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DON’T EVER SPEAK TO ME AGAIN

Hugh

MAY 1, 2000

I WAS IN THE TWILIGHT ZONE .

I had to be.

It was the only explanation for this crazy fucking day.

One minute I had convinced myself that I could see the creepy woman from the woods lurking behind a headstone a few rows back from where I was standing, and the next, Lizzie had accused Mark Allen of killing her sister.

The moment those words came out of her mouth, all hell broke loose.

Momentarily stunned into silence, all I could do was watch on, while the worst kind of accusations were thrown about.

“He did it, I swear,” Lizzie was screaming and pointing at Mark on one side of the graveside. “He made her go in the river. He hurt her. He made her die!”

“Dad, I don’t know what she’s talking about,” Mark protested from the other side. “I never laid a hand on Caoimhe!”

“Why are you doing this?” Keith strangled out, looking horrified. “Why are you saying these things about my son?”

“Stop telling lies, Lizzie,” Sadhbh screamed, while my mother grabbed her shoulders and gave her a stern look before ordering her to calm down .

Meanwhile, Gibsie was crying so hard, he could hardly breathe, Claire rushing to his side to comfort him.

“You’re a liar,” Lizzie screamed at the top of her lungs as she tugged and pulled on her hair. “I saw you! I know what he did, Dad.” She swung her gaze back to her father. “He’s a monster. Caoimhe said so! He does bad things. With his thing.” She swung her glare back to Mark and screamed, “I saw you take her clothes off and make her do that!”

“Do what?” Mike demanded, grabbing his daughter’s shoulders. “What did he make her do?”

“He put his thing inside,” Lizzie sobbed, clinging to her father, while her mother slumped in the chair, clutching her arm and struggling to breathe. “He wasn’t supposed to.”

“His thing? His penis?” Mike demanded, shaking Lizzie. “Elizabeth, are you telling me that he raped your sister?”

“He made her die, Daddy.” Crying hard and ugly, Lizzie nodded. “I know he did. You have to believe me.”

“She’s a fucking liar,” Mark roared, pointing his finger right back at her. “She’s insane, Dad. Yeah, I had sex with Caoimhe, but she was my girlfriend.” He shook his head and glared at Mike. “Your daughter’s a fucking lunatic, and you need to get her sectioned!”

“Did you rape my daughter?” Mike demanded, body vibrating with anger. “Did you force yourself on my daughter?”

“No!” Mark bellowed, looking outraged. “I never once forced your daughter into anything she didn’t want to do!”

“Then why is my daughter in the ground, Mark?” Mike roared back at him. “Why is my other daughter blaming you?”

“Because she’s a fucking nutjob, that’s why!” Mark tossed back cruelly, still pointing at Liz. “And you ruined Caoimhe’s life the day you decided to bring that vicious little bitch into—”

“Hey!” I roared, jumping into the mix. “Don’t even think about calling her names, you fucking asshole!”

“Hugh!” My father grabbed the back of my jacket and yanked me away from the fray. “That’s enough.”

Meanwhile, my mother rushed to tend to Catherine, who was slumped over on the chair.

“She’s fucking nuts, Hugh,” Mark continued to roar, turning his attention to me. “Even you know that.”

“What I know is you’re a sanctimonious bully who lies through his teeth,” I roared back. “And if you call her crazy one more time, I’m going to show you the true meaning of the word.”

“Hugh!” I felt my father place his hand on my shoulder and I roughly shrugged him off. He could fuck right off. I didn’t need his support. I didn’t need a damn thing from him.

“Tell them, please tell them,” Lizzie cried out, staggering toward Gibsie of all people. “You know.” She dropped to her knees in front of him and grabbed his hands. “I know you know, Gibs. I helped you. I did. I helped you, and now you have to help me .”

“I…” Looking deathly pale, Gibsie shook his head. “I can’t .”

“Yes, you can!” Lizzie screamed, banging her fist on his chest. “You know! You do, you do!”

I moved to go to Liz, but my dad dragged me back, and this time, he wouldn’t let go.

“Leave my son out of your lies,” Sadhbh screamed, grabbing ahold of her son and dragging him away from both Lizzie and my sister. “Don’t you dare try to fill his head with your poison, you wicked, evil, little girl.”

“Don’t cry.” Dropping to her knees, Claire threw her arms around Lizzie and hugged her tight. “Shh, please stop screaming.”

I didn’t think Liz could stop.

The feral screams escaping her were the result of seven days of grief, pain, and anger finally bursting to the surface.

“What’s going on here?” a Garda demanded, while three more arrived on the scene, along with the paramedics. The grown-ups immediately jumped into action, fighting and arguing to have the first word.

“I thought you were my friend,” Lizzie cried, looking more broken in this moment than I’d ever seen her as she stared at Gibsie, who was standing with his family. “You’re supposed to be my friend .”

“I am your friend.” Gibsie was crying as his mother ushered him back to where Mark and Keith were standing. “I am, Liz, I promise.”

“Then tell them what you told my sister,” she begged, still on her hands and knees while my sister held her. “Tell them he killed my sister!”

“He can’t because I didn’t do anything to your sister!” Mark roared, clamping a hand down on Gibsie’s shoulder. “I’m innocent and my brother knows that. Don’t you, Gibs?”

“I don’t know what you want me to say,” Gibsie sobbed, crying as hard as Lizzie now. “I’m sorry, Liz, I wasn’t there.”

Lizzie released one more gut-wrenching sob before looking Gibs right in the eyes and saying, “Don’t ever speak to me again.”

It was at that exact moment I came to the sudden realization that nothing would ever be the same.