Wicked Little Sins

Ethan

Ethan sat on his suitcase outside his college dorm, stealing a smoke while he waited for his sister and her overly-masculine fiancé. He couldn't stand that guy. Ethan sensed Vince wasn't all he claimed to be and he wanted nothing to do with him. He also didn't understand how a man could be so into dancing. It just seemed odd to him.

He was young and he knew he had a lot to learn about the world, but he needed to find out what was going on with his family. Since he was about seven or so, he'd sensed something wasn't quite right. He'd never spoken of it to anyone, but now with his mom gone, he was more interested than ever to dig into theories.

He enjoyed school, but the studies were mind numbing. They kept him busy and helped tweak his keen sense of the world. He learned so much he sometimes felt like his head was going to explode. But with knowledge came power, or so his professor said.

Having all the girls around him wasn't so bad either. Growing up as the only boy in a family of girls made it difficult to maintain any sense of masculinity. The only girl who'd ever given him a shot was Angelina; the girl who lived down the road his whole life. He had felt her up in the basement several times before school started. His body ached to do all sorts of nasty things to her, but fear took over and he chickened out every time. Going to college had changed everything. It gave him a boost of confidence. His newfound confidence, coupled with alcohol, had made him a real ladies man, and he never ran out of girls to bed. Even that, though, was sometimes too easy.

So far, that was his life in a nutshell. Now he was just waiting for Everly, so they could all go back home to bid adieu to Mom.

Ethan stood up as the car with Vince and his sister approached and came to a slow stop in front of him. Everly stepped out into the fresh air to hug him. Ethan knew she was happy to see him by how tightly she hugged him, but he sensed something else as well. Out of all of his sisters, she was the one with the most depth, and she was far away.

"Glad to see you kid," she said. She gave a forced smile, opening up the door and gesturing him in. He avoided making eye contact with Vince, and he jumped in the back seat. Vince was instantly gratified to brush him off like he usually did. One day he thought, the kid would get the hint, if he hadn't already.

"Talk to Dad?" Ethan asked, cracking the window to light up a cigarette. His new habit was more entertaining than needed. It gave him something to do with his hands. Everly let out a groan of disgust at his new pastime, but didn't utter a word to him. Studying his reflection in the window, it occurred to him that he looked nothing like his siblings. He was tall and thin with an olive complexion and dark eyes. He had his mom's dimples, but that was the only similarity he saw. He sometimes felt as if he'd been the product of an illicit love affair, but proving such a thing would be difficult. His charming smile—the one all the girls gushed about—came from his mom as well.

Mom wasn't very tolerant of Ethan's ways. He never discussed his feelings with her and had been the typical angry teenager. In short, he was everything she wasn't. He knew she loved him, but he wasn't so sure she understood him. Her time and effort had been focused mainly on her three daughters. Sometimes he would call her when he was drunk and lonely. He would miss those times the most—the simple times he didn't care, but when it meant so much to her.

"I talked to him yesterday. He sounded very tired," she said.

"Charley called me about a million times," Ethan said, letting out a laugh. Vince turned his head slightly in reaction but didn't look back at him.

"Charley wants everything to go well. You know how she is. How is school?" Everly's tone was flat and without emotion. As the car moved, she would move—no resistance from her at all—like a ball rolling around with every bump or movement as they sped down the highway.

"School is good. Grades are good, too. How is singing?" he asked, cracking his window enough to chuck his cigarette. She was probably taking it the worst, he thought to himself, as he waited for her to respond.

"Amazing," she spit out, pulling herself away from Vince and closer to her side of the car. This trip home was going to be something else, Ethan thought to himself.