Stepbrothers

Chapter 9

  Zaccc: Hey Evan... It's Rue. Zac says he's sorry for-

I didn't finish it. He couldn't even text me himself. I deleted the text and threw my phone on the nightstand. I tried to not think and just relax my mind. The only thing that relaxed was my eyes. Because tears were flowing freely into my blanket.

I couldn't sleep nor I wanted to get out of bed. But I heard the door slam shut after a while and I knew it was Liam. So dinner was to follow in few, and mom will be calling my name which would rattle the walls of the house.

Which is exactly what happened after 20 minutes. I took a quick shower and put on Pjs and went down. I heard mom rustling in the kitchen but it was Liam's voice which caught my attention. I was 2 steps from the living room.

"This isn't over yet." Liam shouted. Mom wasn't in there so he must've been on the phone. His voice was raging with anger. I didn't know Liam's composed self could be so mad.

"They can barely take care of themselves not to mention a teenager"

He paused for a while.

"I will not have this... It is not an option you can't choose...... Are you even aware of what are you saying.... You're getting on my last nerve and it's not gonna end up well for either of us...." I wasn't on the other end of the line and was scared as hell.

How did Isaac have the guts to argue with Liam while he's in full rage like that?

One thing I deduced. Isaac is a lot more scary than I thought.

"I'd go there and drag you here myself if I had to."

I wanted to know what was being said on the other end so badly.

I paced to the kitchen to find mom walking back and forth. She didn't even see me there.

"Is that Isaac on the phone with Liam?

"Yes. Since ever he came back and he was so mad and I thought the vein on his temple was going to burst" mom looked really worried. I didn't know if she felt guilty too and I didn't wanna ask her. I was better off not knowing.

"Should we start dinner without him orrrr??" she gave me a look. It means 'Are you fucking serious right now and thinking about nothing else but food?'. I was hungry.
"I mean I can wait" how long would it be? Five? Ten minutes?

Thirty. It was thirty minutes. We had moved to the dining room in the mean time and the table was set.

Liam sat at the head and mom was next to him and I was in front of her. You could cut the tension with a knife. A plastic knife.

The only thing heard was the sounds of utensils hitting the plates.

I sneaked glances at Liam. He didn't look mad or upset or anything. But he was focused on the tabletop design like it was a Picasso masterpiece. Mom looked like she wanted to talk but didn't know what to say. And I was eating corn kernels from my plate one by one.

"He'll come around" mom squeezed out. Liam immediately turned to her like he's been waiting her to talk for years. She took his hand and squeezed it a little bit. "He just needs time to accept the idea"

"Do you really think so?" Liam begged.

"I know so. I get cases from parents like that all the time." uh oh she was going to tell a story about psychiatry.

I toned her out and snatched out my phone from my pocket. It was a blank screen.

Liam's fist hitting the table jerked me up. "But he's sick, Linda" Liam cried. "He's sick. What if something bad happens to him and I can't be there for him." he was starting to have actual tears in his eyes. It was a really tough thing to watch someone as sturdy as Liam breakdown. "I can't lose him too"