wild star| ongoing

forty-seven

CHAPTER 47:
April 2nd, 2016
• • •

Breakfast unfolded awkwardly. The dining room had transformed into a battleground of unspoken tension.

Irene sat across from Brandy at the table with a pained expression. Her eyes flickered between her daughter and Ace, their presence together an unexpected and perplexing conundrum. Her warm smile, so often a reassuring constant, was noticeably absent, replaced by a furrowed brow and hesitant glances.

Ronnie sat beside his wife, his usual hearty appetite diminished by the discomfort in the room. His usually booming laughter was silenced, replaced by a somber countenance that betrayed his confusion. He kept shooting quizzical looks at Brandy and Ace, struggling to comprehend the shift in dynamics.

Brandy herself tried to eat and pretend as though there was nothing out of the ordinary, but she wasn't immune to their silent judgment-neither was Ace. But he continued to eat the food Irene had fixed him. His presence had come as a shock to everybody, and the fact that Brandy refused to explain why and when he had arrived weighed on their mind.

Truthfully, though, she didn't care much about what they thought. The deed had been done. It wasn't like having an epiphany now would cure her of her guilt for sleeping with somebody who wasn't her boyfriend.

Irene cleared her throat and made an attempt to break the silence that had shrouded their breakfast table in discomfort.

She turned her gaze toward Brandy and, her voice trembling slightly, ventured, "Brandy, dear, how are you holding up? Yesterday was... it was so difficult for all of us."

Brandy offered a small, appreciative smile and replied, "I'm... I'm okay, Mom. It's just... it's hard, you know? I miss him so much."

Still struggling with the unusual situation at the table, she said, "We all do. He was just a little boy..."

They lapsed into silence again and went back to finishing their breakfast. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched Ace eat nonchalantly, oblivious to the tension that his presence was causing.

But the tense atmosphere at the breakfast table finally reached its breaking point when Ronnie, unable to contain his anger any longer, slammed his fist down on the table with a resounding thud. His gruff voice thundered through the room. "Alright, I'm done pretending!"

Irene, startled by her husband's outburst, attempted to intervene, "Ronnie, please, let's not-"

"What the hell are you thinking, Brandy? Just a few hours after we cremated your son, for Christ's sake!"

"Ronnie. Please."

"No, Irene, this is ridiculous! She can't just-" He was abruptly cut off as Ace, who had been maintaining a calm demeanor, finally decided to respond.

"Hey, old man, take it easy." Ace's voice was firm, his eyes narrowing in irritation. "She needed someone, and I was there for her."

He picked up his glass of water and chugged it all down as if it would cool the embers of his rage, wiping his lips with the back of his hand. "Needed someone? And you just happened to be there, huh? Seems a bit too convenient, don't you think?"

"Ronnie!" His wife shouted, then peered over at their daughter, who didn't appear the least bit fazed by his outburst. "Just... let's not do this now. We're all hurt, and she's confused-"

But Ronnie, still seething with anger, wouldn't let it go. "Confused? And fucking her ex is gonna clear her mind or what?"

Feeding into his bitterness would hardly solve the problem, so Brandy went on eating despite her lack of appetite. Ronnie wasn't entirely wrong. They had cremated River yesterday-well, Keith and Veronica had stayed behind and seen the process through. And now she was with Ace, craving the physical comfort he would be able to provide for her.