Chapter 7 - The Brother’s Arrival
The men left,
leaving behind a trail of half-peeled stickers and a silence that was even more terrifying.
Keaton looked at me,
a flicker of hope in his eyes.
"Did you fix it,
Elena?"
he asked,
standing up and smoothing his shirt.
"I knew you would,"
"You're so good with the bank people."
I walked over to him and delivered a slap that echoed through the entire apartment.
He stumbled back,
clutching his face,
his eyes wide with shock.
"I didn't fix it for you,"
I hissed,
the rage finally spilling over.
"I fixed it for me."
"I’ve reported the forgery,
Keaton."
"The police are on their way to take a statement."
Bernice let out a wail that sounded like a wounded animal.
"You’re going to put your own husband in jail?"
she cried.
"Over a little bit of paper?"
"Over my life,"
I corrected her.
Suddenly,
there was a frantic pounding on the front door,
not the gate,
but the actual door to the unit.
Keaton turned pale again,
scrambling toward the bedroom.
"It’s Austin,"
he whispered.
"He must have followed the collectors."
I opened the door before Keaton could stop me.
A man stood there,
looking disheveled,
his eyes bloodshot and his clothes smelling of stale smoke.
He didn't look like a businessman who had fallen on hard times,
he looked like a man who had lost his soul at a poker table.
"Where’s the money,
Mom?"
Austin shouted,
pushing past me into the living room.
"They’re waiting downstairs,"
"If I don't have the sixty thousand,
they’re going to take my car and my fingers."
He saw the cup of noodles on the table and threw it across the room,
the broth splashing against the white walls.
"What is this?"
he screamed.
"I thought you said Elena got the big raise!"
I stood in the doorway,
watching the three of them—the thief,
the forger,
and the enabler.
"The big raise is going to a private investigator and a divorce lawyer,
Austin,"
I said,
my voice like a cold wind.
May you like
"And the police are three minutes away."
"You should probably decide which one of you is going to take the fall for the forgery."
