three of a kind.

11.

August 13, 1989

i hadn't heard from the boys since we came home from our trip yesterday evening. assuming they were just exhausted i didn't bother to call because i figured i would wake them. i looked at the clock on my night stand, which read an even 2:00 p.m.. my eyelids were starting to be heavy as the day dragged on, i had barely slept on the trip in fear that someone's father would snap. i didn't know which one, mine or the boys, but there was a hanging sense of dread the whole weekend despite the brief moments of estacy.

ring, ring, ring. the handset of my phone began to ring off the wall. i quickly pulled it from it's hook and leaned into the speaker.

"hello-?"

"i need to come over now rose." it was the voice of erik, who sounded distraught and angry all at the same time.

"what's going on er-"

"just unlock the door." he cut me off mid sentence and the line cut off before i could respond.

i was taken aback by his actions, but i become overwhelmed with a sinking feeling that something was terribly wrong. i ran around the spiral staircase as fast as i could, unbolting the front door. erik menendez pushed through it moments later and began pacing back and forth in my living room, running his hands through his thick curls.

"erik-"

"ju-just shut up for a second." he held his finger in the air, telling me to wait, "i need to think.."

he stopped at the sofa, plopping down harshly. i reluctantly took a seat next to him, rubbing his back in an attempt to calm him down, but it was useless.

"dad isn't letting me live on campus at ucla... dad figured out that lyle knows everything that's been going on and he's furious, i don't know what to do it's like this is never going to stop happening no matter how much i run from it i can't get out." erik babbled in a complete panic, starting to sweat and breathe in heaves.

jose did hear us.

"erik, it's okay we will figure it out," i assured him, "i promise."

"rose, i think they're going to kill us."

my heart stopped.

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erik and i had a worry some conversation about the events of what had happened at their home early this morning. we tried to wrap our brains around any solution or logical alternatives to the problem, but we found none. i had called lyle to come over too, desperate for any second opinions on what to do.

"i told dad i was leaving, but i didn't for a few minutes," lyle began to tell his side of the story, "and i stood outside of the den and i listened to what he and mom were saying.. and he thinks that i'm going to go tell everyone what he's done. he wants to get rid of us."

panic swelled up through my body, this couldn't be happening. the years of hiding our abuse from each other and keeping it under wraps, everything our parents told us would happen if we told someone was finally starting to unravel in front of my eyes, and it was happening to my best friends. i had it easier,  being a female that just happened to come into some luck. my father was no big status like people thought, he wasn't even a reputable man. i knew in that moment that if we just decided to go to the police, they would likely believe my story; but lyle and erik wouldn't be so lucky. jose menendez had friends in high places and had painted this american dream family for himself, sexual abuse on men is wholly disregarded by the public, no one would believe them. we were truly stuck.

"if jose gets any ideas, he'll get my father in on it too." i said, adding fuel to the fire of the mass panic between us.

that set a different approach in the boys, and they were given an idea. a very ignorant and terrible idea, but we went with it. we're young, and desperate. desperate to escape, desperate to live.

everything erik and i had planned on for 5 years, was gone. the sinking feeling had then hit us, all of our dreams, all of our ambitions to leave home were gone. just as i felt tears threatening my eyes, the phone rang.

"hello?" i said.

"are my boys at your house." kitty asked, but it didn't seem like a question.

"yes ma'am. here erik, it's for you."

erik shook in nervousness as he took the handset from me, leaning into the speaker, "mom?..y-yes, okay, okay! i-m, we're coming home now." he stuttered, cutting the call as he quickly gathered his things and started for the door.

"what is going on?" i called frantically.

"i'll talk to you later rose i don't have time!"

lyle lightly pinched my arm and whispered a soft "i love you." before he followed his brother out the door.

i ran to my bathroom and fell on the tile floor, crying as loud as i could. i screamed as the room spun, this was a dream. it had to be. my eyes caught the bottle of oxycotin the hospital gave me for my injuries, out in plain sight. i grabbed onto it, twisting the childproof lid off and taking out half the bottle's worth of pills.

"i'm a damn mess without you.."

erik's solemn voice echoed through my mind. i couldn't. i could never leave those boys. damn it to hell.