Who Are You?

Chapter 3

Amanda’s pov:

          We heard it, we all heard it. I cringed at the sound of the belt hitting him as the little kids looked like they could start crying at any second. “What’s going on?” Ben asks as I got on one knee and said, “Cole is in trouble and um they are talking to him.” I couldn’t. I couldn’t do it. I could not sit there and tell him that his brother was getting whipped. Timmy and Keira knew exactly why I was not telling Ben about the whipping part. “Kids, come inside now!” Richard shouts out the back door and we all go inside. “Sit down.” Jackie says as we all obey and sit down. “Jackie and I will be leaving the house for a week to go take care of some business, okay? So, Lucas is in charge. We will be leaving tonight.” Richard says as we all nod and they go to their room to pack up. I look at the clock and see its five-thirty. “Okay guys, go do your homework and I’ll go check on Cole.” I say as they nod and went to get started. Before I could go upstairs, the doorbell rings. Shocked and confused at why the doorbell rings, I go answer it before Richard and Jackie finds out. “Hey! I...” “Shh!” I said cutting Autumn off as I grab her hand and pulled her upstairs. “What are you doing here?” I whispered once we were in my room. “To work on the assignment with Lucas.” Autumn says as I roll my eyes and said, “He is gonna have to go to work in about thirty minutes.” “Oh good, I can just go with him.” She says as I roll my eyes again. I motioned her to follow me and put my finger to my lips telling her to be quiet. She nods as we go to Cole’s room and the door is locked, but it slides on open. I opened the door as Autumn slips in and walks over to where Cole is. Stalker. I thought to myself as I hear her gasp lowly and her hand goes to her mouth. Worried I walk over to see Cole is sleeping shirtless and is laying on his stomach, showing his back off. I gasp a little too, not because of his back but because Autumn has seen it. I quickly pull her out of there and back into my room. Before she can ask any questions I say, “If you EVER mention this to anybody, I swear I will kill you.” She looks shocked and scared but I don’t care. “B-But what happened? Why is his back like that?” She asks me and I sigh. “It’s his place to tell you not mine. If he doesn’t want to talk about it, don’t push it.” I tell her as I hear Cole’s alarm go off. “Can you at least tell me why I can’t ask him about it or whatever?” She asks me and I close my door so Cole won’t hear us. “Because it has to do with his past and he doesn’t like to talk about it. So please listen to me. If he doesn’t want to talk about it, don’t push him.” I whispered to her as I go into the hallway and Autumn follows me. I knock on Cole’s door and he says, “Come in.” I open the door as Autumn and I step in as he puts his shirt over his head, showing Autumn his six-pack. “Hey oh.” He says as he pulls his shirt down and looks at Autumn, his face going red a little. “What are you doing here?” He asks Autumn and she blushes then says, “Our assignment.” He laughs a little and shakes his head. “Oh hey guess what?” I say to Cole as he buttons his shirt and says, “Yeah?” “Richard and Jackie are gonna go out of town for a week.” I say as his eyes widen and his mouth drops, but quickly turns to a smile. He grabs me by my waist, lifts me up, and spins me while he laughs. “That’s wonderful news, sis.” He says as he puts me down and I fix his collar for him. He gives me a smile and I give him a hug. Clearing her throat we turned to see Autumn and her face reddens a little. “Oh hey, I got to go to work, can you take care of the kids for me?” He says with pleading eyes as I smile and say, “Of course I will.” He sighs with relief and kisses my cheek before he heads downstairs. Autumn and I follow him and when we walked into the living room, the kids were giving him hugs and kisses before he left for work. “Don’t worry, I’ll be back later.” He tells him before he heads to the door. “Lucas!” Jackie shouted as my eyes widened and I hid Autumn in the kitchen. “Guys, go upstairs. Now.” Cole tells them as they grab their homework and head to their rooms. “Lucas!” Jackie shouts again as she comes into the living room. I pull Autumn to the other side of the table where we had a clear view of what was happening in the living room between Jackie and my brother. “What?” He hisses at her and she slaps him across the face as Autumn gasps lowly and puts her hand to her mouth. “It’s ma’am. Not what. Understand?” She shouts at him and I could tell he was biting his tongue. “Now listen. Richard and I are going to go out of town for a week, you are in charge. Where are you going?” She tells him as he nods okay and says, “Work.” “Work? No, you have to babysit. You are staying here tonight.” Jackie says as I pray Cole doesn’t talk back. “How else are the bills gonna get paid? How will the kids get fed, huh? Besides Scarlet will be here. They will be fine. Unless of course, you want to pay the bills.” Cole says and I sigh softly hoping Jackie will let him off the hook for once. Jackie glares at him until she lets out a sigh and says, “Go to work.” Jackie turns around and heads back to her room and its safe for us to come out. “You okay?” I ask him as I look at his cheek. He simply looks down at his shoes and says, “Yes, I’m fine. Call me if you need me, okay?” He gives me kiss on my cheek before he and Autumn leave.