“I have a better idea. What do you think about sharing your car with her?”
I dropped my wrench. “What?”
“Yeah, share it with her. It might be good for you to be forced to interact. After the fourth of July you’ll be siblings.”
“I’m not sharing my car with her,” I shouted.
“I helped to pay for it, so it’s part mine,” Dad reminded me.
“You can’t do this to me.”
“It’s not so bad. Hey, you used to like her. Since your little girlfriend dumped you, you’ve been miserable. It’s been months and you don’t even hang out with your friends. At least this way you’ll have some social interaction.” Dad had no idea why I wasn’t hanging around with my friends. It was because of the pit viper we had living at home. There was no point in trying to tell him. Brielle had him wrapped around her little pinkie.
“Dad, I’m begging you, please don’t make me do this. The car, it’s all I have. I can’t even drive it on my own yet!” Dad had allowed me to drive with him while I worked on my permit. “She’ll fuck it up.”
“Language. Bri won’t mess up your car. This way you two will learn to be responsible and you’ll both have to take care of it. It will take the burden of insurance off just you and put it on her too. Gas isn’t free, either.”
“Dad, please. I’ll work here for free. I’ll pay you back what you put into the car. I’m just begging you.”
“My mind’s made up. I’ll give Brielle half the car for her birthday.” The subject was closed. I was beyond furious. I stormed out of the shop and took a little time to clear my head. This was just another thing she had taken away from me. She’d taken all of my friends, my sanity, my father, and now my car. My car. The one I’d spent months on. Yeah, he had put in some money, but I assumed it was mine.
Now the rug was pulled out from under me. If I had kept quiet, if I hadn’t piped up with the brilliant, “Tell her no,” I might still have my car.
“What’s up your ass?” a voice called as I stomped through the parking lot, and I glanced to my left and saw Kirby rolling down the sidewalk on a skateboard.
“Oh, so you talk to me now?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Kirby stopped and picked up his skateboard. He walked to me in the middle of the lot. “How you been?”
“Like shit. My best fucking friend dropped me.”
Kirby had the grace to blush. “I put a ho before my bro. I’m sorry.” He held out his hand and I ignored him. I was still pissed off.
“You haven’t talked to me in months.”
“I know.”
“What, did you and Mindy break up?” Kirby hung his head and I snorted. “You did, didn’t you? So you come crawling back.”
“Nah, I’ve been thinking about it for a while. Brielle stopped wearing that bracelet a couple days later. She just did it to get a rise out of Gabby. I should’ve believed you. I’m sorry. I didn’t know how to talk to you. I knew you were pissed.”
“Yeah. That’s putting it mildly.”
“So, what’s up your ass?”
“My dad is forcing me to share my car with Brielle.”
“What? Why?”
“It’ll teach us responsibility, he says.” I rolled my eyes. “It’s just another thing she’s taking from me. I can’t wait until I’m eighteen and I can blow this place.”
“Carter!” My dad yelled at me from the door of the garage and I sighed.
“I have to go back to work. Talk later?”
“Definitely, man.” Kirby held out his fist for me to pound. It was good to have my best friend back.
“What?” I yelled back sullenly as I entered the shop.
“Don’t ‘what’ me, boy. Get back to work. I’m not paying you to socialize.”
“Wait, a minute ago you were bitching because I haven’t talked to people in forever.”
“Watch your mouth.” He pointed at me, like he warned me to behave. I didn’t care.
“Yeah.”
Chapter Eight
“Happy Birthday, Brielle!” everyone cried but me. I wasn’t wishing her a damn thing. My father had given her my car before the party started, and it was all she could talk about.
“I’m going to get to drive my baby brother to school!”
I leaned against the brick wall of the house and crossed my arms while I plotted my revenge. I debated on shoving her beautiful face into her pink frosted cake. Or even tripping her and watching her fall off her sky-high heels to the ground. But I didn’t.
Kirby nudged me. “You look like you want to murder her.”
“The thought has crossed my mind.”
“Hey, I know it sucks you have to share the car, but you will be out of here soon enough. Just a couple more years.”
“Of torture.”
Brielle flitted from group to group, chattering and being utterly adorable. I knew what was underneath that cutesy mask though. It was evil. She came to me last.
“Hi, baby brother.”
“I’m not your brother,” I growled and she grinned wider.
“Thanks for the car.”
“It wasn’t my fucking idea.”
“You mean you don’t want to be alone with me in a car?”
“I don’t want to be around you at all, period. I hate you.”
Hurt clouded her eyes for a split second but she seemed to brush it off. “You don’t hate me, Carter. You love me. You and I both know it. Hi, Kirbikins!” she waggled her fingers and backed away, a huge grin on her lips.
“So, maybe we could both kill her,” Kirby hissed and I laughed.
“Nah, she’ll get hers one day.”
The party sucked. It sucked even more when she drove off with her girlfriends in my fucking car. Yeah, she’d just gotten her license, and I wasn’t invited. I stormed up to my room and threw myself across the bed. I didn’t want to be around anyone. My father followed me up and he let himself in. I rolled my eyes but didn’t say anything. I knew there was no point. I had no privacy.
“Carter.” His tone made my skin crawl. It was the “I’m disappointed in the way you’re acting” tone.
“That’s my name, don’t wear it out,” I snapped, rolling over and sitting up on the edge of my bed.
“Why do you resist Brielle’s attempts at making you family? Is it because of your mom? You’ve never called her.”
“Wh-what?” I spluttered. “She doesn’t want to make us a family. She’s been torturing me for months.”
“Because you like her. Right, I get that. But you have to get over that.” Dad settled down beside me. “We’re going to be a family, Carter. Is all of this angst because you aren’t talking to your mom? Lisa’s trying…”
“No. No! That’s not what this is about. Why would I talk to the woman who walked away from me? Who doesn’t bother paying child support for her child? She has nothing to do with this. I’m pissed about the car and how everyone automatically takes Brielle’s side.” I pushed off the edge of the bed and stalked back and forth. “Everyone thinks she’s so perfect.”
“No one’s perfect, Carter.”
“But you people believe she is. She’s not. She’s an evil bitch.”
“That’s a little harsh to say about your new sister.”
“She’s not my sister.”
“She will be after the fourth of July.”
“She won’t be my sister then. She’ll be my stepsister, and only because you two are getting married. Sister implies family. It implies trust. And I don’t trust her as far as I can throw her, Dad.”
“Son, I know things are changing around here…”
“Dad, you don’t know anything. But you wouldn’t believe me if I told you. Can I just be alone, please?”
“Sure, son. I’ll see you at the shop tomorrow.” He stood and placed his hand on my shoulder, squeezing it gently. “I love you.”
“Love you too,” I replied gruffly, angry tears filling my eyes. I was too old to be crying. I was too grown up
to cry. When he left my room, I flopped back on my bed and turned on my music. It drowned out everything I felt.
A knock came at my door a while later and Brielle peeked in. “Can we talk?”
“Could we not?”
She stepped into my room and closed the door. “It’s my birthday.”
“So what? Do you want a cookie?”
“You’re being mean.” She stuck out her bottom lip and pouted.
“You took my car.”
“I didn’t take your car. Dad just let me own half of it.”
I sat up and glared at her. “Don’t call him Dad.”
“Why not?” She padded across the floor and sat down on the edge of my bed. “Does it bother you?” Her eyes twinkled with laughter and I wanted to strangle her, or kiss her. I wasn’t sure which.
“You know it does.”
“Where’s my present?”
She was truly delusional if she thought I had gotten her a present after she had stolen my car. “I didn’t get you one.”
“Oh.”
“Why would I get someone I hate a birthday present?”
She clasped her hands in her lap and shrugged pitifully. “Do you really hate me, Carter?”
“Sometimes. Most of the time.”
“But not all of the time?”
“When you’re not a psycho raging bitch, you’re all right, I guess.”
“I can’t believe they’re getting married next week,” Brielle sighed softly. “I miss my dad.”
She was honest and open with me and I was immediately on guard. “You do?”
“We don’t talk much anymore. Not that we really talked before he screwed his secretary.”
“Him leaving your mom really messed you up, didn’t it?” I asked, and immediately I knew I’d stepped over her invisible line of privacy. She withdrew.
“I’m not messed up.”
“Of course not.”
“You don’t know anything about me,” she whispered fiercely. “Nothing. So don’t pretend you do.”
“Sure,” I nodded. But I did know her. I knew that she was messed up because her dad didn’t want to talk to her. He had remarried and had a brand new baby. He never called Brielle anymore and even though we all lived in the same small town, he never came to see her. She looked for love and acceptance from everyone to try and fill the void. I had watched some daytime talk shows and figured all this out. I wasn’t a psychiatrist. Just making an educated-by-TV guess.
“When they leave for their honeymoon, I’m planning on us having a real party.”
“Whoa, Dad explicitly said no parties.”
“Come on, Carter, we’re only kids once. Let’s throw a great party. You can’t say no. I’m already telling people.”
“God dammit,” I groaned.
“It will be fun! You could use some fun.” She slid off my bed and stretched. “Well I’m off to bed. If you’re good, I’ll give you a ride in the car tomorrow.”
“Go to hell!” I yelled as she closed my door. She giggled and I rolled my eyes. It was my damn car. She was not going to be driving me around. I’d rather walk everywhere for the rest of my life.
It was my father’s wedding day. We were doing it in the backyard, it was small and simple, just family and friends. Thankfully that meant no tuxedo. I was still uncomfortable in my khaki shorts and button down blue shirt. It was hotter than hell outside. Dad worked the grill, getting meat going for the party after the vows were spoken. The scent of smoke and meat juice wafted up to my bedroom and tickled my nose.
I checked the time again. I would be needed soon. I stood in as my father’s best man and Brielle was her mother’s maid of honor. That forced us to walk together down the aisle. I’d have to touch her and pretend she was my sister. I couldn’t pretend she was my sister. Even as much as I despised her, I wanted her more. But life wasn’t giving me that option. From this day forward, she was my sister and I had to start treating her that way.
Blowing out a breath, I left my room and took the stairs two at a time.
“Carter, wait!” The bane of my existence called and I ignored her. “Carter!” she called again, her breath coming fast as she raced down the stairs after me.
“What!” I snapped, turning on the bottom step. She ran right into me and we fell to the floor. My arms instinctively came around her and my face was buried in her tits as she collapsed on top of me. “Ow,” I mumbled from my warm, soft pillow. “My head hurts.”
“Let me up, Carter,” she hissed, struggling slightly.
“Hmm?” I murmured. I was slightly delusional. I must’ve hit my head harder than I thought. She pulled away from me and frowned as she straightened her bodice.
“You did that on purpose!”
“No, I didn’t expect you to be racing down the stairs after me.” I sat up slowly, rubbing the goose egg forming on the back of my head. “Shit, it hurts.”
“Are you okay?” She knelt beside me and gently touched my cheek. “You fell pretty hard.”
“But I made sure you were okay,” I garbled out.
Her eyes softened for a moment. “You always have.” She stood and offered her hand, all business once again. “Come on, baby brother, let’s get some peas on your head.”
I took her hand and she hauled me to standing before pushing me into the kitchen. She was hard with me again, but I knew that I’d seen her soften, just slightly. She wasn’t completely heartless. I slid down into a kitchen chair and I winced as she slapped a cold bag of peas on the back of my head.
I finally got a good look at her. She was beautiful. Afternoon sunlight filtered in through the window and lit her curls and the little blue sundress she wore fit her body like a glove. “You’re beautiful,” I whispered, and she pursed her lips.
“Get it together, Carter.”
“No, I mean it.”
“And I mean you need to get it together. You can’t do this.”
“Sure I can. You’re beautiful, Brielle, I don’t care what anyone else says,” I slurred.
“Christ, maybe you should go to the hospital…” She probed the back of my head and I groaned and buried my head into her boobs again. They were soft. I wanted to sleep.
“Don’t go to sleep, do you hear me?” She shook me roughly and my eyes opened a fraction of an inch.
“Sleep sounds good,” I whispered, wrapping my arms around her waist and pulling her closer. “C’mere and lay with me. You’re so beautiful, Brielle…”
“Carter, you have to wake up. You can’t go to sleep! Mooooom!” I heard her yell, and that was the last thing I remembered.
I woke up in the hospital. I had a concussion. Dad sat at my bedside, looking down at a magazine. “What happened?”
“Brielle said you fell down the stairs and she rescued you. I’ve told you not to take the stairs two at a time. You’ve got a concussion.”
“Shit,” I groaned, rubbing my aching temple. “Why are you here?”
“Last I checked you were my son, so I’m here to make sure you’re okay.”
“You’re supposed to be getting married.”
“Yeah, it can wait until we get back home. The doc said when you came around they’d discharge you. So you know, kid, you were completely incoherent and I may have video taped some of it to torture you with later. You were talking about breasts. ‘Big round, soft boobs, like mountains of whipped cream,’ if I remember correctly.” He grinned and shook his head. “What the hell were you thinking about?”
I blushed hot. “Obviously, boobs.”
“Good to know when my boy gets knocked out he’s still thinking about tits. Chip off the old block, like I always say.”
The doctor discharged us about half an hour later and I was silent the whole ride home. I had put my face in her boobs. She had for once, attempted to take care of me. She wasn’t completely heartless. Only part of the way.
Chapter Nine
“I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride.” I sat in a lawn
chair behind my father as he kissed Lisa. I was still too wobbly to stand up for my dad at his wedding, but I did my best to be present.
Brielle had a shimmer of tears in her eyes, just barely visible in the low light of the tiki torches. People cheered when they kissed, and I smiled for them. My dad was happy, Lisa was nice, and we were a family. A party flowed around me; I nibbled at a burger but really I wanted solitude. Standing slowly, I slipped away and hid in my room. Music filtered up from the backyard and I lay flat on my back in bed. I didn’t bother to turn on a light.
I dozed intermittently through the night. Dad came in to check on me before he and Lisa left for the weekend. “Are you okay, kiddo? Are you sure you can be here alone?”
“Yeah, if I fall down the stairs again, Brielle could drive me to the hospital in our car,” I yawned.
“Atta boy. I’ll see you Sunday. Be good. We’re only a phone call away.”
“I know. We’ll be fine.”
“See you Sunday.”
I rolled over and went back to sleep. My head still hurt and I didn’t want to think anymore. The next morning I was woken up by a soft tickling sensation on the bottom of my foot. I kicked at the offending sensation and I heard a giggle.
“Wakey wakey!”
I groaned and rolled to my back. “What?”
“Whoa, you have serious morning wood,” Brielle snickered, pointing at my protruding pajama bottoms.
“Why are you in here?” I grumbled, grabbing a pillow and shoving it over my dick.
“We need to get ready for the party,” she said matter of factly, like I was some stupid little child.
“I am not going to your party. I’ll stay here in my room, thanks.”
“No way! You have to help me! I got a couple of kegs.”
“How did you get kegs?”
“I had a couple of college boys buy them for me. I just had to persuade them.” She grinned and licked her lips.
I grimaced. “Really?”
“It’s no big deal, really. I don’t mind.”
“You are better than that, Bri.”
Evil Stepsister Page 5
