Page 41 of Vying Girls

He turns his head. ‘Yeah? You two a thing now? So much for being straight. I’ve seen you snogging your housemates. The ones youdefinitelyweren’t trying to make jealous with me.’

‘No, no. Nothing like that.’ I release a breath. ‘Basically, she told me I was her old stepsister.’ I look at him, gauging his reaction. He’s still, listening attentively. ‘Before she came to you guys. I was just wondering if I could pick your brains about her. Because she’s refusing to speak to me.’

‘Wait. Are you serious?’

I nod. ‘I never knew it was her all this time. Just didn’t recognise her, but it makes sense, kind of, why she’s always been so off with me.’

‘Wow…that’s, wow.’ He sits up, shifting a bit closer. ‘Well, what do you want to know?’

I huff. ‘Everything. What happened when she came to you guys? What was she like?’

‘Quiet. Obviously super sad about her dad, despite… And then Mum wasn’t exactly welcoming.’

‘Wait. Despite what?’

‘Well, Mum never liked him. He was—she never went into too much detail, but I know he was a creep. They hadn’t talked since they were teenagers. So, when Nic turned up, she wasn’t happy, but she couldn’t exactly kick her out either. She didn’t have anywhere else to go.’

Shit. Poor Nic. She was only ten. Can’t blame her for still loving her dad. Losing me, losing him, then to be treated like shit by her remaining family.

‘What else? What happened then?’

‘And then it all went tofuuuck.’He laughs but there’s nothing happy in it.

‘Tell me.’

He sighs. ‘I have an older brother. Damien. He’s adopted. Real evil, fucked-up piece of shit. Reason my parents split.’ He shakes his head. ‘He was the only one who liked Nic, and vice versa. They kind of gravitated towards each other. Both kind of moody, bit dark. It was fine at first. Nic was a kid, Damien was only, what, fourteen?’

The rest of the forest, the shouts from the paintballers, the birds in the trees, I tune it out as I hang onto Tommy’s every word. The need to know everything is all-consuming, like I’m finding the missing pieces to my puzzle and becoming whole again.

‘But then it got fucked up. I mean, I was only a kid. Didn’t understand much. Damien was a fuck to me too. I stayed away as much as I could, away from Nic too. She wasn’t so bad, just a little lead on, I think.

‘Damien’s room was in the basement. Well, not really. He had a bedroom upstairs too, but he preferred the basement. No one was allowed to go down there apart from Nic. He kept it locked when he wasn’t around, like when he was here at uni.’

‘What was in there?’

‘Nothing. He just liked keeping stuff all secretive. Got off on it.’

He shifts forward, resting his elbows on his knees, looking pensive.

‘He was big into drugs. Taking and dealing. Got Nic hooked too from a super young age.’

‘You’re kidding!’

I think of her coked up at the Vaults. God, how long has she been taking that stuff? Is she an addict or something?

Tommy shakes his head. ‘Things got really bad. Mum used to go off on him a lot, when he was younger, before he started hitting her too, saying how he was like her brother, Nic’s dad. How her and Damien were just two peas in a pod. Thing is, Tilda, I didn’t care. Was relieved, to be honest. If he was on her, he was away from me. I know Mum felt the same. So, we just let it go on. I suppose, as a kid, I can’t be blamed too much, but now I’m older—well, it’s why I’m estranged from them all, why I don’t—’

‘Tommy, stop. Let what go on?’

He sighs, rocking forward. ‘He didn’t just make her take drugs. He made her do other stuff too. To him. You know…sexual stuff.’

I stare at him, his words ceasing the breath in my lungs. ‘What? Tommy, no.’

He nods glumly. ‘Told you it was fucked. Don’t know how long it all went on for. But I know he…didthat. Mum screamed at him one time. Nic was out the house somewhere. But she wassaying how she needs to go to the doctor, check for pregnancy or something, I dunno. And how, if the fucker was still alive—Nic’s dad—she’d be asking for a paternity test because he’s so like him. Obviously, they weren’t related or anything, but… Basically that’s when I knew what they were doing down in the basement. And what the drugs were for. Because it was obvious Nic wasn’t into it.’ He blows out a breath. ‘Fuck, I remember her being so out of it all the time. Just spacey, staring at nothing. Like she’d completely checked out. And yet at school, she was still excelling at everything.’

He stops when his voice catches, rubbing his lips along his clasped hands.

I stand up, eyes blurred over the heads of the paintballers. None of this can be true.Please.God, I want to—scream, hit something. Find Nic and hold her to me and never let go.