Page 17 of Forgive Me Father

Shameful but amusing, urging her to lie in the presence of a priest.

He’s got balls.

"I can answer that," I smile, Aiden's hands already shaking.

"No need, Father Briar. Thank you for bringing her home-"

"She drove your boy and his friends to a lookout spot at their request. It would seem Aiden and his companions wanted to get high. Then they left Eden up there in the middle of a rainstorm. I went to explore the area after you’d mentioned it during our conversation after Mass. Imagine my surprise when I found your daughter staggering down the muddy road soaking wet, with no phone and no car."

Looking toward the driveway, I see her muddied Kia.

"I’d struggle to get home too if my brother allowed his friends to steal my car and go on a joy ride."

Snapping his mouth shut, David looks at his daughter, his eyes wide.

"Is that true, Eden?" She nods slowly, and Aiden begins to shift his weight nervously from one foot to the other. Morgan’s hand goes over her mouth to hide the shock.

David inhales a sharp breath, touching his belt. I watch as both Aiden and Eden flinch. Anger boils the blood beneath my skin at what I see, imagining the very limited list of things that could illicit such a response from them. My nails dig into my palmsthrough clenched fists as I do my best to stay focused on the current situation.

David turns to Aiden, his hand moving swiftly, the sound of the slap sharp and jarring as it makes contact with skin. The boy stumbles back into the house from the doorway. As he steadies himself, he turns back to face us, spitting blood onto the porch. His bottom lip is split open, and a red mark is starting to form on his cheek.

A part of me is gratified seeing Aiden punished, making it harder to control the smile that threatens to make its way across my face.

"Morgan, take Eden inside and get her cleaned up. Her bother will be in to apologize to her once we’re done talking," David hisses. "Father Briar?" He questions. "Do you have time for an at-home confession?"

Glancing at the porch furniture, I eye two chairs.

"Absolutely."

Aiden makes his way over to the chairs I'd spotted earlier, crossing his arms over his chest as he slumps his body down into the cushion. His eyes are red and puffy, his jaw taut with irritation. I sit down next to him, aware that David lingers just inside and is probably watching and listening.

"Listen, I didn't do anything, it was all Zack's idea-"

The need to strangle him with my bare hands flares to life. The thought of him gasping for air excites me more than it should. Something primal influencing my desire for retribution.

"Tell me, why do you hate your sister so much?"

I saw the look on her face in the headlights of my car.

Aiden allowed his friends to hurt her.

He dared them to.

"I don't hate my sister," Aiden says, shifting uncomfortably in the seat. "I don't hate Eden."

"Then why allow your friends to do what they did? Why participate in a bet like that at all?"

The little prick narrows his eyes at me and scoffs.

"She wasn't wearing that flannel when we left her, Father. You saw the cuts, too. You and I both know how the Church feels about the act of self-harm. It goes against the fundamental belief in the sanctity and dignity of human life. She should be ashamed of herself.”

"And allowing your sister to be harmed by others is any better?"

Aiden goes still, his lips pressed thinly together. The look on his face tells me he’s lost to some memory. I can’t help but think of David and the way Aiden and Eden had flinched as he reached for his belt.

"What sins do you wish to unburden yourself of tonight?"

"I don't expect you to understand me or my family. The way they treat Eden now, the way they resent her, was how I lived my whole life before she went to college. She was their golden child. A true child of the Lord. So you can look at me like that, pretending like you haven't already judged me, but I promiseyou, what I did to Eden was light work in comparison to what my punishments were growing up," He whispers, purposefully keeping his voice down. "I don’t resent my sister for what she’s done to herself. I resent her for coming home and throwing me back into Hell, which is exactly what this situation is. Sure, they act like I’m their new favorite, but that doesn't mean the punishments go away. Every time she’s around, it only gets worse. And wanna know the best part? She has no fucking idea how bad it gets because he always left her alone."