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ed by it. Because he believed--he knew--that despite his brother’s history,
the one thing that Oliver would never forget was him.
And now his mother had probably made promises. To Oliver. If anything ha
ppened to David, Oliver would blame her. That’s why she was doing this.
But why had she started it at all? That’s what David didn’t understand. Why
lie to his father, when she could have locked him in the basement and allo
w life to go on as normal? And then he remembered Frank. David had made Fra
nk curious that night, so much so, that Frank had actually shown up at the
house. David had been ready to tell his secrets, and his mother had heard.
She’d been threatened, and she must have known that a change was in order i
f she wanted to see Oliver stay with her, because really, like David, Olive
r was the only one of them that she really cared about.
“You’re planning to leave Dad,” David realized aloud. “You know about th
ose other women...”
The rocking suddenly stopped, and Mary’s head turned as she looked down at
him... and she smiled.
“Oh, I’ve always known about them. And really, David, it’s pointless to care a
bout little indiscretions like that.”
“Then why... why now?” It was impossible to count how many times he’d wishe
d for this conversation to happen when he was a little boy. Before it had a
ll shattered in front of his face, it had been his greatest fantasy, for hi
s mother do decide that she loved him as much as Oliver... for her to take
them both away. But now, it was wrong. That wasn’t what was happening. And
he had to ask. “You knew... you knew I never hurt Oliver. But you let Dad t
hink... why are you doing this now?”
“Because he’s going to destroy everything!” she suddenly snapped, dropping
his head. The back of his skull hit the concrete, his previous injury throb
bing in pain as he reached for it, groaning while she continued to yell. “A
nd you! You just couldn’t keep quiet! I’m doing you a favor, David! What do
you think he’d do to you if you started talking? Your father’s made enough
mistakes with this family... with you. I know about what he’s made you do.
I see what you’ve become, and I won’t let it continue because sooner or la
ter, it’ll be Oliver...”
“If you knew, why didn’t you stop it?” David demanded, scooting back again
st the wall to keep his aching head out of the water. “Is it so no one wou
ld know the truth about what happened to Oliver? So no one would know it w
as you?”
Mary gasped as if struck, her eyes grew sharp, and when the palm of her han
d collided with the side of David’s face the slap echoed around them before
all went silent except for Mary Martin’s heavy breathing.
“I would never hurt my baby,” she stated.
“But you did,” David whispered, an awkward little smile curling one corner
of his mouth. It seemed important somehow, to hurt her right now. “I reme
mber it... we were outside on the deck, and you picked him up...”
“Shut up!” Mary snapped. “You shut up, boy!”
“And you held him up in the air. Do you remember the way he was crying, yo
u bitch? It was because he wanted you to put him down... and then you drop
ped him. Tell me something, Mama, was that when you found out Dad was chea
ting... ‘cause, I know you always said it was a family trip to Grandma’s,
you wanted to see her before she keeled over, right? But the thing is... I
don’t remember Dad being there at all.” Mary took in a deep breath as her
shaking fingers quickly worked to wipe away a few stray tears, and a stra
nge little moan rose up in her throat, but still, David didn’t stop. “Was
I supposed to be next?” he whispered. “Why didn’t you drop me, too? Was it
because you saw Oliver was still alive? Huh? You couldn’t do it then, cou
ld you? So you told him it was me...”
“He wasn’t supposed to hate you for it,” she said quietly. “You were just a
baby.”
“But he did, and you played along... until you weren’t playing anymore. Wh
y?”
“Because after a while, David, I really did hate you. You have no idea what
your father had put me through, and when he thought you hurt your brother...
it was all you. He hated you. So I did, too... It was easier that way, don’
t you see? I couldn’t love you. What mother would love something that hurt h
er little boy?”
“Something?” David hissed. “Wasn’t I your boy, too?”
“You stopped being that a long time ago... But David, we can make this rig
ht now. We have a chance.”
“How? You want me to help you leave the monster before he gets to Oliver,
too?”
“You know he will... and that Seaberg boy, your father’s been lookin’ at him
and Oliver lately like he thinks something’s funny... He’s been getting bor
ed with you, David... and listen to me, now that he thinks you’re gone he’s
been getting to Oliver... The things he says to him--he can’t take it, David
, not like you could.” [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]