Page 43 of Rival
As he looks us over, he turns to his dad and rudely asks, “What?”
“I’m sure they’re here to ask about the girl.” His father’s insensitive referral to my sister has me inhaling sharply and I feel a swirl of rage swell inside of me. It hadn’t hit me yet, all of us too dumbstruck from shock that Julia is dead.
My sister is fucking dead, and Clayborn was the reason she was out last night.
He snorts, and my fury inches higher, only held back my mom’s tightening fingers. “I wasn’t there.”
“Please,” mom croaks out. “We’re just trying to understand what happened at the party and why she was walking home.” Then, she glances over at Clayborn’s dad with tears falling in steady drips. “We didn’t even know she’d snuck out until we got the call from the police. Her best friend mentioned she met your son at some field party. It’s all we know.”
My dad is vibrating, but tight-lipped as he, along with me, stare down the man in question. He’s barely able to keep his feet underneath him as he slumps against the wall to stay upright. Shrugging, he waves us off like he couldn’t care what we’re all going through.
“Boy!” his father snaps and Clayborn just glares at him.
Through gritted teeth, my dad finally speaks for the first time since we walked inside. “Cops are gonna be asking you questions anyway, so you might as well open your mouth and get to your story tellin’. Why the hell was my daughter with you last night and WHY was she left alone? She was only fifteen!”
That brings Clayborn out of his drunken haze, and I swear to God, this piece of shit actually smiles. Then his eyes fall on me and I’ve never seen someone so thrilled to burst the bubble we had of the fourth person who made up our tight-knit family.
“Your SISTER was lookin’ to party with us older boys. She’d been hangin’ all over me for weeks at school and I finally gave in and told her if she wanted to hook up, she could come find me.” His eyes graze over my mom, then fall on my dad. “She was in, so I picked her up at the end of your drive. Ya’ll should’ve kept a tighter leash on her.”
I take a step forward, a feral sound escaping my throat, but my dad stops me.
“Jesus, boy,” Clayborn’s father grumbles, grabbing his collar to keep him upright, then half-ass apologizes. “Sorry, he’s not quite himself this mornin’.”
Shoving his hand away, Clayborn gets pissed, that disgusting smile falling away. “I’m just fine, and if the cops wanna ask me questions, the most I’ll get in trouble for is drinkin’ underage. That girl showed up, then decided to play fuckin’ mind games. Talked a big talk until it came time to pay up. I wasn’t gonna waste my time with her, and I told her to get lost.”
“You didn’t even think to drive her home? You’re the one who brought her there!” I shout, unable to hold back any longer. The veins in my neck are bulging, throbbing harder and harder the long I wait for his answer.
“She should’ve put out.” He pauses before snickering and adds, “She probably should’ve looked before crossin’ the road, too.”
I fucking lunge for him, our bodies colliding as I take him to the ground hard. Our fathers aren’t fast enough to stop the first four or five punches I nail him with, and I’m screaming in rage, much louder than my mom’s cries for me to stop. Or maybe she’s crying because of how heartless this monster is.
With every connection my knuckles make with his face, a piece of me dies knowing it won’t change a thing. It won’t bring Julia back to us. But fuck if it doesn’t make me feel like I’m doing something.
My dad falls to his knees next to me and I find his face through my tears I didn’t realize were falling. “Jax…” he pleads, and I choke out an agonized cry.
Fisting Clayborn’s stained, unwashed shirt, I yank him up, so we’re nose to nose. “You ought to fucking rot for being such a miserable, worthless piece of human garbage. If I could kill you right now, I would.” Then I drop him, pleased with the sound of his head cracking against the floor.
Following my parents out the door, I take one last parting shot. “You best look both ways before you cross the road fromnow on, Clay. Wouldn’t want the same thing to happen to you, would we?”
Pulling myself out of my head, I feel my lip curling up in a snarl as he stops in the middle of the walk and taps the new pack of smokes against his palm, then pops one in his mouth. Patting his pants, he pulls out a lighter and just as it’s lit, he sucks on the butt hard and lifts his head.
Our eyes meet for a long moment, neither of us wanting to be the first to break the connection. Eventually, he smirks, then keeps moving toward the road. With a glance back to ensure I’m watching, he exaggeratedly looks both ways multiple times before crossing the road.
My skin is clammy long after he takes off in his van. I feel like I can’t catch my breath and the ache of missing my sister festers. Sometimes I’ll go a period of time where when I think of Julia, it’s only warm memories from time spent together as a family, but when I catch sight of the man responsible for sending a drunk, fifteen-year-old girl out on her own in the middle of the night, I want to destroy something.
I’m supposed to spend the morning on site of one of our jobs, then head to supervise the barn build, but I can’t. I can’t be around people right now. I can’t be around anyone but my parents.
Hurrying to my truck, I jump behind the wheel and send a few texts out to my guys letting them know plans have changed, then pause over Edith’s name with my thumb.
Finally, I tap on it and type out a quick message.
Just wanted to give you a head’s up. I won’t be on site today.
She responds almost immediately, but for the first time, it doesn’t make me smile. It’s not her fault, but I just can’t feelanything right now. My whole body is numb. Wiping away the sweat building on my brow from my anxiety, I read her response.
I just got a call from Mrs. Danielson that they’re canceling for the day anyway. Did you maybe want to do some more horse lessons? Unless you couldn’t come today because you’ll be busy elsewhere.
Tempting, but not today.
