Icing on the Cake

~28~

I sat down. I really did not want to do this. I felt more uncomfortable than I had in a while. It felt like there were needles pressing into my emotions.

“Are you mad at me?” Jack asked.

“Kind of.” I said back.

“Why?” Ben asked.

I looked straight at Jack. “You could’ve done something. You just stood there. I was so helpless and you knew that. But you still did nothing. You just…did nothing. I felt like you were icing me out like Mom was.”

“But I did do something.” Jack said. “I called Ben. I knew he would take you in.”

“Oh, yeah, you called your brother to let him know about the most dramatic thing to happen to our family in years, kudos.” I said sarcastically.

Jack didn’t say anything at first. Then he muttered “Sorry.”

“I’m upset because I thought you were turning your back on me too.” I said. “I thought us Millennials in the house would be progressive enough to know that I’m not some kind of abomination or man who should be stoned.”

“What was he supposed to do?” Ben asked. “Get himself get kicked out too? If they were willing to kick out the sixteen-year-old then they sure as hell would’ve kicked out the eighteen-year-old, Luke.”

“They didn’t do that anyway for talking to the enemy?” I asked.

“I’m not the enemy!” Jack low-key snapped. “I’m not the one who’s not okay with this, okay they are! They’re the one putting us, all of us, in this situation! I hate them for getting upset over this! This is stupid! How could they possibly think this is something worth tearing the family apart and disowning you for?”

There was a moment of silence. “Welcome to what I’ve been dealing with, Jack.”

“Jack is staying here with us, too.” Ben said. “He doesn’t want to be around Mom and Dad.”

“Okay.” I said, not knowing what else to say.

“And I think we need to confront them.” Jack said. “Tell them what they’re doing is wrong.”

Notes