Page 58 of Destroying Everleigh

Turning over in my small ass bed, I faced the wall, my breathing labored as if he was still touching me. He might as well have been. It was all I could think about. If these guys wanted to ruin me, they were slowly succeeding. My eyes fluttered closed for the hundredth time tonight. I was still on edge and restless, but I couldn’t afford to be too tired to care for my family tomorrow, so I did my best to rid my mind of tonight’s events.

Eventually, sleep took over.

My eyes snapped open to an ear-shattering scream, the blood instantly draining from my body. I jerked out of bed, throwing the blankets from my body before running down the hallway toward the sound.

“Briley?” I called out, my heart thundering in my chest. I looked both ways before spotting my sister in the doorway of my mom’s room.

Briley looked over at me, tears clinging to her dark lashes. “I just went to check on Mom,” she said, her lower lip trembling. “She’s not?—”

I tuned her out, my entire body going on high alert. I knew what she was going to say, and it wasn’t an answer I’d accept. Before my mom got sick, she was a good parent. She always made sure we had what we needed, and even what we wanted when it was within her budget. She tried her best, and that’s all that mattered. She bought me my first bike, she put me in soccer, and took us to water parks for family vacations. She tried her damn hardest for us.

I stumbled through my mom’s door and flicked on the light. Mom was still in bed where she’s been most of the week. She was on her back this time, which was weird, because she hated falling asleep on her back. Always said it was uncomfortable to her.

With shaky legs, I approached her bedside and sat on the edge. “Mom?” I whispered. When she didn’t reply, I placed a hand on her chest. She felt completely stiff. How long had she been like this? Bringing my fingers to her neck, I pressed them against her carotid artery. Not even the faintest flutter. Shit.

Tears blurred my vision, but I couldn’t afford to break down. Not when my family needed me to be strong. I stood and walked over to where Briley was standing, sobs racking through her small body. I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her against me firmly. She melted into me and started to cry harder.

We stood like that for a while. Until her eyes were red and my shirt was drenched with her tears. “She seemed fine yesterday,” she blubbered.

The truth was that Mom hadn’t been fine in a long time. She’d been a well-respected member of Brookhaven at one point, so there was no doubt that her death would hit the newspapers. That was another obstacle I didn’t want to go through—one that Briley shouldn’t have to go through. It would be okay, though. We’d get through this just like we got through everything. Mom had made me Tate’s and Emma’s legal guardian as soon as she started getting sick, so I could take them to and from school and to doctor’s appointments. They wouldn’t be taken from us because of this.

Pulling away from my sister, I glanced at her. “Go into Emma’s and Tate’s room,” I ordered. “Don’t let them exit until I say so. I’m going to call the police.”

She nodded. “What do I tell them?”

“Nothing right now. We’ll tell them together.” Tate was old enough to understand death, but still, it was a conversation I was dreading. They loved our mom, holding onto the false hope that she’d somehow get better. Breaking this to them was going to be brutal.

Briley made her way down the hall. When I heard the door click to their bedroom, I hurried back into my room and grabbed my phone. I quickly dialed the number, my eyes blurring so badly I could barely see anything. I rambled off what had happened to the dispatcher, and they asked me the basicquestions they always did. Once they had all their information, I tossed my phone on the bed and waited.

While the cops searched my mom’s room and investigated, I made some French toast and bacon before carrying three plates into my youngest sibling’s room, offering them all one. Briley was numb as she accepted her plate, seated on the edge of Emma’ bed.

“What’s going on?” Tate asked. “I have to pee.”

“Hold it for a little while longer if you can,” I replied. “I’ll go get you guys some orange juice.”

I made my way back into the kitchen, fixing three glasses of juice before returning to the room they were all huddled up in. I offered a glass to each of them and left to go fix up my own plate. I slipped into one of the many seats at our kitchen table while I ate and sipped, my mind whirling a million miles a minute. Usually when Mom got really bad, it would only last for a week or two, and then she’d bounce back and carry about her day like nothing had happened. But that wasn’t the case this time. She just gradually got worse and then that was it.

Dad should have been here. She shouldn’t have had to die alone in the middle of the night. He was a fucking coward. He was the one who deserved to suffer alone, not my poor, helpless mother.

Things used to be so much simpler. When we were one big happy family, and the only thing I had to worry about was school and boys. High school drama was my biggest problem back then. Looking back now, it was laughable. It was so easy to take people and life for granted when you thought you had all the time in the world. This was only proof that anyone could drop dead at any given moment, without any notice even.

With shaky fingers, I dialed my grandma’s number. She answered almost immediately.

“Hi, Grams,” I muttered into the speaker, trying to keep my voice low. “I hate to ask this, but is there any way that Emma and Tate could spend the day with you? I’ll pick them up tonight, and?—”

She cut me off almost immediately. “You know I don’t mind them coming over. Is everything okay?”

I braced myself, sucking in a deep breath. “No. Mom passed away in the middle of the night.” A choked sob forced its way from my throat before I could even attempt to rein it in. It felt like my entire life was falling apart, one thing after another.

Grandma was silent on the other end for a long while. Her relationship with my mom had been strained for years, but she’d have to be a piece of shit to not feel anything about her own daughter dying. There was shuffling on the other end, and I heard my grandma yelling at her husband to come get Tate and Em, followed by quiet crying. She must have felt guilty for not fixing their relationship sooner, but I knew that my mom still loved her, despite their distant relationship.

“Herbert is on the way,” she told me. “They’re welcome to stay as long as your family needs. If that’s only a few days, or even a few weeks, I don’t mind.”

Relief flooded through me. “They have school,” I reminded her.

“I think I can manage. Just make sure I’m on their pick-up and drop-off list. I’m sorry you’re going through this, Everleigh. If you’d like to stay with me for a little while, too, that’s okay.”

It would be nice to get out of this nasty house, but I couldn’t. The world didn’t stop turning for anyone. “Thank you for the offer, but I have work and grocery shopping. The landlord will be stopping by any day now.”

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