One Last Time (COMPLETED)

The High Road

There was a cold, heavy knot in the pit of my stomach as I watched my parents expressions. My mother shot off the couch halfway through the video, the second Darren grabbed Maya by the back of the neck and slammed her into the door frame, she rushed into the kitchen. My father sat beside me, poker face unwavering as he watched his son brutally murder his daughter. I paused the video before Nixon entered the shot and looked to Parker and Tanner across the room. Tanner was sitting at the kitchen table, watching us intently while he rocked Mickey in her carseat with his foot. Parker was at the end of the table, Max in his arms, but his eyes were glued to my father, as if he were watching for even a slight shift in his expression.

Finally, my father tore his eyes from the still shot of Maya's still body on her bedroom floor and looked to me. "I want you to delete this video."

"What?" Tanner, Parker, and I asked at once, the boys earning a dark look from my father.

"Your brother he. . . you need to dispose of this video, Mia."

I instantly shut my laptop before he could reach out and snatch it from my grip. Clutching it against me, I stared at my father, wanting desperately to take him by the shoulders and ask him what the hell he was saying. But I understood then, with every second that passed, that this is what my mother had been so defensive about. She had never been worried about my father, her defensiveness hadn't been in fear of what he'd do to her if she were to utter a word about it.

My mother had been protecting Darren.

"Delete the video, Mia. Now." Dad repeated, an edge to his voice this time. I stood, but he grasped my wrist so hard I gasped.

"I suggest you let go of her." Tanner threatened from the dining room, but Parker looked about as ready to jump and step between my father and me as his best friend.

My father, being the asshole he was, dropped my hand and turned his irritation to Tanner. "Why are you even here? You're not welcome in this house."

"Why's that?" Tanner prompted, urging my father to say it. Parker met my eyes across the room and nodded, eyes encouraging me to join them in the kitchen. But the second I made the move toward the kitchen, my dad caught my elbow and Tanner nudged the carseat closer to Parker and crossed the room to me. "I told you to let her go."

"And I think it's about time you get out of my house." he looked to Parker. "Both of you. I'd like to speak to my daughter alone."

Tanner snickered. "That's not happening."

"Excuse me?" Dad snapped, straightening so he was eye level with Tanner. "Do I need to call the police have them remove you forcefully?"

"Go ahead." Tanner shrugged a shoulder. "As long as my girlfriend is in here, I will be too. In case you forgot, your son is still walking around out there and could come in here at any second. Hell, he could be hiding out in his room."

Dad's head whipped in my direction, horror lining every inch of his face. "Girlfriend?"

I took his current shocked state to shake his hand off and walk around the coffee table to stand beside Tanner. "I'm going to the police station. I just. . . I thought it'd be best if you guys saw and heard first hand. But I guess you already knew."

"Mia, please. Think about what you're doing." Dad tried, making a gesture toward the hallway. "This is your brother. Your flesh and blood. He . . . he had a moment and as unfortunate as—"

"Had a moment?" I cried. "Dad he killed Maya! He killed my sister!"

Dad opened his mouth, ready to jump to my brother's defense once more, but it wasn't his voice that filled the quiet room.