Lies

Chapter 21:

"Dad lied to us our whole life?" Someone shouted. I couldn't tell who; everyone sounded the same right then.

"This is our brother?" Another shouted.

"Have you comforted dad about this?" One of my siblings asked. I looked over at them and let go of Lee's hand.

"No. I wanted to talk to you guys first." I answered, trying to answer all of their questions at once. They seemed to have moved closer to us, studying Lee with an intense curiosity. He looked back at them with the same curiosity but with a better understanding of who they were.

Luna's face had gone white again despite the heat. Beckham looked outraged. Nia's face matched the color of milk; a lighter shade of white and was clutching her stomach as if the baby was ready to come out. Jared seemed to only be concerned for his wife who was not taking on the right color at the moment. Hendrix was shaking his head as if he still didn't even believe what he heard or what he was seeing. Apollo's head was cocked to the right as if Lee was some species that he had never seen. I had had enough of it.

I walked in front of Lee and blocked him from the sight of my siblings. They groaned in frustration before going to sit down. While walking, they seemed to calm down by the looks of them but the agitation of the recent news was still present among their shoulders.

"We need to come up with a plan of what to do." I said, breaking the silence that had followed since they had sat down. Luna looked up at me, her hair falling in front of her face.

"I think that's a great idea. No matter how much we love dad, we need to figure out what to do." Beckham stated from his chair. His head was down, looking at some miraculous spot on the floor. His neck was strained and I watched as he cracked it, the sound of it making me shiver.

"But dad is going to hate us." Nia said, looking up at me. She took off her red flannel and set it in her lap, beside her stomach. Her belly was now pronounced in a gray, tight shirt that showed that she had been sweating.

"It doesn't matter. We can't not do anything when we know what he is doing. It's illegal." Apollo put in, again messing up his gelled hair. It now was standing up on one side, the other side staying flat on his head as if it was being squished.

"Does mom know?" Hendrix asked, averting his gaze over to me. Everyone turned in my direction, their eyes looking into my own. I clasped my hands out in front of me, feeling the rough fabric of my shirt on the back of my hands.

"I don't know. She never hinted that she knew. I don't think she would have anyways." I replied.

"This is going to kill your mom if she doesn't know. First, he cheats. Sorry, Lee. It's an example." Luna said, taking her husbands hand in her own. Lee shook his head as if it didn't affect him. "Then, he steals someone's money. Then, he starts his own business. All the while lying to everyone about what he really was doing."

"True and mom has a lot on her plate right now anyways with her cancer. She doesn't need anything else to worry about." Apollo said.

I encouraged Lee to come sit with us and he did, sitting on the ground next to the chair I was sitting in. His body leaned up against the chair and he must not have noticed that his suit jacket had been unbuttoned. He was looking straight ahead at whatever was directly in front of him, most likely the fireplace, all the while listening to the conversation.

"This is just going to crush her. It hurts so much thinking about right now." Nia said, getting nods from all of us.

I hadn't really thought much about my mother in this whole thing but now that we were, it awakened me in a whole different ideal. My mother would be devastated if she didn't know what her husband was doing or more importantly if she did then she was as guilty as he was. It stung, not knowing the outcome that could decide it all. Having one parent in jail at their age was enough, two was almost too hard to handle. I felt tears blind my eyes and thought about how sweet my mother had always been. She always hugged me when I was a child, kept my father from doing something that he would regret later on, kept the house in check and she never seemed to run out of kindness or love. It was in her nature to do so. To be loving, kind and strong, no matter the circumstances. But would this all change the way she was?