Ugly girl

“Raped who?” he demands, stealing the phone from my hands and looking for himself.

“Daniella. Twenty-something years ago.”

“No,” he says, not wanting to believe that the man who raised him was capable of something like that, though he knows it’s true. “He…he wouldn’t have.”

Fuck. I let out a strangled sigh. I guess now is the time to finally set the record straight.

“Blake,” I say, meeting his eyes, letting him see the pain and anguish that I hold deep down inside. “He would have. Believe me, he’s more than capable.”

Blake sits up taller and swallows as his eyes search my face. “What are you saying, Sky?”

“I’m saying that what he did to her, he did to me. We need to do something about this.”

Blake’s face pales as he draws in a deep breath. “No. You didn’t say that. You just…I thought he just hurt you.”

“What do you think ‘hurt me’ is supposed to mean, Blake?” I question, willing the tears to stay at bay. “Over the past few years, how many times have I come to you saying that he touched me? Not one of those times had me ready to leave it all behind and start fresh. Ask yourself, Blake. Why would this time have been so different?”

He throws his arms around me and I hear him trying to gain control of his emotions. “I’m so sorry, Sky. If I realized, I…I…”

“No, nothing, Blake. There’s nothing you could have done. It happened and going back there and beating his ass isn’t going to take away the memory of it. Just let it go.”

Blake pushes back and flies up out of his seat before pacing in front of the table. “I can’t just let this go, Sky. I have to…I don’t know. I have to do something.”

“We did do something. We got the hell out of there and started fresh. We’re moving on from that chapter of our lives.”

“He can’t just go unpunished,” Blake demands, yelling way too loud before visibly trying to calm himself. “I’m sorry, I’m just…I’m trying to calm down. I’m just so angry for you.”

“I know,” I tell him, reaching out and taking his hand.

Blake’s eyes meet mine across the table as understanding dawns. “That’s why you’ve been sleeping with dad’s knife,” he says. I nod and he continues. “I figured it just made you feel safer in a new place, or I don’t know, made you feel closer to dad.”

“It’s so much more than that,” I agree. “I won’t ever let a man touch me without my consent again. If someone comes at me, I’m going to be ready.”

Blake nods. “What are we going to do about this?” he asks, nodding towards my phone that still has the arrest warrant up.

“I don’t know, we’ve already told them who we are and where we came from. Clearly, he made the new identity to escape jail time. If we tell them what we know, they could take him down.”

Blake looks hesitant. “You realize who we’d be messing with, right? It’s one thing to run away, but to go to the police with this? It’s dangerous.”

I nod, trying to think it over. “I don’t know,” I tell him. “I want him to go down for this, but I don’t know what I’m willing to risk to make it happen.”

“Okay,” he tells me, squeezing my shoulder. “Why don’t you sleep on it and we’ll talk tomorrow. Whatever you decide, I’m with you. High road or the low road, we do this together. Now, get your ass to class. I have a feeling you’re already getting close to being thrown out of this place.”

I grin up at my brother, seeing his comments for what they are; a distraction to get his mind off the heavy shit that’s just been discussed. “Yes, sir,” I laugh with a salute. “Right away, sir.”

Blake nods and gives me a cheesy as hell grin. “Now, that’s more like it,” he says, before grabbing his shit and hightailing it out of here.