A Tale of Three Brothers (Completed)

The Ugly Truth

"Trust me you won't like her," Sam said.

Lara sat up and swung one leg over his hips so she was straddling him. "It's cute that you think I'm asking."

There were more people at the barbeque than anyone expected. Trisha had spent all morning decorating the house. She'd put up U.S. flag curtains and baked flag cookies. She'd even bought herself a 4th of July outfit. She'd tried to talk Sam and his brothers into dressing up as well, but that didn't go so well.

It had been a long time since there was anything worth celebrating at the Tavert house. Dad had started up the grill and the smell of barbeque blocked out the smell of the kiwis. Pop music played from a speaker. Several of Trisha's out of town friends had even stopped by. "Elliot had even invited Karen Walker, the girl from across the street over.

"Since when was this a thing?" Sam asked Elliot as Karen went to say hi to Trisha.

"You're talking to me again?" Elliot asked.

"Don't change the subject," Sam said. "That is an actual girl out there."

"Shut up, Sam," Elliot said, but his face had turned red and he was grinning.

Dylan came running down the stairs. "She's here. She's here."

"Whose here?" Sam asked.

Dylan ran past them and opened the front door. Sam felt like he should've known it would be Martha.

It'd been weeks since they'd last seen each other. Martha hugged Sam like they were old friends. "It's good to see you," she said. "And you," she added as she hugged Elliot.

"What are you doing here?" Sam asked.

Everyone looked at him, confused. "The barbeque," Martha said. She frowned. "Isn't that what we're all here for?"

"Yeah, I know," Sam said. "I meant-"

"I'm gonna get some food," Martha said. "Dylan, you coming?"

Dylan shrugged and followed Martha to the backyard. "Dude, what's up with you?" Elliot asked.

"Nothing," Sam said. "I'm just gonna go and...wait for Lara."

Lara arrived as the sun was going down. Sam could feel the bottles clinking around inside her coat as she hugged him, and she smelled as she always did-like beer and weed. "How much did she have?" Elliot asked when she was out of earshot.

Sam shrugged. He was far too preoccupied with Martha's strange behavior to pay attention to Lara's normal behavior. All afternoon he'd watched Martha smile and laugh like he hadn't found her near dead in a park three weeks ago.

"Babe, did you hear me?"

Sam looked down. Lara was offering him a glass filled with some a clear liquid. He was willing to be his own kidney's that it wasn't water.

Sam downed whatever was in the cup, and immediately regretted it, because it burned his throat. "Let's go outside with the others," Lara said.

The adults had decided to go inside and watch the fireworks on T.V. Elliot, Karen, Sam and Martha were out back watching the fireworks some of the neighbors were shooting off.

The lights from the fireworks reflected off their faces as they watched. "It's beautiful," Martha said.

"It really is," Lara agreed. She reached into her jacket and pulled a bottle whose label Sam couldn't see in the dark. "How about a toast?" She said.

"How about we don't?" Elliot said.

"I'm cool with it," Karen said. She took the bottle from Lara. "Here's to whatever people usually toast to on days like this."

Sam watched in disbelief. "The girl next door can drink," he said. "Who knew?"

Karen passed the bottle to Martha, who didn't hesitate. She took a much longer drink than Karen had, and Dylan had to tug the bottle away from her. "That was for all the sucky people in the world," Martha said.

If Sam had been thinking, he would have taken the bottle from Martha. But whatever he'd had earlier was just starting to hit him.

They sat and watched the fireworks until there were no more. The time was nearing midnight and Karen said she had to get going. Elliot volunteered to walk her.

Dylan pulled Sam aside as everyone was going back inside. "I don't think Martha should go back home tonight," he said.

Sam looked at Martha, who at some point had fallen asleep in one of the patio chairs. "All right, fine," Sam said. "But she's gotta sleep in Elliot's room. I don't think he's coming back tonight anyway."

"Yeah, I guess?" Dylan said. "Why?"

Sam nodded his head towards Lara. Dylan wrinkled his nose. "Gross, Sam."

Sam shrugged. "

"Alright, fine," he said. "You can have the room."

Sam woke up around 4 in the morning. At first, he thought it was Lara's snoring that had woken him, but then he heard the bathroom door across from his room close and the water turn on. He relaxed and stared up at the top of Dylan's bunk bed. Lara mumbled to herself and turned away from her in her sleep.

After thirty minutes of laying there, Sam realized two things: he wasn't going to be able to get any sleep next to Lara and he really had to pee.

He got out of bed, careful not to wake Lara.

But the bathroom door was locked. He knocked. "Dylan, you in there?"

When there was no answer, Sam frowned. He went over to the other room and peered inside. Dylan was asleep in a sleeping bag on the floor, and Elliot hadn't come home. That meant it could really only be one person inside the bathroom.

Sam argued with himself. Maybe she's taking a dump, one half of him said. What if she's plotting to kill herself, the other slightly more dramatic side asked.

Sam compromised and decided to peek under the door. He could see Martha's toes and he could see that she wasn't using the bathroom. He sat down on the other side of the door. "Someone has to pay for that water," he joked.

Martha didn't say anything. "Come on, Martha. Talk to me," Sam said.

Still, Martha said nothing.

Sam stayed outside the bathroom. "Do you remember that 4th of July two years ago?" he asked. "The one where my mom grounded me? Well, you were wrong, you know? I didn't do it because I liked Sarah. I did it because he pushed her. He pushed her, and I wanted to kick his ass, but I knew I'd never win that fight."

"Why are you telling me this?" Martha asked.

"Because you aren't Sarah, and I don't know how to help you."

Sam heard Martha take in a sharp breath. He wasn't sure why he was telling her these things now. A long time ago, it would have been her on the other side of the door trying to bring him out of whatever foul mood he was in. This was bigger than that, he knew, but he felt it was a debt that needed to be repaid.

Martha opened the door and Sam stood up. "They didn't want me, Sam," Martha said. He could tell she'd been crying.

"Who didn't?" Sam asked.

Martha didn't answer, but Sam knew what she meant. He stepped inside the bathroom. "Martha, tell me what happened. Maybe, I can help."

She shook her head. "You don't get it, Sam.  They saw me naked and they didn't want me. I wasn't raped. They said I was too ugly to be with anyone...like that. So, they... beat me to make me prettier. It went on for hours, Sam. Hours. Because you were too scared to give me a ride that day"

Martha wiped at her tears. "So, you'll excuse me when I say that your help is the last thing I want."