Flames in the Family Tree

Part 7- Drew/Lucy POV

~~~~~~Drew~~~~~~

A few boring work weeks after lunch with my siblings, I had a knock on my door. It was the kind of desperate, angry knock where they quickly and repeatedly banged their fists. All I wanted to do after that lunch was get to know my little brother and little sister more, or else just lie in bed processing everything. But instead I kept serving tables and serenading the downtown streets, living on tips either way. So it was weird in these normal weeks to get a knock on my door in the late afternoon if it wasn't Lucy or any of my musical friends from downtown.
         I didn't open the door, but rather peeked through the peephole to see Lily and Darien. They were afraid as ever standing in front of none other than "Mom" and "Dad." I'll bet they found out about that lunch date that the kids didn't tell them about, sure enough then finding out that they know about us. Oh crap. No way I'm opening this door without Lucy here. So, I backed away from the door, pulled my phone out of my pocket, and gave her a call. She immediately picked up. "Hey Drew, what's up?"
          "Hey Luc, I need you here as soon as possible."
          "What? What's going on?"
          "Lily and Darien and our mom and dad are at my door right now. Mom and Dad look angry, and the kids look so scared."
          "I'll bet 'mom' and 'dad' found out that the kids know about us now. Oh God, I'm getting my shoes on right now and coming over there. Open the door and tell them all I'm on my way!" she exclaimed. "I'll be there as quick as I can."
          I let out a sigh of slight relief. "Thanks, sis, see you soon."
          "You too, bye," then she hung up. That little relief went away as soon as I opened the door. "Mom" stomped up to the door, pushing Lily and Darien inside. I welcomed the kids inside, gently grabbing their hands with a "get behind me" look on my face.
          "You all have some serious explaining to do!" yelled Mom. Or should I call her by her name, Louise?
          "Hey there," bellowed Dad, or... RICHARD. "I see you've found out."
          "I found out weeks ago," I told him. "You managed to hide Lily and Darien from us all those times when James and Pam took us in."
          "It was your fault for being a difficult kid," said Louise. "I don't regret anything, you should regret everything."
          What resulted from that was a huge stare-down, an awkward silence. Then I broke it with, "No, you should. Lucy will be here any minute now, and she's got some words for you too."
          Then the incomprehensible yelling from Louise and Richard began, and I could only try but fail at sounding mature. I lost my shit on them. "Look, Louise," I jumped in, "you were so afraid of people finding out of your crimes that you went to ridiculous lengths to make sure we didn't know you had other kids that you isolated us from. You made me try to kill myself when I was twenty-six!" But after some hesitation, I looked back at a shocked Lily and Darien, realizing that I had broken their hearts with those last few words. That's when Lily pushed past me to stand them down.
          "That story you told us about the other set of twins, Mom and Dad," said Lily, "that was real the entire time. You told it like it was fake, so Darien and I thought it was fake. Only for us at nineteen to find out it was all real and that you're actually terrible fucking people!"
          "I'm so proud of you, sis," I thought to myself.

~~~~~~Lucy~~~~~~

Soon enough, I pulled into the driveway to see my family on the front porch. I walked out of the car to very angry yet incomprehensible screaming from Louise and Richard. All whilst Drew stood in front of our little brother and sister, keeping them safe. That's where I stepped in, proudly walking up the porch stairs to stand with them. I completely ignored Louise and Richard.
          "Are you fucking stupid?" Drew exclaimed at our "parents" just as I greeted the kids to have their back. "That police officer should have arrested you in the first place- that's why you taught us to be afraid of them! I'm more afraid of them for doing nothing to protect us!" Now that is exactly what I couldn't put into words.
          Lily turned to me, sighing relief that I was there. "I've been preparing for this moment," she whispered to me. "Watch this." She put her best foot forward in front of us all and spoke her monologue:
          "You put all four of us kids through absolute hell! Did you ever think to yourselves and consider how it made us feel once in a while, even if tearing us down made you feel better about your pathetic selves!? You should have put us kids first and not fucking abandon them in the woods when they are nine years old just because you thought they were misbehaved and being too loud in the car! Because when they acted like that, that's probably a sign that they had a need which you didn't bother to meet. I know that because Darien and I were the same way when you didn't listen to us when we needed support. YOUR support. That's why I trust my friends more than you! That's why I now stay held up in my bedroom when I'm not at work. And if you think I'll ever regret talking shit about you on the Internet, I won't. I knew all these years that I was in the right. I knew this whole time that your jokes about the last set of twins," she put finger-quotes around "jokes," "were extremely fucked up. That whole time they didn't sit right with me, and I'm so glad I trusted my gut. And boy am I relieved to know the truth."
          Wow. She did that. That's breaking out of your shell if I ever saw it. Lily was breathing heavily and on the verge of tears again, exhausted from saying everything she had ever wanted to say to our parents. Our parents then knew what it was like to be silenced, after being the ones to do the silencing. "Oh my god!" yelled Louise. "I can't believe you."