Crash 》Hemmings

Chapter Twenty

"My parents were shot right in front of me," I whispered staring at the ceiling in Luke's room. "We were at this diner getting milkshakes."

Luke was thrilled that I finally told him my name. He gushed to me for about fifteen minutes how unique it was and how much he loved it. I told him my name and it wasn't that bad. I figured I trusted him enough to tell him everything else.

"Mom begged them to let us go and she was shot first. Dad stood up, probably to try and catch mom or grab the guy, and he was shot too."

I said all of this in a monotone voice. It's been a long time since I've said any of this out loud. It felt weird, but Luke holding my hand and rubbing my knuckles made me feel better.

"That left just me and my brother to hold each other and-"

"You have a brother?" Luke asked.

I nodded. "Yeah, his name is Steven. He was fifteen at the time, but he's sixteen now. We just held each other and cried. Once the guys left that's when I lost it. I remember letting go of Steven and throwing myself over both of my parents.

"I don't remember screaming, but Steven said I was. He said I refused to let go of their bodies when the police and rescue squad showed up. They literally had to pry me away.

"We were in the waiting room for what felt like ages. I was still covered in my parents' blood. My aunt, uncle, and cousin showed up. They tried to comfort us, but it wasn't enough."

Luke's arm wrapped tighter around my body. I snuggled closer to him.

"I lost it then. Something inside of me snapped. I told Anna, my cousin, that I needed to leave. So I did. I packed up everything and drove. I drove until I ran out of gas and that's when Michael found me. He brought me out for food and let me stay at his place."

"Where are you from Paxton?" Luke asked. It was weird hearing someone use my name. It's been so long. Part of me wanted to tell Luke to keep calling me Crash, but another part of me liked him calling me by my name.

"New York," I told him. "Born and raised."

He was silent for a moment. I closed my eyes, trying to push away the flashbacks I was having.

"I've always wanted to go to New York. But my family was never rich enough."

"What's your family like?" I blurted out. I told Luke about me and I was curious to know about him.

"They're...interesting, I guess you could say," he said. He shifted underneath me.

"My brother, I don't even know where he is. I told you before, the last I knew he was in jail."

"What'd he do?" I asked. It came out barely above a whisper.

"He killed someone."

I instantly tensed up. All of my organs turned to mush and I had the sudden urge to throw up.

"It wasn't your parents," Luke assured me. "It was a man here in Cali. You see, my brother was racist and still had the mindset that whites were the superior race. I don't even know what this man did, I just know my brother shot him. Right in broad daylight."

"I'm sorry," I mumbled. I didn't know what else to say to that.

Luke shrugged, or attempted to. "It's the past I guess. I haven't seen him in years. I used to go to the jail and visit him. But after awhile I just kinda stopped."

There was another long pause. I bit on my lower lip. So many questions were coursing through my head.

"What about your parents?" I blurted out.