Page 111 of Soul So Dark

He grabs her thighs and pins them back, driving into her hard and fast. “You like that, fucking whore?” he growls through clenched teeth.

I wasn’t drunk enough to vomit from the alcohol, but this might do the trick.

Deciding that I don’t actually want to bear witness to this, I turn to retreat back down the hall when another noise draws my attention.

“Come inside me!” the girl gasps in a whisper.

I freeze, mid-step, and my stomach drops.

Slowly, I turn back around and step out from the dark hallway. As my eyes adjust to the dark, I recognize the familiar wisps of bright blonde hair brushing back and forth over the sofa and the distinctive shade of radioactive peach nail polish on her toes as her feet bounce through the air. All I can taste is acid in my mouth while I listen to their muted noises assault my eardrums. And then everything starts to make sense.

Jordy’s never been on birth control and Luca doesn’t give a shit about it either way because I just saw his bare dick go inside her. She doesn’t care who the father is, as long as their last name is Barrera.

I glance at the China cabinet to my right and reach across the hutch to grab the neck of whatever bottle is closest. I reel back and hurl the handle of rum at the wall above the sofa, detonating it with a resounding crash and spraying liquor and shards of glass everywhere.

Jordy lets out a scream and Luca stumbles off the sofa, whipping around to see where the bottle came from. As soon as he sees me, he casts me a hateful glare before stalking over to the stone fireplace and grabbing the poker from the hearth. Keeping one eye on his hand, I start backing up, staying light on my feet. Luca’s slightly bigger, but I’m faster, and I’m hoping whatever drugs he may or may not have in his system will give me the upper hand. As soon as I see his shoulder twitch, I duck and go straight for his torso as the poker misses me and punches through the wall.

Jordy’s screams ricochet across the vaulted ceiling as I slam into Luca and knock him off his feet. We’re a cyclone of destruction, punctuated by grunts and curses as we thrash across the floor, beating and clawing at each other. But one wrong move and he catches my arm, flipping me onto my stomach. I’m pinned under his entire weight, and a few seconds later, I feel something around my neck.

The jingle of the buckle against my back is unmistakable.

Luca jerks my head off the floor, his fist at the back of my neck as he squeezes the belt tighter. I can’t breathe, and the more I thrash and try to grab for him, the more he digs the strap into my flesh. I can feel my pulse throbbing in my skull as my vision starts to blur. Tears sting my eyes as I strain to push off the floor, my muscles burning before I’m slammed back down each time.

I wish my dad was here…and my mom…

But I’m not ready to see them again. Not yet.

Suddenly, air rushes into my lungs as the belt goes slack and the weight suddenly lifts off my back. I roll over, gasping for breath, just in time to see Adrian throw Luca onto the sofa and come down on top of him. Adrian grabs the front of his shirt, reels back, and lands three blows to the side of Luca’s face.

Tossing his hair out of his eyes, Adrian steps back, leaving Luca groaning in pain as he searches the room for me.

He rushes over and hoists me to my feet. “Talk to me!” he barks, grabbing my face to examine me. “What the hell is going on?”

I open my mouth, blinking rapidly and trying to get my bearings, but I don’t get a word out before I hear a click behind Adrian. He glances over his shoulder and then slowly turns around, coming face to face with the barrel of a gun.

Everything stops, and there’s only silence as both of us stare at Luca, holding a 9mm to Adrian’s forehead. He squares his shoulders, nudging me further behind him.

“You gonna shoot me?” Adrian sneers. “Then Alex? You gonna murder your whole family tonight?”

“Luca, please, stop,” Jordy whimpers from somewhere behind him.

“SHUT UP!” Adrian roars, silencing her idiotic wails. “Come on, bro,” he turns back to Luca, “big man…you gonna pull the trigger or what?”

For a moment I’m positive that I’m about to feel my brother’s brains splatter all over my face. That is, if the bullet doesn’t go straight through him and kill me, too. But I don’t. Instead, Luca looks Adrian up and down with contempt and then lowers the gun. Then he turns and swaggers across the living room toward the front door.

He pauses in front of Jordy, still cowering at the end of the sofa, and nods to the door. “We can finish this outside if you want,” he taunts menacingly.

As if he already knows what I’m thinking, Adrian’s hand flies up and grabs my bicep to keep me from lunging at him again, and he doesn’t let go until Luca is gone, slamming the door behind him.

“Go to bed,” Adrian commands. “Get some rest.”

I don’t know what else to do, my mind reeling from what just happened, so I head for the hallway. Then Adrian turns to Jordy, taking in her disheveled state as she tries to adjust her twisted clothes.

“And you,” he seethes through clenched teeth, “get the fuck out of my house, and don’t come near my family ever again.”

???

I’ve been in this position many times before; Jordy straddling my waist in the driver’s seat of my Lexus surrounded by nothing but vast expanses of farmland. I don’t know how much time passes while I stare up at her, feeling like I’m standing outside of my body, watching that night play out like a movie.