Club None

XII.

"Did you get my last message?"

Duane crouched over Ellie, not touching.

"I told you I was coming to California."

"I have a restraining order," she said. Her voice shook. "I suggest you get the hell out of here."

"It's a state order, isn't it? You're supposed to stay in the state, aren't you? No permission to leave and still you hike all the way out here. Why, Elle? For the music?"

Her step-brother spread his empty hands.

Alice and Rowan undressed in the living room, watching. Baited breath, horror-struck. Neither knew what they wished. For the betrayal to strike deep, strike true? For their little family of step-siblings to congregate back to normalcy?

Neither options seemed feasible. And they knew. They knew.

Ellie stared at them. "He said he was going to kill you. Did he tell you that? Aren't you going to make good on your promises? Aren't you?"

"Not all my promises." Duane touched her cheek. "How do you think I knew you were in California?"

"You tracked me."

"Wrong. Your step-sisters are a fount of information, you know that? Blood does run thicker than water."

Rowan dropped her high heel on the ground. The spiked point split through the plastic floor, sending water puddling inside, but she stepped over it. "I wasn't going to tell him anything, Ellie. He's a jerk."

The familiar vein in Duane's cheek pulsed navy. He coughed. "Bitch."

"But," Rowan continued, "we found out you weren't quite telling the truth, either..."

"What did I lie about? What?"

Alice shook rainwater from her hair. Red lipstick stained her teeth as she spoke. "The baby, dearest. You said the baby was his."

"It was his." Ellie's voice dropped to a whisper. "His fault."

Duane grabbed hold of her collarbone. "You little slut. It was after Frederick, wasn't it?"

White-blonde hair. Milk-water skin. Birthmark on his clavicle. Desperation.

"He was your friend," she continued. "I knew..."

He was even closer now, eyes boring into hers. Hands gripping her jaw, breath coffee-sour, he said: "You didn't know jack."

"I knew what you wanted." she pulled back. Silverware rolled in empty drawers above her head. "I knew."

Terror, vivid and striking. Memories – waiting to Duane to get back from work. Curled in her window seat watching Texas lightning, as fierce and white-hot as this California lightning. Alice and Rowan chattering on the telephone down the hall.

"I knew," she said, "what you wanted, and I knew you were coming, and – I wanted it to be my own choice. My own choice. I wasn't going to let you take that from me, I wanted to give it away, to someone on my own terms and I bumped into Frederick on the sidewalk and he said yes and we –" hands bruising her thighs. Dirt-streaked windows. "We defied you."

Ellie arched her neck, popping the back of her head on shuddering wooden doors. "I defied you," she said, "and Indigo isn't yours."

Over Duane's shoulder, Alice and Rowan became stock-still. Carefully, fingers white and faces stained outline in the dim light, they nudged each other. Whispers slithered through the silence.

Her step-brother pulled his hand away from her face. "I know." just as quick, just as cruel, he gripped her neck. "You deceiving little slut, you lied to me, you lied, you tricked me into losing my job, you lied, and I went to take my penance back from you and even then you couldn't let me win." his nails left upraised crimson veins on her skin. "This time, Elle, I'm going to."