Chapter 16: The Brawn and the Scary

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Minutes after lunch was over, Mr

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Minutes after lunch was over, Mr. Sanchez came downstairs and saw the children clearing the dishes in the sink.

Orange-scented soap suds danced across the ivory surface; timid eyes gaze at the large sink as Johnny let the water rinse the suds down the drain.

They haven't spoken a word to Mr. Sanchez since the intense fight at the dinner table, and it was all his fault. The old man had no right to torment Caleb's inescapable grief.

His wife-though nurturing and kind- had given the children no comfort. Instead, she would support her husband's verbal abuse handed them paper towels, and pretended the fight between Caleb and her husband never existed.

"Now, would you three want anything else?" Mrs. Sanchez asked in an earnest tone.

"I have some old board games we can play. Oh, I even have that movie An American Tale -"

"Hermione." Mr. Sanchez cuts her off in a swift motion. "No one wants to watch a movie night now."

His wife's gullible smile vanished. "Why?"

Mr. Sanchez examines the children's sudden expressions. "Because right after they are finished, these kids are going home."

"What?" Nessa squeaked. "Look, we know that you are grieving, but you don't have to throw us out."

Irritated, Mrs. Sanchez tells her that Caleb was abusing his welcome.

"No, he wasn't." Nessa frowned. "He was telling the truth. You even have a black eye, for Pete's sake-"

"Nessa," Johnny angrily glares at his defiant little sister, who didn't seem to care what anyone thinks.

Despite being proud of her, Johnny didn't want any trouble. The last thing he needs is for Mr. Sanchez calls the police. Yet still, the boy felt angry Mr. Sanchez verbally torments Caleb, while his wife did nothing.

No wonder Enrique hated them. thought Johnny. He plops the ice cream bowl in the dishwasher and shakes his head. They were too self-centered to give him the love he deserves.

A questionable Brooke tilts her head at the mute Mrs. Sanchez then back to her husband who's sneering lips infuriated her.

"That's funny," she says without any humor in her voice.

"You were the one who poured salt on Caleb's wounds when he was trying to understand who killed your son."

Storming towards the selfish couple, Brooke confronts them head-on.

"Caleb had no one in his life," she growled.

"His parents abandoned him, he had no financial support, and yet you two are treating him like trash? If you were in his shoes, what would you do? Would you sleep in a trash can?"

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