The Prospect

THE PROSPECT: CHAPTER TWO

Chapter Two

Six Years Ago...

Tricia

I walked down the street away from school with my little brother Rob a few steps behind me with his friends. Jenna walked in step beside me, her hands tucked into the straps of her backpack, relieving some of its weight off her shoulders.

"Damn, I swear, this bag gets heavier every fucking day."

"Jenna," I scolded her with a quick glance back at my brother. "Shhh."

She rolled her eyes. "He's fourteen. Pretty sure he's heard the f-bomb before."

Behind us, Rob laughed and said, "Tricia, you've got to lighten up."

Lighten up. That wasn't so easy these days.

We turned the corner to the street we lived on and my blood turned icy. I halted in my tracks and Rob nearly slammed into me from behind.

"What the crap, Tricia!" he said and Jenna grabbed my hand giving it a squeeze.

I spun, grabbing my wallet out of my backpack and gave Rob the last of my allowance. "Could you grab me a Coke from O'Reilly's?" I asked, my mouth going dry. I tried to give him a smile, but it came out shaky. "Get yourself something fun, too. A candy bar or whatever."

Rob gave me a weird look, then peeked over my shoulder down the street. Comprehension tightened his soft features and his eyes grew watery. "I'm not a baby anymore," he said, ducking his chin and secretly wiping at his leaky eyes.

My chest hurt at the sight. "I know," I whispered. "This will just be easier if it's just me and Jenna. I'll wait here for you."

He gave one more glance over my shoulder before nodding and tapping his friend, Brian's shoulder. They went running off in the other direction and around to the corner store.

"Tricia!" Sam shouted.

His voice had a lazy drawl to it I didn't quite recognize. Like his tongue was too big for his mouth. I took a deep breath and Jenna gave my hand another squeeze before we spun around.

Sam stumbled in our direction with Kiddo just a step behind him. They were smoking something, passing it back and forth between them. God, I hoped it was just pot.

Tears burned my eyes as a shell of who my brother once was approached us. His clothes were filthy and he smelled.

Smelled bad.

I didn't know that I'd ever smelled anything so foul in my life.

His dark hair was greasy and dull and his eyes dilated. Sores covered the skin that I could see and even though he'd always been a thin guy, it looked like he'd lost at least ten pounds.

"Sam," I managed to say, my voice raspy. "What... what happened to you."

He lost his balance, his feet tripping over each other and he caught himself against the street lamp, laughing like his stumble was the most hilarious thing in the world.

"Me?" he said. "I fucking lost my job at the hardware store."

"Smelling like that?" Jenna said. "No shit you lost your job."

His lip curled at Jenna before he turned back to me. "I just need a few bucks, Trish. Just to get some dinner. Life's been a shitstorm ever since mom and dad kicked me out."

I swallowed hard, remembering that night last year. I had listened intently, my ear pressed to my bedroom door, hearing the fight break out between Sam and Mom and Dad.