"Is she asleep?" I whisper, my hands don't stop shaking.
I put them between my legs and clamp my mouth shut watching him appear down the stairs. My face is still wet from the tears that kept rolling down my cheeks. This day has been painful.
He nods, gritting his teeth.
Once the explosion happened, Thomas raced downstairs to see what had happened. He entered the street, and in that minute, he shouted for us to call the ambulance. Soon after the medics arrived, I held Ada in my arms as she stayed seated, swaying back and forth.
Not Ben, she kept on whispering under her breath. Please don't let it be Ben.
Finally, she looked into my eyes. "We haven't had enough time, Jade."
I didn't know what to tell her. Unfortunately, it was Ben. His car blew up moments after he had entered it, a child that was playing in the street had also passed away.
Thomas came back upstairs with the heartbreaking news that Ben was dead, and Ada wailed. She cried in my arms, and begged for it to not be real. I heard the pain in her voice, and that rattled my core. Thomas drifted off and slumped into his seat.
We took her home, and were thankful that Karl was away for some chess tournament. Thomas helped his sister upstairs, before coming back down to me.
I stand, "Come on, Thomas, it's nearly two in the morning. Let's get some sleep."
"No." He numbly responds. He drags his feet to the kitchen in their home and opens a few cabinets.
"A-Are you hungry? I can make you something to eat?"
He shakes his head. He finds what he's looking for and examines the bottle. The dark brown whiskey stares back at him. Pulling open the cork, he pours a glass for himself. It's sloppy; and I wonder when Thomas had the chance to get so drunk. Was it while he was upstairs with his sister? My scalp prickles.
"Thomas," I warn him, as the whiskey pours over the glass.
He ignores me.
I move to hold him, hugging him from the behind. He stills. "You must be so tired, please, let's go to bed." I try to subdue him with my soft voice.
He shakes his head.
"Why not?" I whisper, moving to stand beside him.
"Because." He grabs the glass and drowns himself in it. Consuming what was in his glass. He reaches for the bottle and pours himself another. Holy shit...
"Stop it." I reach for the bottle but I am too slow for him.
He looks down at me. "What you doing?" I whisper. "Huh? Your sisters lover is dead and all you want to do is drink?" My bottom lip trembles.
He shakes his head again.
"Talk to me."
"You want me to talk?" He asks in a haze. "Ey?" He grumpily adds.
"Yes." I breathe.
"I'm afraid that if I sleep I'll dream of what I saw when I went down to the street." He walks away and sits on the couch. Thomas looks at me, watching me as I put away the bottle of whiskey.
My heart swells. "What did you see?"
"When I went to see what was going on, his car was on fire-engulfed in flames and there was a dead child on the street." He swallows, slapping his chest like he's proud. "I did that."
"No, you didn't do anything." I walk up to him and get on my knees. "Thomas, honey, you didn't do anything wrong." my eyes search his for something, but he's gone.
"Ada said, whoever I touch dies." He sounds like he's sleep talking or something. So numb and forthright.
"Ada is grieving." I reassure him. "Hey, look at me." I grab his face, my fingers expand over his skin. "Please, don't think like this Tom it's not healthy."
He peels my hands from his face.
"She's right, Jade." He gets up and I get up too. "I'm cursed."
"Tommy." I trail behind him.
"Don't follow me." He instructs.
Like hell I'll listen, so I storm after him. "Thomas, please-"
In one second, he grabs my arm and pushes me against the wall. The air is ripped from my lungs. I gasp, feeling his rough hands hurt me. He leans in, pushing his other arm into the wall. Thomas nears me, he pushes his hand into my shoulder, I wince.
He wrecks of whiskey. "Don't. Follow. Me."
With that, he storms off and breathe. I watch him walk away and even though he said don't follow me, I trail behind him with no shame.
I push him, crying as he walks away. "If you leave! Don't come back!" I sob uncontrollably, my words hurt me. My hand throbs from the pain he inflicted on my shoulder. "I don't want to see you again!" I cry.
The memory of Ben comes to haunt me as Thomas slams the door shut. I collapse on the floor and sob.
