Page 30 of Resolutions

Mom's voice drifts in, and we all freeze like we have so many times in the past, straining to overhear our parents' conversations. Mom tells our dad, “You should go break them up.”

“Me?” Dad scoffs. “I'm not going in there. Let them handle it.” Their footsteps retreat and the fights back on.

“Cam, let go of the mattress!” Carson tells me as they pull my feet. “You're not going to win.”

“Just keep pulling. The mattress will stop at the doorway.”

“NO!”

True to his word, the mattress wedges against the bathroom doorframe. As I lose my grip, they haul me into the bathroom, all three of us crashing against the far wall. Colton scrambles up to turn on the shower.

“Let's throw him in clothes and all.”

“Perfect.”

“Fuck off.” I snarl, but they're already lifting me. My feet barely touch the ground as they manhandle me under the spray. Then they just step back and stand there, arms crossed, blocking the exit.

“You don't have to watch!” I struggle with my soaked shirt.

“Can't trust you to stay in there.” Colton raises his eyebrows. “Mom's orders.”

“Fine, I'll fucking shower!” I throw my wet clothes at them. They dodge the wet mess. “You can go now. Or do you really want to watch me wash my balls?”

“Give us a show!” Colton hums a striptease tune.

I turn to face the shower, rolling my eyes.

Colton claps. “Work it, baby brother!”

“Come on,” Carson tugs Colton's arm. “Let him shower.”

“But I wanted to watch!”

“Pervert!” I throw water at him.

“Takes one to know one!” Colton yells back.

Their voices fade as they leave. Why couldn't I have been an only child?

The hot water beats against my shoulders as I mechanically wash my hair. The memory hits like a baseball bat to the face - Mel and I in the shower, her face tilted up to the spray, dark hair clinging to her wet back, her moans echoing off the tiles when I powered into her. Instead of arousal, the memory brings crushing guilt. While I'm here getting clean, is he touching her? Hurting her? Forcibly taking her?

My knees give out and I slide down the corner of the shower wall, pulling myself into the tightest ball possible. The water mixes with fresh tears as sob after sob rolls through me. “I should have kept you safe, protected you.” I've never faced losing my entire world before. Every terrible possibility crowds my mind. “What if he killed her?”

I barely register Colton yelling for Carson and Dad. Somehow, the cold water stops. I can't focus on who's drying me off. I know she's gone, dead. Dad's face is in mine; he's saying something but his words are meaningless noise. As they put a shirt over my head, the edges of my vision go dark. The last thing I see is Mom's face, mouth forming my name, before everything fades to black.

Chapter 14

Cameron

Beep. Beep. Beep.

For one perfect moment, everything feels normal. “Honey, shut off your alarm clock. I want to sleep in,” I mumble without opening my eyes. My arm reaches automatically for Melanie's side of the bed, expecting to find her warm body curled against mine. The empty space jolts me back to reality.

“Cameron?”

Mom's voice. Why is Mom in our bedroom? Then another beep penetrates the fog. What is that?

“Cameron, dear. Can you hear me?” The mechanical beeping continues its relentless rhythm.

---