Page 62 of Rules for Rule Breaking
Eugene opened and closed his mouth. He gawked for several moments before his jaw firmed and he said, “He had that fancy degree—”
“Which told him that the store wasn’t profitable,” said Bobby.
Eugene sucked his teeth. “You really are my brother’s child, aren’t you? He even gave you his name.”
“Bobby is better than Mr. Bae. And you,” Winter said to Eugene. “And me, if we’re being honest. He shows people he cares aboutthem even if they don’t show him the same back.”
“Why don’t you have some water and go to bed, Eugene?” Simone asked gently.
“Don’t patronize me!” Eugene barked. His face contorted in rage, and his grip on the glass tightened until it exploded in his hand. Red leaked down Eugene’s arm, shards of glittering glass embedded in his palm.
Bobby’s stomach churned with a wave of nausea at the sight of blood, but he clamped down on it and forced himself to stand. He stepped in front of Winter, his arms spread wide in a gesture of protection. “I want to get to know you, but if you frighten Winter, I will never speak to you again, and my dad will have been right about you,” he said, his voice steely and unfamiliar.
Eugene opened his mouth and shut it. He was still visibly red and covered in a thin layer of sweat. His face immediately calmed at the sight of Bobby’s and Winter’s fear. A look of shame darted across his face.
“You both go to bed, and I’ll handle this,” Simone said, just loud enough for Bobby to hear.
Bobby’s fists were clenched at his sides, his nails leaving half-moon imprints in his palms. He did an about-face and took Winter up the stairs with him.
“I’m sorry about all this,” Bobby said, standing in the doorway of Winter’s room as she settled on the bed.
“We’re getting out of here as soon as the sun comes up,” she said sternly.
Bobby’s posture became rigid. “We can’t just leave. It would be rude.”
Winter let out a heavy breath. “Can’t you see what he’s doing?” Bobby pressed his lips together. “He’s projecting years of familydrama onto you. Some of it happened before you were even born! You ever heard the saying ‘the sins of the father’?”
“That’s not what’s happening.”
“Yes, it is. You should have heard the spiel Simone went on earlier,” she said, lowering her voice to just above a whisper. “She thinks we’re here to rub it in how well we’re doing compared to them. According to her, every bad thing that’s happened to Eugene is because of your dad.”
“Okay... so what if he wants me to see what my father has done? Don’t I deserve it? My family was awful to him if what he says is true.”
“That wasn’t you, Bobby!” Winter said in a yell-whisper.
Bobby sighed. “Look, Winter,” he said. “I used to think my mom was just this person who chased me around the house with open water bottles, asking if they were mine, and my dad was a dad joke in golf shorts, but they’ve held some really dark things from me. If Uncle Eugene thinks my parents ruined his life, then maybe they did, and so did I by extension.”
“It’s not your responsibility to atone for your parents or to put your family back together.”
“Then why does it feel like it is?”
Winter was silent for several moments, and Bobby let their words breathe for a minute.
“Bobby, can I ask you something? And I want you to be honest with me,” she said.
“I’m always honest with you.”
She paused. “Right. I— Err... Why do you care so much?” she asked, her voice slipping in and out of a whisper. “If I’m being real, I never got the impression that you were in love with Jacqueline. I feel like the way you’ve been mourning your relationship doesn’t match the relationship. Then you try to get her back, and now this?” She gotquiet for a moment. “And... with me. You’ve taken my shit for years, and you could have told me to shut the hell up on day one. You didn’t have to keep up this routine we’ve been perfecting for all these years.”
“It’s the only way you’d talk to me.”
“You see what I mean? I don’t know how you got it into your head that people will love you less if you don’t act exactly how you think they want you to.”
Bobby clenched his fist. “You just... I don’t know. I stand by what I said before. Despite what you heard me say to Jacqueline on the phone, I’ve always wanted to be your friend. I still do.” Bobby grabbed his hair by the roots. “I don’t know why I can’t get it together. I don’t know what I’m doing.”
“You’re trying to be what you think you’re supposed to be,” Winter replied. “What you need to do is what every movie, TV show, and Hallmark card has been advising for basically all time and be yourself. If no one wants to come with you for the ride, then keep looking!”
“But they’re my family.”
