CHAPTER SIXTY

TRIS

Previously:

Caleb swings the front door halfway open. He is tall and blocks my view, but I don't miss the way he goes rigid with tension. I peer around him to see our unexpected visitor, my eyebrows raising in surprise. I shouldn't be; I suppose it was inevitable that he would show up here eventually. I just don't know how this meeting is going to play out.

Clearly, in the year and a half since his high school graduation, my brother's feelings haven't changed.

"Matthew," Caleb says through gritted teeth.

"Matthew," Caleb says through gritted teeth. He is stiff, his slim body humming with tension.

Matthew hardly reacts to my brother, simply nodding and returning his greeting in kind. "Caleb." He notices me childishly peeking past my brother. "Tris. Can I come in?"

"Hi Matthew, of course," I respond with a forced smile. I kick Caleb in the ankle and he finally steps back to let Matthew in. "It's so good to see you. Marlene didn't mention you'd be stopping by." I can feel Caleb's resentful glare as I welcome Marlene's brother into my home.

"What are you doing home? Was Stanford too much for you?" Caleb sneers.

"Stanford is great, I just wrapped up my finals. I'm home for winter break. How about you, how's…" he furrows his brow. "Was it DePaul?"

"I'll just go get Marlene," I cut in.

As I make my way to the stairs, I hear Caleb's flat voice informing Matthew that he attends Loyola, not DePaul. I am a little worried about leaving those two alone together, as Caleb's grudge is clearly still alive and well, but I can't help being amused.

I knock on Marlene's door and enter when I hear her response. She is sitting in the middle of the double bed, comfortably dressed in yoga pants and a t-shirt. A mess of damp curls falling into her face as she paints her toenails with nail polish the same bubblegum-pink as her shirt.

"Marlene, your brother's here."

Marlene's hand pauses mid-brushstroke, and she instantly is looking up at me, eyes wide in alarm. She swallows. "Did he― did he say anything about… anything?"

"Anything? Not really. When I left him in the living room, talking with Caleb about college. We should probably get up there before Caleb snaps." Marlene is well aware of Caleb's grudge.

Marlene screws the cap on her nail polish and gingerly scoots off the bed. "Do you think my parents already told my brother about the baby?" she worries. I don't have an answer for her. So far today, Matthew has been his usual personable self, but he has always been hard for me to read.

We find Matthew and Caleb in the kitchen. Caleb is pulling his Molecular Biology textbook out of his heavy backpack while Matthew leans back against the kitchen counter, a glass of water in his hand.

"So," Caleb is saying, "how's Zoey?" He flips through the pages of his book, pretending not to be watching for Matthew's reaction.

Matthew looks down into his water glass and grimaces. "We broke up," he says quietly.

Marlene glances at me in concern. Matthew and Zoey dated all throughout high school. They were both well-liked, only had eyes for each other, and easily won the "Cutest Couple" title in their senior yearbook. But shortly after graduation, they broke up. Marlene told me that one day out of the blue, things suddenly got strained between them and a few weeks later they were over. Matthew was pretty torn up about it, and Marlene was still a little worried about him when he left for California.

"Matty!" Marlene cheers, quickly and easily pulling her brother from his solemnity.

"Marshmallow," he returns fondly, quickly setting the glass on the table and coming toward her with open arms. Marlene is soon enveloped in a bear hug. "Why didn't you tell me?" he murmurs into her hair before pulling back and looking at her seriously. "I just talked to you two weeks ago, you didn't think to mention that Mom kicked you out?"

Marlene's eyes well up in tears. "So I guess they told you."

"Wait, what? You got kicked out?" Caleb demands. We all ignore him.

Matthew pulls back to look at Marlene. She hasn't let any tears escape her eyes, but they're already red and glassy. He glances warily at Caleb. "How long… and who…?"

"It's… complicated."

"It can't be that complicated, it's a simple question," Matthew snaps in frustration. Marlene stares at her shoes and her hand absently goes to her lower abdomen, as if protecting the fetus inside. Matthew sighs. "Well, what are you going to do?"

Horrified realization crosses Caleb's face. "Oh god, she's pregnant, isn't she? Beatrice, don't tell me she's staying here."

"Mind your own business, Caleb," Matthew snaps.

"It's my house, so I'd say it's my business," Caleb blusters.

"Your house?" I scoff. "That's rich."

Marlene looks to me with pleading eyes. I'm already reaching for Caleb's arm to drag him out of the room as she asks, "Tris, could my brother and I have some privacy please?"

"Of course, Mar. Caleb, come on, you're really not helping here," I say as I drag him out of the room. It's not hard; I may be much smaller than Caleb, but he's a beanpole who ruined his shot at Valedictorian when he got a C in P.E.

As I drag Caleb downstairs to the family room, he argues our latest point of disagreement. "What do you mean, 'that's rich'?" Of course it's my house."

"No," I argue, "it's Dad's house. You don't pay the mortgage, and you don't live here. It's not your house, it's your laundromat."

Caleb crosses his arms over his chest and smirks. "You're right, Beatrice. It is Dad's house. Let's call him right now, shall we?" He begins to reach for his phone, but finds his pockets empty. It's my turn to smirk; I remember seeing it on the kitchen table when he was showing off his advanced science textbook, trying to intimidate Matthew.

I shake my head at him. "God, Caleb, do you have to be such a dick? She's my friend, and she got kicked out. Of course I let her stay here."

"She's pregnant, Beatrice! Can't you see these hellions you hang around with are trouble? Not to mention stupid. With all the options today for contraception these days, there is no excuse." He points at me in accusation. "No excuse, Beatrice. You had better remember that."

I roll my eyes. "Mom made sure I knew how to use the pill correctly, but thanks for the vote of confidence," I snark. I've been on the pill for years now, but I am well aware that even if you do everything right, nothing is foolproof.

"What?! Mom put you on the pill?!" Caleb screeches.

"Yes, she did. And she would have taken Marlene in, too, and wouldn't have made her feel like trash for it either. It was the right thing to do, and you know it."

He runs a hand over his face in defeat. "Fine. You shouldn't need to be on the pill though, Beatrice. You're too young."

"I'm seventeen, Caleb, and you just told me to remember that there is 'no excuse' for unplanned pregnancy with 'all the options' available. I know how to take care of myself by now, I've been on my own for years. Did you ever think that maybe it's nice having Marlene here? That maybe I like the fact that if I didn't come home, someone would actually notice, and look for me? Mom's dead, you and Dad abandoned me, my friends are all I've got!" I stare past my brother, focusing on a poster on the wall and trying to hold back the tears. My anger hums in my balled fists and clenched jaw.

"Beatrice…" Caleb's countenance has changed completely. Suddenly he is soft and tender. Well, he can keep his pity to himself, I don't want it. He cautiously touches my arm, but I do not let myself relax. "I haven't abandoned you, Beatrice. I'm right here."

I cross my arms and pace several steps away, my back turned to him. "No, Caleb, you're not. You're here to use the washer, not to see me. I'd be surprised if you even remember I exist, most of the time. And then when you do come around you try to play big brother. Well, I'm not buying it and neither is anyone else." With that, I stalk out of the basement family room, leaving my brother alone to contemplate my words.

TOBIAS

I can't stand Tris's brother. I never have, but today was the first time I've spent more than a moment with him. He's condescending and pretentious, and I wanted to kick his ass for the way he talked to me and to Tris. Then he starts questioning me like some overprotective father, when he and I both know how absent he really is. The big brother act is like Marcus's proud father act: all for show. As I drive home, I almost turn the car around to go back and give him a piece of my mind, but I stop myself. Tris would not appreciate my interference.

When I get home from Tris's house, I take a quick shower and get dressed. I take a minute to put some product in my hair; when I lived with Marcus, it was always so short, I didn't even know my hair was wavy, I always assumed it was straight. Having no idea how to manage hair that was more than a half-inch long, I had to ask Will's advice on how to style it.

I can hear my mom moving around in the kitchen, but I put off talking to her in favor of repacking my bag. It's a habit I got into when I used to plot and fantasize about running away from Marcus. Yesterday's clothes go in the hamper before I replace them with clean ones. Next week I'll be able to settle into basketball season, no more football, so some gear gets put away on the top shelf of my closet. Before I zip the bag up, I throw in a few extra things to leave at Tris's house. Finding Uriah's clothes and none of my own in Tris's dresser bothered me more than I would like to admit.

Dropping my bag off by the front door on my way, I wander into the living room. My mom is curled up on the couch, sipping coffee from a mug while she reads a paperback romance novel. She looks up and smiles at me as I pass. "Good morning," I mumble as I walk past.

"Good afternoon," she quips. I roll my eyes playfully as I pull a chipped mug from the cabinet. "Thank you for the text early this morning. I hear it was a wild night." I make eye contact with her warily, but while I can detect some concern, I can see that I'm not in any trouble. I don't think Mom would even know how to punish me if she thought it necessary ― that particular parenting responsibility never fell to her, with Marcus around. I pour my coffee and stir in some milk. "Where did you stay the night?"

I hide my face behind my cup, taking a first sip. "At a friend's," I answer vaguely. "A few of us stayed there once we finally made it back last night." It was just me and Marlene, but Evelyn doesn't need to know that. "How did you hear about the party?"

"Mindy ― she's one of the pharmacy techs ― she had to go up to Fox Lake to get her son out of jail."

I slowly settle in on the couch with a few feet between us. I notice the scab on her lip and remember her recent encounter with Marcus, but there is nothing I can do about that now. I sip my coffee while I tell her briefly about hiding in the boathouse and waiting for the cops to go away. She doesn't seem bothered, until I make the mistake of mentioning Tris by name.

Her reaction isn't what I expected. Evelyn's eyes go cold at the mere mention of Tris. "Tris again. You seem to spend an awful lot of time with her."

My eyes narrow. "Well, she's my girlfriend, so yeah, I do. What's your problem with her?"

Evelyn shifts in her seat and scowls, but doesn't answer. "Was she the one you were with all night?"

"Yes," I say slowly, "one of them. I told you, a few of us stayed the night."

"You know, Tobias, your father and I were high school sweethearts. I was so…" she trails off, her eyes distant, then abruptly seems to come back to herself. "I don't want you getting too serious about her. People are not always what they seem."

"Yeah, well, I'm certain that Tris isn't going to start beating the shit out of me, so you've got nothing to worry about," I snap coldly. She wilts under my glare, and it almost reminds me of the way she shrinks in the face of Marcus's anger. I look away and let the subject drop.

When she speaks again, Evelyn swiftly moves on to asking questions about last night's game. I reluctantly let the argument about Tris go, and even avoid bringing her up while we talk about the game and the scouts I talked to. But then the conversation takes another turn.

"Did you… do whatever it was he wanted?" She can't even meet my eyes now.

"Yes," I admit through gritted teeth.

"Good," she murmurs quietly, relief clear in her eyes. "Good."

"Yeah, well, I sure didn't feel 'good' about it."

Evelyn remains stoic. "He called earlier." My heart just about stops, and my eyes are again drawn to the split in her lip. I tense and sit up straight, hands firmly on my knees, while I wait for her to continue. She clears her throat. "You're to be at his house tomorrow morning at nine. He wants to buy you a new phone and take you to a Bulls game. He has tickets for the company skybox," she finishes too brightly.

I stare at her, speechless. One minute she's relieved that I caved to his ridiculous demands, and the next she acts as if this is any normal Sunday out with my oh-so-loving father. She gets up, uncomfortable under my stare, and bustles into the kitchen to pour herself another cup of coffee. She is leaning with her back to the counter taking a first sip when I come back to myself and follow her in.

"Tomorrow's not his day. He gets Wednesday nights and one weekend a month. That's the deal. That's the custody agreement. Don't I get a say in any of this?"

"Tobias." She suddenly sounds exhausted. "It's just a little shopping and a game. I don't want any trouble from him."

"No, you want me to be the one to deal with his 'trouble' as always."

"Tobias! You know what he's capable of, just keep―"

"No!" I shout. "I don't know. What the hell, Mom? Why do you keep letting him get away with this? We have plenty of evidence ― it's all over my back!" She flinches, and furious, I grab the back of my t-shirt collar and pull it smoothly over my head before I turn my back to her. I want her to see what she continues to condemn me to. I want her to face it. Some of the welts from my most recent beating are still not completely healed, and I flinch when her coffee-warmed fingertips brush lightly over one.

"He has connections," she whispers. "He knows people. Police, judges, and other ― other powerful people, Tobias. He could ruin us!"

"How?!" I whip back around to face her again, my shirt balled in my hand. Conversations with Tris float back through my mind, all her questions about things that don't make sense. Things that had always been just the way things are, when it was all jumbled in my head with no one to hear it. A weight settles in my stomach. "What is it that he would do to you, Evelyn?" I can't bring myself to call her Mom right now. I haven't been this angry with her since she first came back two years ago.

"He knows things, Tobias."

"Knows what?" I ask. I'm no longer yelling, and that almost seems to scare her more and she inches away from me. But she doesn't answer.

The silence stretches on. She wrings her hands for a moment, then drops them and looks up at me, resolute. "You're just going to have to trust me, Tobias."

I scoff and shake my head, and I quickly pull the shirt back on. "No. I can't do that. You're my mom ― I believed in you and I trusted you and I knew that you loved me. Then you left me alone with my worst nightmare and didn't come back to save me for years." I shake my head. "How can you possibly ask me to trust you?"

I walk away, not looking back, picking up my packed bag on my way out the front door.

A/N: I don't really love this chapter, which is why I've held onto it instead of posting it. But I finally decided that as I have no specific plans to change any of it, it's time to share it with you and move the heck on. I hope you're more satisfied with it than I am. The next chapter is in the works. I've got something resembling a vision for it. I've just been in the hospital, but now that I'm weaning off the pain meds let's cross our fingers for motivation and an ability to focus my brain will return.

Review and let me know you're still reading… and any thoughts you have about Caleb, or Evelyn, or anybody else in this story, too. :)