easy it would be to strangle you, cousin, and end this right now.

But that must be the rot in me talking. He had to be thinking of something else.

“Hate me all you want, I don’t care,” I said, swinging my legs around and snaking myself out of the inferior position on the bed. I got to my feet beside him after ducking beneath his arm, and I watched as Elias straightened out. He didn’t turn around to face me, though. “If you want to play, I’m all for games. Games are what make life fun.”

At that, he tossed a glare over his shoulder at me, and I let out a chuckle before skipping out of his room.

That had been oh so satisfying.

Later that day, when my mother came back from the store, I sat with her in her room in the basement, safely away from Elias. My aunt was still at work; she really did work some crazy hours. I couldn’t blame Elias for being irate that he was forced to share this house with strangers. He’d probably gotten used to having the run of the house, being the man in charge, even though he was only eighteen. I could only imagine the shit he got up to here, alone, for days at a time.

My mother wasn’t speaking. She was working to unpack her clothes, her hands shaking just a bit. After coming home from the hospital, she was given a supply of pills to keep her calm. They had to be taken daily, and they couldn’t be taken with alcohol, but here… she’d run out, so she was trying to make them last by only taking them when she needed them.

Couldn’t go to a doctor, not after everything. Not with what we were running from.

“I like it here,” I said.

My mother was so shocked at what I’d said that she dropped a shirt to the floor right after folding it. Aunt Maggie had Elias move down a dresser for her to the basement. It stood near the pull-out couch, where I currently sat.

“What?” she sounded short of breath.

“I said I like it here.”

“Sloane…” I could hear the suspicion in her voice. My mother never hid it well. She wasn’t a good actress. She hadn’t learned the ins and outs of lying while she’d been locked away for her own sanity.

“I do,” I went on. “I want to stay. Do you think you could talk to Aunt Maggie about getting me enrolled in school? I’d love to finish out senior year here.” I didn’t really care about school, but being where Elias was, bugging the living daylights out of him… yeah, that’d be loads of fun.

My mother glanced at the stairwell, as if double-checking no one was there. Once her green eyes landed on me, she whispered, “Are you sure going to school is… wise? Do you really think you could—”

“Handle it?” I cut in, frowning at her. “Yeah,Mom, I think I can handle it just fine.” I might’ve hissed out the wordmom, but whatever. I didn’t care. It was no secret that she was a stranger to me. We were both blind where the other was concerned.

She let out a sigh. “I just worry about you. After everything your grandmother told me before—” My mother caught herself, sucking in a hard breath. Pain filled her features, twisting her face until she looked like she wanted to pass out, as if the memory was too much for her.

“Going to school would make me happy,” I told her, firm. If there was one thing mother wanted to do, it was keep me happy. We both knew what happened when I wasn’t. Let’s just say I didn’t need to make any threats. My mother might not have known me from any other kid on the street, but she knew not to press me on anything.

It was a moment before she relented, like I knew she would: “All right. I’ll fill out the papers and drop them off at the school this week.” She hesitated before asking this next part. “Are you getting along with your cousin? He’s the same grade as you. This town’s small. I imagine you’ll see a lot more of him at school.”

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