Page 13 of Deceit

Brynn

I’VE BEEN HOME forthree days and it’s been a reminder about why I left to begin with. Every single time I see Zoey and Maddox, they have some smart ass comment to make about me and how I’m not doing anything with my life while expecting my family to support me. Zoey has been worse than Maddox by far with her superior attitude toward me. That’s why after the first day of showing up at the clubhouse to see everyone, I’ve stayed at the house and tried so hard not to talk to anyone else. Zoey couldn’t accept that though, she has shown up here twice under the guise of needing something or getting something for our mom. Really, she just wanted to talk shit to me once again. I’m over it and have been debating leaving and just heading somewhere else while I figure out what to do—go back to Pine View or find somewhere else to live.

Waking up, my phone is ringing off the hook. I stretch my body out before grabbing it off the stand next to me. Looking at the screen of my phone, I see my grandpa’s name flashing.

“’Lo,” I answer the phone, stretching out once again as my grandpa starts laughing in the background.

“Still sleepin’, sweetheart?” he asks me, the mirth I’ve always loved from him loud and clear as he waits for my response.

“Yeah. Didn’t sleep really good last night,” I answer him, awake now as I sit up in bed and look around at my room.

I wasn’t like other kids who put posters of athletes or other celebrities up on their walls. There are no trophies gracing my shelves either. I’ve got photos from my childhood and family placed in my room, books of all kinds, and the one poster I have on the wall is a book cover that’s one of my favorites. In the corner is a chair that I fell in love with to sit and read in after my homework was done each night. Everything in this room is all me and it only shows how different I am from the rest of my family.

“Why didn’t you sleep?” my grandpa questions me, concern filling his voice as it gets the hard edge I don’t normally hear when he’s talking to me.

“Got a lot on my mind, Grandpa,” I answer him honestly while sinking back against my pillows and pulling the blankets up higher on me.

“Come to the clubhouse, Brynn. Have lunch with me,” he orders as I look around my room again.

“Um, I’m not sure that’s a good idea. Already made a fool of myself in front of everyone once since I’ve been here. Not looking to have a repeat performance,” I state thinking of the first day I was here.

I was sitting at a table with my grandpa, grandma, and my parents. We were all eating lunch and not really talking. All four of them know something is going on with me, but haven’t asked me yet. I know part of the reason is they want me to open up and tell them on my own. The second they realize I won’t open up, I’ll get bombarded with questions and it won’t stop until they know why I ran home when I haven’t been here since I left to move to Pine View.

“Must be nice to sit on your ass and do nothing while the rest of the people here work for their money,” my sister says, walking up to our table and looking down on me.

No one says a word to her as she smirks at me.

“I can work from wherever I am, Zoey,” I answer, keeping my voice calm and even.

“You’re never gonna make any money writing, Brynn. It’s just an excuse not to get a job and live off our parents’ money,” she states, her voice loud as everyone in the common room turns their attention toward us and I feel my face heat from embarrassment.

Instead of answering, I jumped out of my seat and rushed from the clubhouse, slamming into the door frame of the front door and almost falling on my ass as a few people laughed at me before I finally got outside and raced to the safety of my car to head to the house my parents own. Tears stream down my face and my heart breaks with the knowledge that nothing will ever change. I will always be the one person no one here wants around.

“Not askin’, Brynn. Come to lunch. Zoey was out of line and she knows it,” he states, his voice sending a chill through me from how hard and cold it is.

“I’ll be there in a half hour,” I relent, my voice a whisper as my grandpa hangs up the phone like normal and I slowly get out of bed.

I head for the shower and let the hot water ease the tension in my body. Today is going to be a rough day and I know it’s going to make or break me. I have a feeling everyone will be at the clubhouse when I get there and Maddox and Zoey will do their best to humiliate me again. Tears fall from my eyes as I wash and condition my hair before moving on to washing my body. Once I’ve rinsed all the soap off, I grab a towel and wrap my hair up before drying off and wrapping the second one around my body. Heading in my room, I grab a pair of jeans and one of my dad’s old tee-shirts. I usually sleep in it, but today I want his comfort wrapped around me for whatever I’m about to face.

Other than brushing my hair and throwing it up in a messy bun, I don’t do any make-up or worry about how I look. No one cares one way or another and it’s going to be pointless worrying about it when I’ll just end up in tears once again. With no other reason to stall, I grab my keys and head out of the house to my car parked in the garage.

The drive to the clubhouse is quick and before I know it, I’m driving through the gate. I offer a wave to the Prospect standing at the gatehouse before continuing on to the parking lot and parking my car. The lot is full of vehicles and I know my grandpa set me up. Every member’s bike is parked in a line at the front of the clubhouse with everyone else parking in the spots outlined. I choose a spot I can easily get out of when the shit hits the fan. Taking a deep breath, I shut off the engine and get out of my car. My feet feel like lead weights are attached to them as I take each step closer to the clubhouse door. Years of running in and out of this door would typically bring a smile to my face. Today only brings a sense of dread and fear. For the first time I’m scared of being at the clubhouse and that’s not a good thing.

“I see you’ve chosen to return,” my sister’s voice immediately rings out the second I step through the door to find a full common room. “Didn’t think you’d have the guts to stop by again.”

“Leave me alone, Zoey. Grandpa, if this is why you called me down here, I’m leaving. And I don’t mean I’ll be going back to the house for the day. I’ll get my stuff and leave here again. I won’t be returning either,” I announce, looking at my parents and grandparents as they sit at one of the larger tables with my uncle Ace, aunt Blayke, their kids, my sister, brother, and Maddox’ girlfriend. This one is new and I’ve never met her before.

“This is enough. Zoey, I don’t know why you have to pick on Brynn every fuckin’ time you see her, but it’s gotten old. The same with you, Maddox. Both of you are worse than everyone in this room, but all of us have played our part over the years,” my grandpa says, his voice loud in the silent room. “Brynn, you’re family and this will always be your home. The teasin’ has gone too far once again and you need to learn to fight and stand up for yourself instead of runnin’ away. That’s why none of the adults have ever stepped in to say anythin’. We want you to say it yourself.”

“You want me to stand up for myself. Okay. How about every single day of my life when Zoey and Maddox wouldn’t stop teasing me until I was in tears? Or how the only time any of the other kids here would play with me is when one of you adults would force them too? What about every fucking day from the time I was in fifth grade when I was bullied, hit, spit on, taunted, and called a whore? Of never having a boyfriend because everyone in this town called me nothing more than a biker whore? And now I find out none of you stepped up for me because you wanted me to grow a backbone and stand up for myself.

“Every single person in this room has told me constantly growing up that you're my family. Well, as far as I know, this isn’t how family treats one of their own. When Zoey had a hard time adjusting to living away from home when she moved to college, you all stepped up to comfort her and make sure she knew she was loved. Maddox is now a member of the club but when he was going through his shit when he broke up with his girlfriend, you were all there for him to pull him off the ledge. I’m the one who has to grow a backbone though?

“No, I don’t work a job like the rest of you. But I am sick and fucking tired of it being said I live off of my parents’ money. I haven’t taken a single penny from Mom and Dad or anyone else here. I live on my own and pay all of my bills. I bought my car without help from anyone. Every custom piece on my bike was bought with my own money. I didn’t move back home when shit got hard. The only reason I came back here now is because once again I believed someone’s lies and made a fool of myself. Growing up, I swore I’d never date a biker. Still, I started to fall for one and it turns out it was nothing more than a bet on his end. He lost and had to ask someone out on a date. I was the lucky fool.

“I truly love each and every person in this room. I would always be there for you no matter what’s going on. Over the years, I’ve been shown repeatedly that’s not the case when it comes to me. I’ve cried silent tears when I’ve been bullied to the point there were countless bruises on my body. Of being made to feel as if no one here wants me because I’m the ‘oops’ baby. I can’t do this anymore. I’m done. You got what you want, Zoey. I’m no longer part of this family and will never return here again. I hope you all enjoy your lunch and have a nice life. It won’t take you very long to forget me at all.

“I know I’m nothing more than the baby no one wanted. The annoying brat you all were forced to play with when you didn’t want to. The lonely girl who had no friends or anyone else I could confide in when I was growing up. I’m a joke and worth nothing more than being a bet to some guy I thought was being genuine. I will never grace you with all that I am from here on out. You’ve finally all gotten what you wanted,” I state, the tears falling from my eyes as I take one last look around the room and leave the clubhouse for the last time.

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