Andy huffed and left.
Trevor returned to gaze at sleeping Daniel, then jolted when his father said, “What happened?”
Robert came closer. His hair was sandy, whereas Trevor’s was black like his mother’s. Robert's grandfather had made the family fortune by working closely with the Nazis before escaping Europe in the nick of time. Kim, however, was pure Texas, as she loved to point out whenever possible.
“I asked, what happened?” Robert towered over Trevor, who still sat on the carpet.
“He fell down a hill.”
“Did I ask you to simplify the story?”
Trevor exhaled, feeling vulnerable at his father’s feet. “We played a trick on him. He wasn’t supposed to fall.Then...”
“Yes?”
“Then Andy poked around Daniel’s cut a bit.”
Robert clenched and unclenched his fists. “And was Daniel awake while you allowed your brother to do that?”
“Yes.” Trevor was a kid again, about to get locked in the attic or beaten bloody. Knowing he deserved it only made it worse.
“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, although his father hated mumbling. “It was stupid.Iwas stupid.”
Andy entered the room with a glass of juice.
Robert gave him a stern look. “You couldn’t help yourself, could you?”
Andy looked down. “Sorry, father.”
Robert turned to Trevor. “You promised to watch over your brother and keep him in line. Maybe we should—”
“Stop. Please. It won’t happen again.” His father had been threatening to send Andy away to “get help” for years, only stopping from doing so thanks to Trevor vowing to keep his brother in check. Kim hadn’t been much help, saying that maybe Andy would be better off somewhere else. Trevor sometimes wondered why he even loved that selfish woman.
Despite today’s fuckup, the only way that they were sending Andy away was over Trevor’s cold, dead body.
Kim entered the living room and gasped. “Oh no!”
“He’s fine,” Trevor hurried to say. “It was an accident.”
“I tried to make him better, Mom!”
“I’m sure you did, honey pie.” Kim came closer and watched Daniel through fake eyelashes. “He looks so angelic, doesn’t he? Raise his head.”
Trevor did, and Kim sat on the couch, placing Daniel’s head in her lap. She ran her fingers across his bare chest, raising goosebumps on his skin.
“This can turn into a disaster,” Robert said.
“I’ll keep a closer eye on him.” Trevor watched his mom’s traveling fingers, mesmerized and painfully jealous. “I won’t let him run.”
“Why would he run? It was just a little accident.” Kim didn’t know the full story, but she had never been a fan of the little details.
“We can’t downplay this,” Robert said irritatedly. “He has barely been here for a couple of weeks. Is it too much to ask for this family to act normal for a while longer?”
Kim rolled her eyes. “You know how much I hate that word. Common people are normal. If you wanted normal, you should’ve married that Lauren girl like your mother wanted.”
Robert pinched the bridge of his nose, while Trevor held back a smile.
“You know I’m right, Kimberly.”
