Chapter 2: The Talk
"Oh, well now it's all so clear.not. Since when have you had a SISTER!?!?!" Marissa was a bit shocked at this news, she hadn't really thought about it but always figured Ryan was the youngest. I mean, there was his older brother, but she had no idea that he had a little sister.
"Well.since I was 13 months. And she's really my half sister, different fathers. And as for the not mentioning, well there's a whole lot of history to that, not something I want to get into on the pier." Ryan hugged Brooke again smiled.
Marissa noticed the smile, it was new, something she hadn't seen before. I mean, obviously she'd seen him smile, but not like that, it was.pure, honest, and open. Not the main qualities of Ryan. She understood that there was a deep connection between them, something real and good for Ryan in a not so good life style. He almost looked like a little kid when he smiled that way, and he hadn't had a reason to smile like that for a long while, it made her smile a little too. She turned to Seth and closed his mouth for him, "Well, then lets go home. C'mon, I'll drive us to your house and we can order some pizza." She dragged Seth into the car and the others followed.
"A house, haven't been in one of those for a while." Brooke climbed in next to Ryan.
The other two laughed, but Ryan could sense that there was some truth to that statement, something wasn't right and that's why she had come to find him. But he had no idea what it was.
...
"So, this is your place? Pretty sweet compared to before." Brooke was looking around the pool house while Marissa and Seth went to order the pizza.
It was weird to see her older brother in a place like this. They used to sit and dream about one day living here, getting the lucky ticket out of their hell hole and finding the perfect family, seems like he had.
"Why are you here? I mean, I'm glad you are, but why?" Ryan was watching the anxiety Brooke held in her eyes when he asked the question, but wanted to hear her answer first.
"Nice to see you too bro. How have you been? Oh I've been fine. Yeah I know we haven't talked in four years, but who's counting?" Brooke looked at Ryan. He knew the look well and decided to save the harder questions until later.
"Fine, sorry. What's up? What have you been doing for the last four years?" Ryan sat down on his couch and got comfy. Just then the other two came in with a pizza.
"Mom already ordered us one, she thought we were home." Seth pulled up a chair and grabbed a slice.
"So.explain." Seth said in between bites.
"Right, um.well Brooke was born 13 months after me, by another guy, Jack. (Brooke shivered at his name, Ryan noticed but decided to ask later) He was a real ass like most of my mom's boyfriends, landed in jail about six weeks after Brooke was born for a knife fight. So Brooke grew up with us, we hung out all the time. We were in the same grade too cuz she skipped a grade, always smarter then me." Ryan stopped to eat some pizza.
"Any ways, Jack got out when I was ten and took joint custody. So we still saw each other, but not a lot, Jack would leave for weeks without telling Ryan or my mom and then show up and leave me with them for a month, really chaotic." Brooke had finished her second piece and was starting on her third.
"Yeah, and we started to notice that every time Brooke came over she had a new bruise. Use to say it was form falling down the stairs or whatever, but living our life style, and the fact that she lived in a bungalow, we knew the bastard was hurting her. My mom didn't have enough to support all three of us, so when Brooke turned 13 I took her to live with her aunt, and we got Jack thrown in jail for child abuse." Ryan paused to let it sink in.
"And then I wrote and you didn't reply for four years, then my aunt died so I came looking for you, and voila.here you are." Brooke starred at Ryan with her hand on her hip.
"And this is our cue to leave," Marissa and Seth quickly left the pool house to let Brooke and Ryan talk.
"You didn't answer, not one god damn letter. God, all I wanted was to know you hadn't forgot me, but I guess that was too much to ask." Brooke put down her pizza and turned away from Ryan.
"Look, it's not like that. You think it was easy for me to send away the only person that I cared about? You think I wanted you to leave? No one else talked to me or even looked at me like you did, you cared about me and I hated having to say good bye." Ryan was on his feet now, he was getting mad but wasn't sure why. "You left and I was miserable. I wouldn't do anything. Mom got worried so she tried to make you disappear, she thought that if I didn't hear or see you, then I might be able to get over it. She told me a year ago that she had kept all the letters, you stopped writing after two years and when I tried writing back, you had moved." Ryan was cooling down now and walked over to Brooke.
They looked at each other for a long time, Brooke trying to see if it was true, and Ryan trying to figure out why she was here. Suddenly, Brooke caved, she smiled and Ryan knew that it was all good.
"So, why are you here?" Ryan tried to keep eye contact but Brooke looked away.
"New topic. Guys, you can come back in now!" She called out to Seth and Marissa who were standing by the pool.
"All right, pizza" Seth dived for the box.
"Brooke, answer the question! What's going on?" Ryan was getting angry, something was wrong and she wasn't telling him what it was.
"I told you, Aunt Marcy died, so I came to find you." Brooke was doing her best to avoid any eye contact with Ryan.
"Bull shit, what is it?" He walked over to her and forced her to look at him.
"All right, it's Jack." She broke free and walked over to the bed and sat down. "It's Jack, he's out. And well, a little pissed, can't blame him, his own blood got him locked up, that was the one thing he always hated.betrayal." She put her head in her hands and tried to relax, but she was shaking all over.
"He tried to see me, at the funeral, so I ran. I didn't know where else to go, so I went to you, only you weren't there. So I went to Mindy's, cuz she was the only friend of mom's that I remembered and I got mom's address. She told me where you were, and here I am. He's following me, I just know it." She laid back and tried not to cry.
Ryan went to her and lay beside her. "Listen, I know it's rough, I've been there too. But I won't let him hurt you, I swear." He put his arm around her.
"Yeah, neither will we. We'll figure something out, we always do. After all we adopted Ryan, kept Marissa out of a mental hospital and took down her mom!" Seth stood up and walked towards Brooke.
"That's great.but who are you?"
"Oh, well now it's all so clear.not. Since when have you had a SISTER!?!?!" Marissa was a bit shocked at this news, she hadn't really thought about it but always figured Ryan was the youngest. I mean, there was his older brother, but she had no idea that he had a little sister.
"Well.since I was 13 months. And she's really my half sister, different fathers. And as for the not mentioning, well there's a whole lot of history to that, not something I want to get into on the pier." Ryan hugged Brooke again smiled.
Marissa noticed the smile, it was new, something she hadn't seen before. I mean, obviously she'd seen him smile, but not like that, it was.pure, honest, and open. Not the main qualities of Ryan. She understood that there was a deep connection between them, something real and good for Ryan in a not so good life style. He almost looked like a little kid when he smiled that way, and he hadn't had a reason to smile like that for a long while, it made her smile a little too. She turned to Seth and closed his mouth for him, "Well, then lets go home. C'mon, I'll drive us to your house and we can order some pizza." She dragged Seth into the car and the others followed.
"A house, haven't been in one of those for a while." Brooke climbed in next to Ryan.
The other two laughed, but Ryan could sense that there was some truth to that statement, something wasn't right and that's why she had come to find him. But he had no idea what it was.
...
"So, this is your place? Pretty sweet compared to before." Brooke was looking around the pool house while Marissa and Seth went to order the pizza.
It was weird to see her older brother in a place like this. They used to sit and dream about one day living here, getting the lucky ticket out of their hell hole and finding the perfect family, seems like he had.
"Why are you here? I mean, I'm glad you are, but why?" Ryan was watching the anxiety Brooke held in her eyes when he asked the question, but wanted to hear her answer first.
"Nice to see you too bro. How have you been? Oh I've been fine. Yeah I know we haven't talked in four years, but who's counting?" Brooke looked at Ryan. He knew the look well and decided to save the harder questions until later.
"Fine, sorry. What's up? What have you been doing for the last four years?" Ryan sat down on his couch and got comfy. Just then the other two came in with a pizza.
"Mom already ordered us one, she thought we were home." Seth pulled up a chair and grabbed a slice.
"So.explain." Seth said in between bites.
"Right, um.well Brooke was born 13 months after me, by another guy, Jack. (Brooke shivered at his name, Ryan noticed but decided to ask later) He was a real ass like most of my mom's boyfriends, landed in jail about six weeks after Brooke was born for a knife fight. So Brooke grew up with us, we hung out all the time. We were in the same grade too cuz she skipped a grade, always smarter then me." Ryan stopped to eat some pizza.
"Any ways, Jack got out when I was ten and took joint custody. So we still saw each other, but not a lot, Jack would leave for weeks without telling Ryan or my mom and then show up and leave me with them for a month, really chaotic." Brooke had finished her second piece and was starting on her third.
"Yeah, and we started to notice that every time Brooke came over she had a new bruise. Use to say it was form falling down the stairs or whatever, but living our life style, and the fact that she lived in a bungalow, we knew the bastard was hurting her. My mom didn't have enough to support all three of us, so when Brooke turned 13 I took her to live with her aunt, and we got Jack thrown in jail for child abuse." Ryan paused to let it sink in.
"And then I wrote and you didn't reply for four years, then my aunt died so I came looking for you, and voila.here you are." Brooke starred at Ryan with her hand on her hip.
"And this is our cue to leave," Marissa and Seth quickly left the pool house to let Brooke and Ryan talk.
"You didn't answer, not one god damn letter. God, all I wanted was to know you hadn't forgot me, but I guess that was too much to ask." Brooke put down her pizza and turned away from Ryan.
"Look, it's not like that. You think it was easy for me to send away the only person that I cared about? You think I wanted you to leave? No one else talked to me or even looked at me like you did, you cared about me and I hated having to say good bye." Ryan was on his feet now, he was getting mad but wasn't sure why. "You left and I was miserable. I wouldn't do anything. Mom got worried so she tried to make you disappear, she thought that if I didn't hear or see you, then I might be able to get over it. She told me a year ago that she had kept all the letters, you stopped writing after two years and when I tried writing back, you had moved." Ryan was cooling down now and walked over to Brooke.
They looked at each other for a long time, Brooke trying to see if it was true, and Ryan trying to figure out why she was here. Suddenly, Brooke caved, she smiled and Ryan knew that it was all good.
"So, why are you here?" Ryan tried to keep eye contact but Brooke looked away.
"New topic. Guys, you can come back in now!" She called out to Seth and Marissa who were standing by the pool.
"All right, pizza" Seth dived for the box.
"Brooke, answer the question! What's going on?" Ryan was getting angry, something was wrong and she wasn't telling him what it was.
"I told you, Aunt Marcy died, so I came to find you." Brooke was doing her best to avoid any eye contact with Ryan.
"Bull shit, what is it?" He walked over to her and forced her to look at him.
"All right, it's Jack." She broke free and walked over to the bed and sat down. "It's Jack, he's out. And well, a little pissed, can't blame him, his own blood got him locked up, that was the one thing he always hated.betrayal." She put her head in her hands and tried to relax, but she was shaking all over.
"He tried to see me, at the funeral, so I ran. I didn't know where else to go, so I went to you, only you weren't there. So I went to Mindy's, cuz she was the only friend of mom's that I remembered and I got mom's address. She told me where you were, and here I am. He's following me, I just know it." She laid back and tried not to cry.
Ryan went to her and lay beside her. "Listen, I know it's rough, I've been there too. But I won't let him hurt you, I swear." He put his arm around her.
"Yeah, neither will we. We'll figure something out, we always do. After all we adopted Ryan, kept Marissa out of a mental hospital and took down her mom!" Seth stood up and walked towards Brooke.
"That's great.but who are you?"