Gradually, her tears turn into wails, which turn into screaming until she is hysterical.
“Go get her some of your wine. It will help calm her,” I suggest to Chelsea.
As she leaves the room, Brianna turns toward me and starts beating on my chest.
“Why didn’t you guys tell me!? For twelve fucking years, I've had to deal with this on my own!"
She continues to beat on me, but her blows are becoming less intense each time she connects with my chest. The only thing that I can do is hold her tight and not let her go. Chelsea comes back in with a small glass of wine and sets it down on the table. She joins us on the sofa once more and rubs Brianna's back to try and soothe her.
“Brianna, we…” I start, but I have no idea what to say.
"We only found out that he did this to both of us two years ago. We wondered if he was doing the same to you, but we were scared to ask." Chelsea chimes in. "We were both stuck in our own minds before then. We didn't think about who else he may have been doing this to. I thought I was the only one."
“Same here,” I add.
“It hurts, so fucking much,” Brianna sobs.
I go from feeling heartbroken for her, for all of us, to enraged. Shooting up from the sofa, I return to my bedroom and throw on a shirt and some socks. I grab my shoes, and as I re-enter the living room fully clothed, I meet two of the most somber faces I've ever seen.
“Where are you going?” Chelsea asks me.
Instead of answering her, I look down and put my shoes on.
“Bash?” she asks, tears falling down her face now, too. “You’re not going over there!”
“Keep an eye on her. I’ll be back soon.”
Chelsea leaves Brianna on the sofa where she sits, wrapped up in her arms.
“I won’t let you go! You remember what happened last time.”
The last time I tried to confront him, he beat me so bad, I nearly ended up in the hospital. I should have gone, but I called Chelsea instead, and she helped me home. She took care of me until I was better and then threatened to beat the shit out of me if I ever tried to do anything like that again.
“Please, Bash! Please don’t go!” she begs, hot tears flooding her terrified stare.
“Chelsea, I am so done with this fucking shit. He can’t get away with it again. I didn’t fight back when he did it to me. I failed when it happened to you. I won’t fail again. This ends tonight!”
“No!”
“Stop!”
They scream at the same time. Chelsea and I turn and look at Brianna, who is rocking back and forth on the sofa. She has her hands covering her ears, and hot tears are burning streaks into the beautiful skin on her cheeks.
Shit.
Chelsea sits down again and pulls Brianna into her side.
“Shh, Bri. It’s okay. You’re going to be all right. I promise. It’s going to hurt like hell, but you’re not alone anymore. You have us,” Chelsea reassures her.
I sit back down on the sofa and look over at them. They’re sad, beaten-down, broken, beautiful. I've always had a soft spot for our youngest cousin, but now more than ever, I feel drawn to her. The only thing I can think about right now is the urge to keep both of them with me forever; to make both of them mine. It's sick and twisted and depraved, but I don't care. I
am going to save them because they deserve more than this. More than what this town can give them; more than what our family has done for them. And a hell of a lot more than what that sick son-of-a-bitch has put them through. I might not be able to do anything about it tonight, maybe not next week or next month even, but I am going to kill him. There’s no question about that.
“Thank you,” Chelsea mouths to me over Brianna’s head.
“Here Bri, have some of this. It will help,” I lift the glass of wine and place it in her hand. She doesn’t even think twice and swallows it all in one gulp.
“Let’s go lay down, Bri. I have some extra clothes for you to sleep in,” Chelsea says to her.