Consequences

⟡ eight ⟡

Gina Ganley always had some kind of spark to her. Whether it was her bright eyes, or her lively smile, something about her was so inviting and comforting.
Even in kindergarten, when her smile seemed tiny, and she would steal her mother's lipstick and draw all over her face, there was an intriguing aspect to her, and that's what drew Brinley Jacobs to this girl.
The two girls had been friends since their third day of kindergarten, and on their fourth day, they became best friends with Aurelia Garcia. The three girls were inseparable. They did just about everything together. Lia and Gina would be the "mommies" while Brinley would be their "baby", as she was the smallest of the three. They would play family for hours, until one of their parents called them home for dinner.
Whenever her mother asked her if she had a boyfriend at school, Brinley would reply with "No, I have Gina and Lia. What would I need a boyfriend for?"
And Connie was always content with that answer.
But now, it wasn't Connie asking the question, it was Adelaide.
-
"No grandma, my boyfriend and I broke up last month." Brinley explained to her grandmother about the breakup after their Sunday night feast. Brinley had grown to hate speaking about Brenden. Sometimes Carter would ask about him. He still didn't understand the concept of a breakup. She dreaded going back to Monroeville next weekend.
"Then why did I see you with a boy at the library the other day?" Adelaide raised her eyebrows, catching her granddaughter in a lie. "I went to get some new books and I see you flirting in the science fiction section."
"Grandma, he's just a friend from school. He's in Anatomy and English Composition with me."
"What is his name?" The white haired woman inquired, a wrinkled smile growing on her tired face. "He was pretty cute."
"Mom!" Connie yelled as she overheard the slightly inappropriate conversation.
"So? Name?" Adelaide demanded, looking down at her perfectly manicured red nails. She wasn't doing too bad for 78 years old, she thought.
"Holden Bell." Brinley said, rolling her eyes.
"Oh." Adelaide's smile faded a bit. "He's related to Alfie Bell. Correct?"
"Yes. His little brother actually."
"Alright, I've got to go get dinner cleaned up." Adelaide stood up, walking through the archway on the left hand side of the couch. Brinley stared at her, confused. She was walking towards Harold's study, which was on the opposite side of the house, far away from the kitchen.
"She knows that's not the way to the kitchen. Right?" Brinley decided to channel her confusion to Connie.
"She's getting old dear. Plus, boy talk is new for her. She hasn't had to deal with that since I was gushing about your father, twenty some years ago." Connie explained her mother's actions, and even felt a pang of sadness in her heart as she remembered her first love, Brinley's father.
"Well she acted all weird when I said his name." Brinley took one of the toys that Carter handed to her. It was a red matchbox car. The same shade of red as her grandmother's nail polish. "It's like she already knows the guy. No- it's like she did a school report on him burning down Rome."
Connie didn't know what to say. She felt torn between keeping her daughter safe and away from the dangers that lie within the Bell family or keeping a secret that could reveal those long-hidden dangers. So instead, she just said, "I don't know," and went to actually clean the kitchen.
-
Holden spent his Sunday night amongst his family as well, and maybe it was fate, or the universe giving them a sign, but a similar conversation came up amongst Holden and his family.
"Mum, you hear that Holdy's got a girlfriend?" Alfie teased Holden, who was just trying to finish up a paper for his Composition class.
"You're a dickhead, you know that, right?" Holden glared at Alfie who sat smugly on the couch opposite of him.
Theo was in the middle of the two on a different chair, and he usually never got involved with his other brothers' lives, but he decided to come out of his shell a bit, as one of his college professors had urged the class to do last week. "I did see you with a girl the other day Holden, albeit on someone's social media."
"First of all, Language." Holden's mother, Suzanna scowled at her youngest child. "Secondly, no, I haven't heard about any girlfriend. Care to explain? One of you children?"
"Holdy's probably too afraid to talk about her so I'll do it." Alfie was always the most confident of the three boys, and although he hated when his mother called him a child, he gladly told a story that wasn't his to tell.
"He took my car the other weekend to take his mystery girl up to Sandusky. And he didn't even refill the tank."
"Here, twat." Holden mumbled the last word under his breath and handled his eldest brother a twenty dollar bill, hoping that it would bribe him to shut up as well. "How'd you even know we went to Sandusky?"
"Look, mum! He's tipping me for spilling his secrets! Anyways, I know the mileage of that car like the back of my hand. It was about 150 miles over what I left it at. And I also checked your phone when you went to the kitchen earlier."
"Who's the girl, darling? She must be special if you're already taking her to our favorite vacation spot."
"She's special alright..." Holden pretended to focus on his computer.
"I think it's Brinley Jacobs." Alfie's eyes threw daggers at Holden. "She was at Matt Wilson's "last day of summer" hangout and one minute I saw her, the next minute, Holden took her by the hand and she was gone."
Holden knew that Alfie was restricting some major details, like the fact that they were both extremely drunk and he was saving her from the dangerous drunk man whom he was related to, for his mother's sake. If she knew how fucked up two of her sons had become, she would be crushed.
"Want to explain to mum why you were there even though you graduated, what, some three years ago already?" Theo chimed in, knowing what his brother was truly doing at a high school party.
"I'm friends with Matt's older sister, who was there, might I add." Alfie defended himself.
"And you like younger women, or should I say girls, right? What is your age range this year? Nine to Fourteen?" Holden mocked his older brother's habits, and unintentionally bringing up hidden scars.
"Watch it, you fucking asshole." Alfie got out of his seat, heading towards Holden with his finger pointed, mumbling unmentionable words.
"Do I have to get your father?" Suzanna yelled at the childish men she raised, her accent getting thicker with her volume.
Alfie sat back down in his previous spot, crossing his arms and glaring at Holden once again.
"Anyways," Suzanna continued, tucking her graying hair behind her small ear. "You need to be careful around Brinley, sweetheart. There's a reason she moved, and it wasn't just a job offer. Does she know about..."
"No." Holden quickly stopped his mother from saying the words that he dreaded hearing so much. "As far as I know, she doesn't even remember me, and I've been trying my hardest not to let anything slip."
"That's my boy." Suzanna smiled weakly. She missed Brinley nearly as much as Holden did for all of those years, but her job was to protect her children, even if they were a little fucked up, or in some cases, a lot.