I creep down the stairs, my nightgown that was too long trailing behind me. I had heard Mom's quiet whimpers again. I hated it when she did that. I hated it when she cried.
Random nights like this had started to come more and more often. I'd creep out of my bed and down the stairs to find Mom on the couch, Dad cradling her in his arms. Mom's sobs broke my young heart. Dad tried to be strong for her, but I'd often catch tears streaming down his face as well, silent and solemn.
"Gen?"
Before I can get down the stairs, Elena emerges from her bedroom, arms crossed and sleep in her eyes. "What're you doing babe?"
"Elena, Mommy's crying again," I whisper, pointing down the stairs.
She glances down and then strains to hear the sobs. I can tell when she notices them because her lips press into a fine line. She gently grabs me around my chubby little wrist and pulls me into herself. I sit on her lap and she strokes my hand.
"Why is she crying Elena? It scares me."
"Now, Gen," she starts gently. "Mommy and Daddy lost someone a long time ago." She swallows. "It's hard for them and they still need a cry every now and then," is all she says.
As a young girl, I hadn't bothered to ask much more. I didn't push. Mom and Dad were struggling with a loss and that's all I needed to know.
Never, in all the time I'd had to myself alone on the streets, did I dream that the person they were mourning was someone I should've grown up to know and love.
No one ever told me who it was, when I had every right to know.
No one ever told me...
That I had a brother.
I grip the side of the chair forcefully. Tears push their way over my eyelids rapidly. Aunt Cassie looks at me with such pain in her face, I almost forget how much I hate her right now.
"You..." I gasp.
She shakes her head regretfully. "Honey, I-"
"Don't call me that," I demand, surprising even myself. "You... You killed him," I whisper the pain so evident in my voice that it physically hurts.
"Gen..." she pleads.
"Don't tell me it was an accident!" I hiss. "You didn't get drunk on accident. You didn't start driving that car on accident."
"Gen, your parents were getting ready to tell you but you were so young, they didn't want to hurt you like that yet and-"
"There wouldn't be anything to tell if you hadn't decided to go for a drive after too much BEER!" I accuse my voice getting louder.
"Gen, I'm so tired of the guilt. I wanted to apologize and put the past behind I-"
"You expect me to hear I had a brother and then just put it all behind me???" I shriek.
Never have I been so angry. Never have I actually hated a person. Not until today.
"Gen?"
Mrs. T's voice comes from upstairs. I don't even flinch. I keep staring Aunt Cassie right in the eye, the waterfall of tears still flooding.
"You waltz in here, finally tell me this dirty secret and expect me to go back home and live happily ever after with you?" I mock.
Aunt Cassie stares at her hands. "Maybe it was foolish to think you could ever forgive me."
