I knew I would eventually have to tell my brother about Bethany, but I wanted to do it on my own terms. I certainly didn’t want him to walk in on us with our bodies tangled together before I could ease him into the news. The horrified expression on his face was exactly what I expected, I just didn’t want it to appear so suddenly. That hope was dashed and the only thing I could do was try to repair the damage clearly etched on his face. He sank into the chair next to the couch, angrily tapping his fingers against his arm. Bethany stayed in the bathroom for several minutes while we just sat in silence. She finally emerged with her clothes on and didn’t make eye contact as she rushed towards the door. I hated for her to go and for us to leave things the way they were for the weekend, but talking with my brother was more important than anything else after what he had discovered. The door slammed and I looked over my shoulder until I saw her darting down the driveway.
“Sloane...” I looked over at him.
“No.” He shook his head back and forth in anger. “You always talk. Even when I caught you with my wife, all you did was try and talk. It’s my turn to talk.”
“Okay.” I raised my hands and nodded—I had a lot to say, but it was clear that he needed to let his anger out first.
“I trusted you—people have always called me a fool for that. You’ve always been family. No matter what you did, I tried to honor the blood we share. Even when I wanted to kill you, I kept that emotion buried because you were my twin brother. You lied to me. You told me you were trying to clean up the school and all you were doing was looking for a cheap fuck. She’s a high school student, Anton! She’s a student at my school—your school for the last two weeks.” He paused to take a breath.
“I know.” I responded and nodded my head.
“This arrangement is done. You and I are done. I never want to see you again.” He closed his eyes for a moment and exhaled sharply.
“Sloane, don’t say that.” I felt my face tightening up with a mixture of emotions and anger, but I let the anger settle. “I know you’re upset, but Bethany isn’t a cheap fuck. I care about her.”
“You care about her? Is there even something to care about in that dark, black heart in her chest? She’s the one who tormented me!” His voice intensified and got louder.
“She was, yes.” I nodded in agreement. “She’s changed. She actually told me today that she wants to apologize to you.”
“Yeah, I bet.” His voice seethed through his teeth. “I bet she wants me to let me guard down so she can do something stupid before I see it coming. What is her next trick—burn down the school?”
“I know this doesn’t make sense to you...” I shook my head and sighed.
“No, that’s the problem.” His words snapped off his tongue instantly. “I do understand. I probably wouldn’t understand it if it was someone else, but with you—I shouldn’t even be fucking surprised.”
“I really do care about Bethany. I know it’s hard for you to understand that, but she’s changed me too. She doesn’t want to be the person that has tormented you anymore. She has been making a real effort. She’s actually trying to graduate.” I sighed again. “I swear to you, Sloane. This isn’t the same kind of bullshit I’ve been pulling my whole life. This is real.”
“I want you out of my house by the end of the day.” He stood up and walked towards his bedroom. Once he was inside, he slammed the door so hard a picture fell off the wall.
I SLEPT AT THE BUS station Saturday night and when they threw me out on Sunday, I slept on a park bench. I didn’t have any money and I didn’t have anywhere to go. I didn’t even know how to get in touch with Bethany outside of finding her at school on Monday. I tried looking her up in a phone book, willing to use my last dollar to hear her voice if I had to, but there were too many people with her last name to narrow it down—even if her family had a land line. When Monday rolled around, I knew that I had to go to the school. Even if my brother didn’t want to see me, I needed to see Bethany. I waited until the classes were in session and walked up to the side entrance.
I was technically on the payroll as a janitor, even though I had never handled a broom. I went to the storage closet and found a uniform that would fit me and pulled a cap down low enough to cover my eyes. The days of stubble changed my appearance enough that it would take more than the casual glance most people gave me to actually recognize my similarity to Sloane. My heart sank into my stomach when I turned the corner and saw Braden, his father, and some people that looked like they were from the school board with Sloane.
“This man is a disgrace to education!” Braden’s father pointed at Sloane. “Do you know how much money I spend on donations?”
“Yes, Mr. Steele.” A woman in a business suit nodded. “That is why we agreed to come with you—and let me just say, Mr. Steele, we really appreciate you agreeing to keep this matter internal.”
“I should have went to my lawyers! It took you days to even respond to me!” He turned his head to the woman and then back to my brother.
“I assure you that isn’t necessary. We do have a lot of other schools in this district that require attention. We’re here now and I’m sure we can sort this out.” She put her hand on Mr. Steele’s shoulder.
“The only way we can sort this out is if you fire this man!” Mr. Steele pointed at my brother again.
“Yeah, he disrespected my father—and he treats everyone in this school like crap. Just look at this place!” Braden waved his hands in the air motioning to the school.
“Why don’t we take a look around.” The woman motioned for them to follow as she took a step down the hallway.
It seemed that both Braden and his father were too proud to tell the truth about what happened. What he called disrespect, I called cowering on his knees like a little bitch while I showed him I ran the school. It was a good thing Sloane was wearing the suit because if Mr. Steele had pointed his finger at me the way he was doing to my brother, there would have been a repeat performance.
I kept my distance behind them as they
walked, pushing my broom aimlessly without doing anything to draw attention. A few words were exchanged that I couldn’t hear and I could see that my brother’s face was nervous. Braden’s theatrics continued and I had no doubt that he was describing how awful life was at Grantham University. They took their time touring the school and I had to wait at the bottom of the stairs when they moved to the next floor, but once I heard their footsteps echo, I started up the stairs slowly. I finally heard them come to a stop and leaned against the wall around the corner from them.
“I must say...” The woman’s voice resonated surprise. “I’ve never seen Grantham University like this.”
“See!” Braden’s words were loud. “It’s awful!”
“Mr. Thorne needs to be fired and you need to find a Principal that is fit to run this school.” Mr. Steele’s voice was as loud as his son’s.