A Life On The Edge

Long Lost Little Brother

Ryder's family is weird.

I always seem to forget how big Ryder's house is. It's like every time I show up it gets bigger. When I walked in his mother gave me a strange look. At first she looked up with a smile which quickly faded when her eyes met mine. She frowned and dropped the plate she was washing. She froze as she stared at me and gave me a sort of jaded look.

"Can my friend Riley stay for dinner?" Ryder asked.

"Yeah," she mumbled clearing her throat. "I'll just make an extra plate." Ryder nodded and brought me into the living room. We played video games while we waited for dinner to start. I didn't see his father or his brother until his mom called everyone into the kitchen. I followed Ryder close behind. I caught eyes with Atticus and cringed. I took a deep breath and took my seat across from his strained fiancé and next to Ryder. His father walked in a few seconds after us. He paused when he saw me.

"Who's this?" he asked taking a seat at the head of the table.

"This is Obadiah's new friend."  His mother explained. "What was your name again?"

"Riley." I mumbled.

"What happened to Emma?" his dad asked.

"Nothing dad." Ryder explained. "Riley is just a friend. I thought it would be nice to have her over for dinner." Stacie, Atticus's fiancé, looked between the two of us anxiously.  

"Dinner smells lovely Beth." She smiled trying to take the attention off of me. I felt the heat of Atticus's eyes on me. I sighed and stared down at my food. I tried to calm my shaky hand. I was trying to contain myself. All I could hear in the back of my mind was Chris's voice.

"Is this the girl I raised you to be? You know better. How could you just sit across from the man that disrespected you? Make him pay Riley. Make him suffer. Stand up for yourself. Don't let him intimidate you. He wants you to look at him. Look at him. Look at him god damn it!"

I looked up and our eyes met. I didn't back down. I stared into his dark unfeeling brown eyes and didn't wince. He hasn't taken anything away from me. Not my pride, not my fight, not my courage and I refuse to let him think he has. Fuck him.

Fuck him and all he stands for.

"That's the girl I raised. Make him pay."

I bit my lip slightly ashamed. I didn't want to cower down to him, but I never wanted to revert back to the old Riley. The Riley raised by a gang leader. Ruthless and hungry. The last time I did that I strangled a girl with a belt, had my boyfriend cut her up into pieces, and buried a bag of her remains in the desert.

Let's not go through that again.

"So Riley tell me a little bit about yourself." His father said.

"Um..."

"Are you the Riley working for my sister?" I nodded. "She seems to like you." I didn't know what to say to that. "So why are you at my dinner table eating my food?" I chocked a bit on my drink caught off guard by the question.

"Jeff." His mother bit out.

"What Beth? I don't want to deal with this small talk nonsense. Why are you here?"

"Ryder invited me." I said glaring at him.

"Why?"

"I don't know." I growled. "Why don't you ask him that?"

"Because I'm asking you." He said staring down at me. His eyes narrowed as if he was trying to bully me into answering him. I scoffed. He looks like a dumbass. He's so unhappy with himself he feels the need to make everyone miserable. That's not going to work with me. I don't respond well to any want-to-be. I smiled at him.