Page 10 of This for That (The Edge of Retaliation 1)
Max was not.
“You good here?” Ethan asks.
“It’s okay,” I say to Ethan. “I can deal with him. Thanks for the run. Wait, scratch that. The run was awful. But thanks for checking up on me.”
He stares at Max for a long moment, then nods and tells me he’ll be back tomorrow for another run. Then he jogs off down the street as if we didn’t just finish doing that. Damn him for being so good at it.
I turn back and glance at Max, then murmur, “I have nothing to say to you, Max. You can leave.”
“Callie, come on,” he calls as I walk past him and walk into the apartment building entrance.
I spin around, frustrated. “What exactly is it you want from me? To be happy you’re here? Oh finally, the siblings are back together again? No. You didn’t come and see me for nearly two years. Do you have any idea what that did to me? Any at all?”
“I didn’t have a choice. If you’ll just hear me out . . .”
I shake my head, frustrated. Does he even care what I went through? Probably not. I mean, who the hell does? I’m old news, right? “I don’t want to hear anything you have to say.”
“Mom was sick.”
I stop, clenching my eyes closed. Dammit, I can’t stand the woman, but he knows he’s caught my attention. He knows I’m not a heartless bitch.
I turn around slowly to face my brother. “What do you mean she was sick?”
“She got diagnosed with breast cancer. She’s okay now, but it was a really rough time. We had to go to a different city for the doctor she insisted on seeing. I didn’t tell you because I knew you were already dealing with enough.”
“Look,” I say, keeping my voice steady. “I get all of that, but the fact is, you left me and all I got were stupid letters occasionally. You could have called. You could have done anything, anything at all except leave me feeling like I didn’t have a single person left in this world. A letter did nothing. A letter didn’t help. It made me feel even more alone.”
He closes his eyes and exhales. “I know, but honestly, Mom was beside herself, and all my time and attention was on trying to stop her having some sort of breakdown. I should have told you, I know that . . .I should have done more than letters . . .”
“You’re right; you should have. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m done listening to you.”
“Callie . . .”
I step inside and slam the door. Then I press my back up against it and exhale.
He knows. He knows what I went through.
His excuses mean nothing to me. He could have been there if he truly wanted to be.
This just proves what I’ve known for many years now. You can only ever rely on yourself. Everyone else will let you down.
Guaranteed.
5
THEN – CALLIE
“Your trial date has been set a week from now,” my lawyer tells my mother and me as we sit at a huge table made of wood, just like they do in the movies.
All this space but nobody to fill it.
“What are her chances of getting out of this?” my mother asks, opening her purse to pull out a tissue.
She’s still bringing the drama forth.
“If I’m being honest, I don’t think we’re going to get off all that lightly. There is no evidence to support Callie’s claims that Celia stepped in front of the car. Her family is saying she wasn’t depressed and wasn’t suffering in any sort of way. Nobody else saw it. I may be able to drop the charges against driving underage, but as for the manslaughter charge? I’ll do my best, of course, to get Callie out of this.”
I stare numbly at the table.
The last month of my life has been constant talk about what’s coming next. Lawyers and media. The family of Celia on the news, saying they’ll get justice for their daughter. It has been a never-ending hell. I cried so much I couldn’t cry anymore. Now I’m just numb. Beneath the numb, though, I’m terrified. I’m so scared of what’s to come. So scared of where I’m going to end up.
Involuntary manslaughter is the charge they’re trying to get me on, instead of murder.
Murder.
As if I meant to kill her.
My friends, well, Joanne, said of course I didn’t mean to hit the girl. She told the same story I told—that we were looking for the can. Only none of them actually saw her step out. So, as far as the law is concerned, I wasn’t watching where I was going, and she was crossing the road. I hit her. They’re so incredibly wrong, but my words, no matter how many times I say them, mean little to anyone.
