The Party Girl // Zane Hijazi

Chapter 12: Bradley

****RAPE TRIGGER WARNING****

After Bea got changed, my dad called his driver/ security guard to drive us. My father is a very infamous lawyer in Boston, and normally get's the bad guys put in jail, so he needs protection 24/7 basically. There's been more than one occasion where bullets have been shot at him. We sat in the Cadillac SUV, my father in the front, and Bea in the middle of me and Blake. We drove to the outskirts of Boston to the little museum we used to go to when we were little. My dad's phone rang the generic ringtone, and then answered his phone. "Hello?" he asked. "Brad? Calm- Calm down what are you saying?" my dad said. I looked at Blake. We could hear Bradley crying over the phone but we couldn't make out what he was saying."Brad- Brad- It's okay," my dad said. "You're boarding a flight where?" he asked. "Bryn's here in Boston," My dad said, turning around and looking at me. "Hold on here she is,"

My dad handed me his cell phone, "Brad?" I asked. "Bryn, I need to lay low for a while," he sniffed. "Is there any way I can stay at your place?" I looked at Blake. "Yeah- What's up?" I asked. "I'll explain later," he said. "I'll send you the address, and let my roommates know you're staying,"

"Wait, roommates?" he asked.

"Yeah?"

"Jeez," he said. "It's not a five star fucking resort Brad,"

Hey!" my dad said.

"Fine, send the address, but to the phone number I text you on," he said, talking about a burner cellphone. "Alright," I said.

Bradley hung up. "I have to fly back, my roommates will actually murder him," I said, almost immediately texting Zane. "What's even happening?" Blake asked. "Yeah is he okay?" Bea added. "I don't know, he wouldn't tell me," I said, handing my dad back his phone

B: Change of plans, i think i'm flying back sooner than I thought.

"Brad is an idiot," my dad said. "If he would just listen to me and not do work in New York he would be fine," my father, who's originally from Brooklyn, said with a thick accent.

Z: What's going on? I can still pick you up.

"He's always been an idiot," Blake said.

"Have you guys even talked to him in the past month?" I asked. They all shook their head. I rolled my eyes, and texted Zane, and called Josh.

B: I cant really explain. But thank you so much, Zane. Really.

I held the phone to my ear. "Hey Bryn, long time no talk," Josh laughed. "Hey Josh. My brother is in some shit so he's gonna stay with us for a few days, so when he comes just show him to my room. I left the door unlocked,"

"Oh-uh okay," Josh said. "Sorry to just throw this on you guys," I said, rubbing my forehead with finger tips. "No it's okay," he laughed. "Just, don't talk to him. I'm gonna come home early," I said. "No, Bryn- Enjoy your vacation," Josh said. "I'll take care of it," he said. "No, I'm coming home early," I said. He sighed. "I can't force you to stay," he said. "He's a fucking idiot," I said.

"Bryn-" My dad said, scolding me for my foul language. "I'll see you soon," I said as we pulled up to the museum. "What are you so worried about?" Bea asked. "My roommate's aren't the most friendly people,"

Everyone got out of the car, but me and my dad. "Did he tell you what happened?" I asked quietly so Bea and Blake couldn't hear. "Something about the drugs," my dad said. "He didn't explain much,"

"Where the hell is Kassidy?" I asked about his wife, and mother of his 2 year old daughter. "Still in Michigan, I'm assuming," My dad said. "I'm calling he-"

"No you are not," he snatched my phone from my hands. "You gonna break up a family?" he asked, furrowing his eyebrows. I grabbed my phone back.

"He's already doing it," I spat, getting out of the car. My dad followed and we meandered in the museum while I took phone call after phone call, finding a flight that left tonight, so on and so forth.

I found plane that left at 4 pm.

Once the time came to go home, it was about 2 pm.

We came home to my mother, standing in the living room. Our conversation seized when we saw her. "Really? You're letting our daughter skip school?" my mom said to my
dad. "She spilled coffee on her uniform Mare, I wasn't gonna let her get a detention," my dad said. "Well if she took the bus like normal," she said looking at me. "How do you know I took her to school," I glared. "Because Brynlee. It's something you would do," she snapped back. "It was a half day anyways mom I-"
"No, you're grounded. Up to your room, you too Blake," my mon ordered. Bea looked at the three of us. "Mare," my dad reasoned
"Go, now," she said, even more sternly. Blake put his hand on her back and they walked away up to the second floor.
"You make a huge scene a dinner, then encourage Bea to follow in your trashy footsteps," my mother spat. "Mary-" my father said, basically holding her back from me.  "Are you fucking kidding me?" I said. My mother's face was rock solid. "I made a "scene" at dinner because Andrew raped me. Several times. You were too fucking ignorant to listen to me when I tried to tell you," I said, tears slowly rising beneath my eyelids. She didn't look at me. "Are you not listening to me?" I asked. "Bryn-" My father said, trying to get me to stop.

"He would hold me down. Sometimes he'd tie me to the headboard if I wasn't cooperating that day. Then he would hit me, somedays beat me up, and then he would take his time taking advantage of me mom. Several times. And you invited him into our house," I said in a harrowingly cool collected tone. Her color flushed from her face. I got close to her. "Why do you think Blake tried to kill himself?" I asked in a quieter tone. "Maybe because you masked his sexuality like you masked my assault?" She didn't say anything to me. "Typical. I'm going to pack my stuff," I said, wiping away the tears that had escaped my eyelids. My mom and dad stood in their quaint living room, sounding dead. I walked around the corner and  bumped into a stunned Blake and Bea who were eavesdropping. I didn't say anything to them. I walked past the two of them, and went up to my room. I shut the door, and started throwing my clothes back into my suitcase. I grabbed my shampoo and my makeup and threw it in the front pocket messily. I packed in about 5 minutes, and found Bea on her bed with earbuds in. "Can you drive me to the airport?" I asked after she took her earbuds out.
She nodded and got up, asking Blake to come with since she needed an adult to drive with her. We walked down the stairs and heard my parents in my dad's office arguing. A typical day in the Meyers house. Blake walked into the office, and came out with only my dad. He looked stressed. He gave me a huge hug and a kiss on the cheek before sending me off to the airport with Bea and Blake.
We were driving in silence, then Blake said, "How did you know?"
I looked up from my phone. "Know what?" I asked.
"That I'm gay," he asked, with a flushed face. Bea focused on the road.
"I've known since we were little," I said, giving him a soft smile. He smiled and looked down. We got to the airport, they dropped me off with hugs. "Tell Rosa I love her ok?" I asked Bea. She smile with misty eyes. I hugged Blake tightly. "If you ever need to get away call me," I said to the both of them. They drove away and I went inside the airport, checked my bags, and got on the plane back to the city I call my own.