Stepbrother Dearest

Chapter 18

One simple sentence, and any small progress I'd made this weekend in trying to forget him went down the tubes. My hand was shaking as I pondered a response.

He wanted me to read the autobiography he was working on. Why now? Of all the things he could have said, this was the last thing I expected.

The thought of finding out everything I'd always wondered about was absolutely exciting and terrifying all at once—mostly terrifying. Even though I was certain there were parts that would upset me, I already knew what my reply to him would be. How could I have said no?

I would love to read it.

Elec: I know this is out of left field, especially after how we left things.

His response had been immediate as if he were waiting for my answer.

Greta: I certainly wasn't expecting this.

Elec: I don't trust anyone else to read it. I need it to be you.

Greta: How will you send it to me?

Elec: I can email it to you tonight.

Tonight? I knew then and there that I'd definitely be calling out of work tomorrow. There was no way I would be able to stop reading once I started. What was I getting myself into?

Greta: Okay.

Elec: It's not finished, but it's pretty long.

Greta: I'll check my email in a bit for it.

Elec: Thank you.

Greta: You're welcome.

I poured the rest of the bottle into my glass and couldn't inhale the night air deeply enough. The smell of the neighbor's previously appetizing barbecue was now making me sick.

I climbed off the balcony and into my bedroom through the window. Opening my laptop, I anxiously typed in my email password too fast, having to try it several times before it went through correctly.

There in bold right at the top was a new email from Elec O'Rourke. The subject simply was My Book. There was no message in the body of the email, just a Word document attached. I immediately converted it to another format so that I could read it on my kindle.

I knew that this story was going to devastate me. There were going to be revelations that would explain Randy and Elec's behavior toward each other.

What I wasn't expecting was to be completely gutted by the very first sentence.

***

Prologue: The Apple Doesn't Fall Far

I am my brother's bastard child.

Confused yet?

Imagine how I felt when that bomb was dropped on me.

From the time I was fourteen, though, that revelation has defined me.

My miserable childhood would have made a hell of a lot more sense if I had become privy to that minor detail sooner.

The secret was never supposed to come out. The plan was to have me believe that the man who degraded me for as long as I could comprehend words was my father.

When he left my mother for another woman, Mami would eventually have a nervous breakdown and spill the truth one night about how I actually came to be. Once she'd divulged all of the sickening details, I couldn't figure out who was worse: the man I always believed was my father or the sperm donor I never had a chance to meet.