Kevin Died

23. The Dead Boy's Letters

23. The Dead Boy's Letters

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Luke had tackled Kevin to the ground.

I stood in shock as the two wrestled each other to get the upper hand, but soon snapped back to reality.

I rushed over and began to pull Luke off, but he had balled his fists into Kevin's sweater at that point and wasn't budging.

"You stupid motherfucker!" Luke spat, trying to shake me off. "Why are you here?! How are you here?!"

"Get off of me!" Kevin said, prying Luke's hands away.

Kevin scrambled to his feet and tried to bolt in the opposite direction, but Luke was strong and fast. He pushed me away and went after Kevin again, grabbing him and shoving him against the wall of the shack.

I rushed over to them and tried to pull them apart but Luke wasn't having it. He had balled his fists into Kevin's sweater again and was pinning him against the wall.

"Answer me!" He spat.

"Go to hell!" Kevin said.

"Get the fuck off of him!" I demanded of Luke. "Right fucking now!"

"No way!" Luke said, not taking his eyes off of Kevin. "This asshole is gonna answer for everything he did!"

"Was beating me half to death not enough?!" Kevin said.

"Everything he told you is probably a lie!" Luke said, finally turning to me. "You can't trust him, Ricky!"

"I can't trust him?!" I said. "You tried to kill him! You tried—"

"Ricky, you need to understand!"

"Understand that you left my brother to die?!" I spat. "That you thought he was dead this whole time and knew you were responsible?!"

"Listen, Danielle was—"

"Danielle lied, you piece of shit!" I said to him. "And you believed her lies."

"She didn't."

"She did!" I said, finally prying and pushing him away from Kevin. "She lied."

Luke shook his head. "No... Ricardo, you weren't there. If you would've seen her—"

"She's one hell of an actress," I interjected.

"See Rick?" Kevin said. "It was him and the rest of your so-called friends! Right, Luke?!" Kevin looked Luke directly in his eyes.

Luke clenched his jaw as well as his fists, taking a step towards Kevin.

I quickly got in the middle of the two and gave Luke a hard glare. "Don't. Fucking. Touch him."

Luke looked bewildered. "Really? You're gonna take his side? Just like that?"

"At the end of the day, Luke; he's my brother... And you almost took him from my family and I. But he's here now. And I swear to you, you won't get away with what you've done."

Luke was speechless and was looking at me as if I were somehow wrong. How could he even have the audacity? After everything that I'd learned, who the hell did he think he was looking at me as if I'd lost my mind. The case was closed. He did it. He and my friends did it. The rage that boiled inside of me rivaled a thousand volcanoes.

"I just don't understand why you've been torturing me," I said. "I don't understand why you tried to kill me that night at Travis' house and—"

"What the hell are you talking about?!" Luke demanded.