“I know.”
Vincent stared at me.
Ididknow. I knewwhat I was giving up if I turned him in. It wouldn’t matter to anyone that Ihadn’t done this, that I hadn’t known about it.
All of it was still myresponsibility, and it was time Itookthat responsibility.
“I know,” I repeated. “Andthey can tear it up. I’m done. I’m done with your bullshit and I’m done withyou trying touseme to get a payout you never told me about! Iwouldn’thave done all this if I’d known it was just about the money. I’m not recordinganotherword.”
“After everything I’ve donefor you,” Uncle Vincent growled. “After I pushed your no-talent ass to numbereighty-threeon the top onehundred, you’redone?”
“Yeah,” I said, my voiceeven despite the fact that I was shaking. “I’m done. And I’m telling my parentsand everyone you know what you were trying to do to me. Soyou’redone, too.”
My voice shook as I said it,but I meant it. I wasn’t letting him get away with this. Not after I’dworked myself to the bone, not after I’d been driven to the point where I wasready to give up music forever.
He couldn’t have anotherounce of my blood, sweat, or tears.
A vein in Uncle Vincent’s foreheadtwitched, his face going so red it was almost purple.
Then he lunged for me.
Fox got between us, shovingme out of the way and taking the brunt of the force as Vincent slammed him intothe wall, his head colliding with the plaster hard enough to put a crack in it.Fox groaned, and then slumped.
Uncle Vincent put his arm upagainst Fox’sthroat, pushing hard against it until he choked. I watched in horror as Foxclawed at his jacket sleeve, trying to grab it or push him out of the way,still dazed from the blow. Fox gasped for breath, wheezing as the sheer weightmy uncle was putting on him cut off his airways, his eyes rolling back in hishead.
“Stop it!” I shouted, butUncle Vincent wasn’t listening to me. He’d hated Fox from the first moment they’dmet, and now I was seeing what he was like.
If Fox hadn’t gotten betweenus, that would have been me.
Uncle Vincent would havehurt me—physically hurt me—over this.
Everyone had been rightabout him. Fox, Lucy, even Dwayne had looked at him sideways from time to time.
My body moved without mybrain even having time to come up with a solution.
I’d always,alwayshated the stupidfloral vase on the stupid sideboard, and it was in my hand before I’d consciouslydecided to pick it up.
Uncle Vincent could takeeverything else away from me, but he couldn’t have Fox.
The cheap vase shatteredover the back of Uncle Vincent’s skull. He roared and stumbled back a pace, furymaking the veins at his temples stand out like they were about to burst, murderin his eyes.
Fuck.
I’d just made things athousand times worse, and Fox was slumping down the wall, only half-conscious,and…
Thud.
Uncle Vincent went down likeGodzilla, taking the sideboard I’d grabbed the vase from crashing down with him.
Blood pounded in my ears, drowningout everything else as my head spun and my stomach threatened to turninside-out.
Was he dead?
No.
No, I could see himbreathing. He was out cold, but I hadn’t killed him.
A groan from Fox drew myattention. I was on my knees beside him before I’d even decided to move, mybody still several steps ahead of my brain.
