Two You Are The Man, Right?
mentions abusive behavior
Now, Now
Where is Mari?
Avery can hear the question as she comes up the stairs, a pomegranate lemonade cold in a glass. It sends pins and needles to her palm. She probably put too much ice. She always does, for everything. Rafe gets bothered when she puts too much ice in his whiskey's, sometimes. He'll mumble some cruel thing under his breath about how she can't remember the simple details that matter most about him. It's fucking whiskey, Ave. Not a damn test. It's three goddamn ice cubes. She then acts like it doesn't hurt her feelings, but it always does. Some things aren't worth fighting back.
She still hasn't gotten very good at that.
Her youngest sister, Madison, is the one asking for Mari.
Madison is always asking for a sister at her hand. She's the youngest, it's suppose to happen like this.
Mari was supposed to be down exactly fourteen minutes ago to watch some movie Mads needs to see with someone other than herself. It's one of her favorites. Josie is never really home to sit down and watch a movie with her sisters, and when she is home (like now) she never wants to be away from her room. Or away from Bess. No one knows why. Bess on the other hand has grown painfully, for some reason. She's always out late on the weekends. Having Avery help sneak her back in. She's missing practices. And during the days, she sleeps a lot. She's probably depressed, but Rich doesn't believe in that kind of thing. Doesn't make you an asset. We all have a part to play. So, play. Which has Avery never asking for Bess for much of anything anymore, because she feels too much. Avery simply can't do movies. She'd love to watch one with Mads, but it could never happen peacefully. She hasn't been able to sit through movies, like ever. She can't sit that long without losing her damn mind. Another thing Rafe can't stand about her, he loves to fall asleep to movies that he won't really pay attention too and Avery would rather walk the marsh in his backyard six times before she finally got tired.
Avery's jaw clenches as she reaches the upstairs hall, her bedroom door is cracked open. She had left it close, she always does. The girl pushes her door open the rest of the way and glares harshly. "Mari, what the hell are you doing in here." The said younger girl lays across Avery's bed. She's got her nose dug into Avery's phone. Mari looks over at her sister, "You know you have twenty five missed calls from Rafe in the last three days? Sixteen unread messages? And two very mean voicemails from yesterday and this morning. Where the hell even is he?"
How the fuck did she even get into my phone.
Avery's once calm heart is now rattling in her chest. Mari is always pushing her buttons, she has been since she's turned thirteen.
She just wanted some damn lemonade.
Mari beams, something cruel and attention seeking. "Aren't you going to ask me how I got in?" Avery just glares. Mari rolls her eyes, "Rafe's birthday is pretty cheesy, Avery."
Trust me, she knows.
"Get off my phone, Mari. I'm serious." Avery places down her drink, her fingers rubbing into her cold palm. She's trying to stop the pin and needles popping under her skin.
Mari and her waves just continue to smile at her sister. She doesn't have blonde hair like her older sisters. "He wants to know why you aren't answering? Obviously. He keeps saying how fucked it is if you're doing our shit without him. Whatever the hell that means. He hopes you aren't seeing any guys—like that Marlo guy. Who the hell is Marlo? He also said some stuff about his dad. Which makes him sound a little mental, Ward is dead, Ave. Oh, and a cross? Some guy who might want to buy it? Rose being a bitch, like usual. She threw a glass drink at him this morning, well tried too. His words not mine. He did mention he missed you, just once, but that was before he got mad you weren't answering him. What cross is he talking about? Sounds way too serious for you to know anything about—"
"Mari, I swear to god. Give me the phone and get the hell out of here. Now."
Mari rolls her eyes again and stands from the girls bed, phone in hand. "You should really answer him, the voicemails were literally crazy." Avery tries very hard to bite her tongue. Her phone is inches away from her touch when Mari snickers and pushes her a little. Avery stumbles back into her dresser, lemonade falls to the floor. The glass shatters on the wood floors instantly. Avery's back slams at the dressers edge and she gasps for air. Mari is running towards the stairs when Avery takes everything in. "Mari, what the fuck! This isn't a game!"
She had to know that, right?
Avery pushes from the dresser and races out of her room. Her bare feet slap against the floors as she runs after her laughing sister. "Mari, give it back!"
The house is instantly loud, when it never is.
Madi looks over the back of the couch, eyes wide. Avery can hear a door and another from upstairs open and close quick. "Mari!" Avery yells once again as the two enter the kitchen. They're across from each other, the kitchen island between them both. Mari waves the phone around, "Who is Marlo? What the hell is the cross!"
"What the hell are you two doing!" Josie stands on the last stair, eyes wide. Bess is a few up, a palm rubbing into an eye. Her hair is sticking up in all kinds of places. She looks rotted. Hair fried. Left over makeup in her waterlines. She probably smells like watermelon vodka.
Mari's gaze lands on her oldest sister and in that quick second of lack of attention, Avery books it towards her. She knows she shouldn't. She shouldn't test Mari more, but it's her damn phone. And she was doing a good fucking job at ignoring Rafe. Mari yells, something full of glee. She beats Avery by a second, and passes by the front door—but Avery gets to her. The two crash into the wall next to the door and Mari cries out again, less of glee and more pain. Avery winces and tries wrestling for her phone. Madi and Jo and Bess gasp as a vase the other two start to knock over begins tipping from behind them.
"Guys, shit!" Bess yells, suddenly a little too awake too quick.
Jo and Bess run towards the two. Madi is stepping all over the elongated couch to get to the vase.
Jo rips the two apart just as the vase falls. The vase goes tumbling into Madi's smaller hands, she gasps as she catches it. All five girls stare down at the vase with widen eyes. It's one of the last five vases in this house that belonged to their late mother. Their father treasures them like they were parts of her body.
Rid Verona has been dead for eight years now. The vases are fucking ugly too.
"What the fuck is the matter with you two!" Jo yells and snatches the phone from Mari's grasp. "You shouldn't be going through peoples shit, Mars! That's not fucking cool!" Mari scoffs, the side of her arm pounding from the wall hit. She's trying to play it off but her bottom lip wants to shake. "Avery is never hanging out with us anymore! Of course you wouldn't see that, you weren't here! No one is ever here anymore! Ave is too busy sucking Rafe Cameron's dick!—"
"Hey!" Jo and Avery and Bess yell towards Mari at the same time.
Madi lets out an uncomfortable breath as she stands on two shaking legs, big vase in her arms.
The three older sisters and the first little sister start yelling at each other as Madi's eyes fill with fat tears. She's always been a bit sensitive, but nothing like Bess on her bad days.
"Hey, hey, hey! Girls, what are we damn doing? Huh?"
The voice is deep and silence falls amongst the girls instantly. All their heads move towards the area behind them, Rich Verona stands before the back glass doors. He looks irritated at the volume. There's too many big bags along his two thick arms. Mari takes a huge step back from the other three. Jo lets out a shaking breath as she pushes the phone into Avery's abdomen. She may have just gotten home a few weeks ago, but she knows what happens already. She's been filled in. Her father made sure of it. Made sure she knew. Avery gasps a little at Jo's push, fumbling hands grabbing at her phone as she stumbles back a little herself. Bess pets down her own hair, tries to tame it and takes a deep breath. Madi can't stop shaking. She happens to sniffle and Jo winces, looking down at her sandal feet. Avery is fucked and Jo knows it. Mari looks over at Avery, suddenly all too guilty. Avery's jaw clenches, Rich's eyes glaring into her own. "What is going on. Why is Madi crying and holding Rid's vase." His voice is sharp and cunning.
Hearing her mother's name fall from her father's lips makes Bess exhale painfully loud.
No one really likes to talk about her anymore. The woman, the mother, who drowned herself in their marsh. God.
"Mari had Avery's phone. She just wanted it back. It wasn't that serious. Everything's fine, dad." Jo says, her voice is suddenly soft and clear. She's trying to soften the blow, but that is not her job. Rich doesn't even send her a glance, he is still glaring at Avery. He's even more pissed that Josie answered and not Avery. He does not want to hear Josie.
"If everything's fine, why the hell is Madi crying and holding that damn vase."
Avery slowly pockets her phone and moves her gaze towards Madi, who's staring at her with wide, scared eyes. Avery swallows hard as she moves towards her littlest sister. She passes Mari on the way to Madi, and gently squeezes her shaking traitor hand along the way. Jo watches Avery from the corner of her eye. Bess won't even dare to look. That use to be her, the helper. The fixer. But her emotions got too heavy and she disappeared into the couch. Avery gently tucks Madi's dark hair behind her ear, she's the only daughter that looks like Rich. It's why she's his favorite. (He has a son. He has a son. He has a son.) "It's okay, Madi." Avery whispers as she takes the vase from her shaking sister's arms. Madi lets out a deep choked up breath as her arms are finally freed from the vase. Avery carefully places it back on its stand.
"We're good," Avery whispers to her girls. Time for them to scatter. It's a warning. Avery still has her back towards everyone as she stares at the vase. It's a pink and white marble that doesn't really go with their interior design at all. But Rid wanted it, so Rid got it.
Avery thinks the vase would've been beautiful in another life, another family, another home.
Rich nods at the girls. Jo is quick to help Madi up and grabs her shaking hand and nudges her towards the stairs, right past their father. Bess doesn't send the man a glance as she rushes after Jo. Mari looks back at Avery, but Jo whispers her name sharply. Mari looks back towards Jo and hurries up the stairs with them.
Rich waits for doors to close upstairs.
"Avery." The girls watered over eyes look over her shoulder at her father, her hands are shaking. She balls them up into fist. "What the did I tell you about keeping things together around here. You're supposed to rally them up. Keep their shit together. One of Rid's vases was almost broken?"
Who gives a fuck about one of her ugly ass vases, when she killed herself in our backyard.
She hates that he still talks about her like she's in the other room. She's fucking dead. She is not around the corner. She had horrible taste in interior.
"Help me with these fucking groceries."
She lets out a shaking breath and moves towards the man, quick. She takes bags from his arms and they move towards the kitchen. "I want to know what happened. Moment after moment."
Moment after moment.
Be an asset to the family.
Stay with the fortune.
She takes in a breath and starts pulling things out of bags as he starts putting them in the right places. "And stop with the shaking hands. I ain't gonna hit you."
Breathe.
She stares so hard at the groceries, practically willing her tears away. "Mari just had my phone. She wouldn't give it back. But I... I was being dramatic. I shouldn't have egged her on. It escalated quickly. I'm sorry, dad..."
As she passes him a bottle of orange juice, he grabs her arm instead of the drink. She winces and the orange juice shakes in her grasp. Rich gets close, his eyes practically red. "Do I need to talk to Mari." A good parent probably should, but they don't have any of those anymore. So, no, Mari does not need to be talked to.
"No."
Rich doesn't let go, but he nods. "What did I tell you about keeping shit floating around here. If you don't have your shit together the rest of us will sink after you, Avery."
(Avery fucking hates Mace Verona for leaving her with this responsibility.)
She knows she shouldn't, but she does. She always does. She's not too good at biting her tongue when she truly needs to. But she's trying. Maybe she needs to try harder. "I don't get why it's my responsibility. This was Mace's job! Jo is the oldest now. She's the first born daughter, this should be her job now—"
Big mistake mentioning the cut off son, stupid.
"Hey," he jerks her arm hard. She gasps and the orange juice slips from her hand and lands on the counter. It makes quite a loud noise, landing on its side. It doesn't leak. Thank god. Her chest slams into her father's, everything about him is so solid. She shakes against him. She hates being this close to his face, when he starts to look like a dog. "I have told you this a million times. He doesn't live here. Jo doesn't live here anymore either. She willed herself out of this fortune. She isn't good enough for us. She goes to college on the mainland. She's never here during the year. You don't go to college. You do shit around here. You get shit done for me, it's good. You were your mother's favorite, not Jo, not Bess, not Mari. You. So, you're the man of the house. Get that shit straight, Avery. I don't want anymore fuckin' mistakes from you." He lets go of her arm and she stumbles back a little. Just like that Mace does not exist anymore. She should have never mentioned him. Her skin feels like it has a heartbeat now. She think she has a moment to breathe but she doesn't. She flinches when her phone is yanked out of her back pocket, it's shoved into her face. It all happens os quick. She's staring at Rich again, he's got a brow raised, his teeth baring. He is a dog. "What's so important on here that Mari can't keep her fucking nose out of it? Do I gotta know, Avery?"
Absolutely fucking not. Rafe would kill her before Rich could.
You need to calm down Avery. The girl takes in a breath, tries and squares her shoulders. Her father watches her jaw clench. "It's nothing. Really," she says. She tries not to have her voice shake. She's not sure if it's worked. He eyes her for a second and places the phone on the counter. He says nothing and grabs at the orange juice and moves towards the fridge. Avery snatches her phone and puts it back in her pocket. "You're starting to act like Rafe Cameron." He spits to finish it all off.
Avery's lips part, eyes glazing over again. "I—I am not Rafe."
He looks back at her. "Then start proving that to me."
When she finally makes it upstairs, face white hot, blood pumping quick, she almost slams her door. But she pauses and flinches at Madi on her hands and knees—she's cleaning up the shattered glass. Bess is down next to her, a towel in her hands to soak up the lemonade. Jo sits on Avery's bed, closest to her window and seems to be steadying her breathing. "I don't get it!" She spits out, quick, mean, and loud.
Mari is nowhere to be seen.
Bess' head snaps towards her older sister. Avery's eyes widen at the outburst and she closes her door softly, moves to Jo quick. Her cold hands take Jo's face, "Don't be loud. Please." Avery is shaking. Madi looks over at the two, glass shards falling into the trash bin. Jo rolls her eyes. Avery looks back at Bess, she shakes her head. You don't have to do that. Bess continues anyway. She has to do something. She needs to be better but doesn't know how to do that anymore. Avery then looks at Madi, "Baby, get up. You don't have to be doing that." Madi stands, smiles at Avery's warm tone. She moves towards the other girls and sits next to Jo. Jo drags a hand over Madi's hair. "What don't you get?" Madi whispers to Jo, unknowing.
Jo and Bess and Avery all share a look, knowing.
Avery always knows what's coming. She lets go of Jo's older face. Bess sighs over the trash.
"Why the hell do you stay. I could get you guys out of here. I know people, back at school! People who could help! We wouldn't have to deal with this anymore!"
Bess won't dare to speak. Be an asset—
Avery glares a little and takes her attention to the rest of the broken glass, she bends at the knees. Bess peeks a glance at her, wet rag in her hands. It makes her skin sticky. "And what, we move to New York with you? With no contact Mace? Yeah right, who do you think pays for your schooling, Mel!"
"Dad does," Bess mumbles.
"Thank you!" Avery mutters, a nod towards Bess.
Jo's jaw clenches and she takes Madi into her side. "We'd figure it out after. We could be—"
"Josie, no."
"Avery—"
"I said no. Drop it."
Avery's eyes are back on the last shards and Bess stands with the soaked lemonade rag. Jo mumbles something, probably unkind and stands. She takes Madi's hand and leads the two out of the room. When they're gone the tension in Avery's shoulder fade. She sags.
"You good?" Bess asks quietly, still holding the rag.
This is them. Bess and Avery.
You good? Yeah, I'm good.
Avery looks up at her, she takes in her sunken in face. Her tacky skin. Messy hair. Dark bags. Hollow eyes. She knows Jo is right. They need to get out of her before something really bad happens. Her sweet older sister looks like she's constantly kicked in the back—
"Yeah, I'm good."
Bess leaves with the rag for the laundry room.
When Avery is alone, door closed— she reaches for her phone in her back pocket. She stares at all of the texts, calls, and voicemails.
She calls Rafe. It just rings. Till it doesn't.
"Hey. Missed your call. My bad. I'll get back to you eventually. Yeah, thanks."
She squeezes the phone in her palm and stares at the shattered glass in her trash bin.
Her father called her Rafe Cameron.
She could fucking kill him, both of them.
She'd be Rafe then, a real man.
Rich Verona had all his girls home. He acts like his son isn't real. Like he drowned that night in the marsh with Rid Verona. His oldest daughter may be home but he does not want her here. He feels betrayed by her. So, Rich took his pick of the litter after Mace left, and with his brute hands he man-made Avery into the son he always wanted—needed.
Avery doesn't know what he saw in her. She still doesn't know. She's not sure she'd like to find out either.
She hates her fucking brother for doing this to her.