9. Linc

9

LINC

THREE YEARS AGO

“ C ome on, P. Answer the fucking door!”

“Linc, maybe she’s not home.” My brother stands next to me outside Penelope’s shitty foster home. She hasn’t been to our house for two days, and that’s fucking weird for her.

I bang on the door again. “I know you’re here! Your bike’s out front.”

My parents offered to buy her a car, but Penelope wasn’t having it because she’s a real pain in the ass. She did, however, let them buy her a bike for her sixteenth birthday.

“We aren’t leaving until we see you.”

Colt looks around the shitty neighborhood, looking worried. I swear his face looks the same as it did the first day we met P. We come from the same privileged background, but this type of setting definitely makes my brother uncomfortable.

He likes to hold his girlfriend close in his world but rarely steps into hers.

“Maybe we should go.”

“No fucking way. We’re here.” I turn back to the door and raise my voice, “And we aren’t leaving until we see P.”

Colt grips the back of his neck anxiously, and then finally the door opens slowly. Penelope barely peeks her head out, only the left side of her face visible. “What are you guys doing here?”

“You in hiding or something?” I ask, and Colt stiffens next to me, probably having the same uneasy feeling I have, only he shows it on his face and I’m much better at hiding it.

“No. I’ve just been busy.”

“Too busy to come and see us?” Colt sounds almost hurt.

“Why don’t you come out here and hang out for a bit?” I try to coax her out, but she looks like a frightened kitten, unmoving and not allowing the door to open more.

“I can’t. You guys should go before my foster parents get home.”

She starts to close the door, but I stop her, placing my hand in and opening the door further.

Red hot rage soars through my body when I see her right eye is swollen and purple. “What the fuck happened?”

Colt moves to her, pulling her into his arms, holding her close. “Pea, what happened?”

She buries her face in his chest and doesn’t say a word.

It’s clear what happened, but we need to hear it, and I ask, “P, did your foster father do that to you?”

She lifts her head out of Colt’s embrace, turning to look at me shyly. “It’s not a big deal.”

What the fuck is she talking about? She’s told us some shit over the years about living in foster care, how she’s bounced from house to house since she was six and how most of the time it was fine. She would get the occasional bad one where the food was terrible or the parents’ heat was turned off because they didn’t pay the bill, but not once did she mention physical abuse.

“Not a big deal? What the fuck is the matter with you, Penelope? That’s a big fucking deal.”

Colt tucks her to his side, glaring at me. “Take it easy on her.”

“No fucking way, Colt. You can’t be okay with this.”

“Of course I’m not, but calm the hell down.”

I turn to Penelope. “What happened?”

She shrugs her shoulders and looks down at the ground as if she’s ashamed, and I don’t like it. She has my family thinking she’s a meek little girl, shy and pristine, but I see something different. I see her strength, the fire burning in her eyes.

“He was drunk and pissed-off that I left my shoes on the floor.”

“So, he fucking hit you?”

She nods, lifting her eyes to look at me. “It came out of nowhere. He’s never even raised his voice before.”

“That motherfucker.”

Colt looks pained. “We have to report it.”

Now Penelope looks panicked as she shakes her head. “No. You can’t.”

He looks at her confused. “Why not? He hit you, Pea.”

She pushes out of his hold, which is strange for little Ms. Perfectly Behaved. “It doesn’t matter. I don’t want to move again. I just want to ride out my time and get to graduation.”

“But he hit you. What if it happens again?”

“It will,” I add, knowing this isn’t an isolated incident.

She looks directly at Colt. “Promise me you won’t say anything. I don’t want to deal with cops and then getting moved again. I’m tired of it, Colt.”

He swallows, contemplating actually not doing anything.

“We’ll do it for you then.”

She turns to me. “No. You can’t. They’ll still question me. They’ll move me . Not you .”

“So fucking what. They’ll move you somewhere better.”

She looks disturbed, her red lips turning into a frown. “Are you kidding? The next place could be worse. It’s like playing roulette, and I’m tired of spinning the wheel.”

We’ve always known Penelope was in foster care and goes to a different school than us, but she’s never seemed any different. Facing the harsh reality of the vastly different way she’s grown up is unsettling.

“Okay, fine. I’ll talk to the fucker myself and make sure he never does this again.”

Colt seems on board with that, but P shakes her head vehemently. “No. You guys need to let this go. You’ll just cause trouble for me.”

“We have to do something, Pea.”

She turns to Colt, desperately pleading with him because she knows it won’t work on me. “You have to promise me, Colt. Please tell me you won’t do anything. You won’t go near my foster father. You won’t report it. You’ll just leave it alone.”

“Don’t you fucking dare promise her that, Colt,” I growl.

Neither of them look at me, and I see my brother is lost in her blue-eyed, red-lipped trance. “Please, Colt.”

I watch his throat bob as he nods his head, still looking into her eyes. “Okay. I won’t.”

“Promise?”

He nods his head again. “I promise.”

What the everloving fuck? I shake my head and look at my brother, disgusted that he could promise that. “Colt.”

Penelope lays a quick kiss on his lips, brushing his cheek with her hand and then turning to me. “Don’t make any trouble for me, Linc. Let it go. Please.”

“I’m not making any promises.”

She looks furious, and I see that fire I enjoy. “You’ll only make it worse. Stay away from him.” She turns to Colt. “I love you. I’ll see you in a couple of days.”

She walks back inside the house and closes the door behind her. I turn to face Colt. “What the fuck were you thinking?”

He walks toward my car. “I don’t want to make more trouble for her. She seemed adamant.”

I follow him, standing by the driver’s side. “She’s a victim of abuse. They never want to report it. You’re her boyfriend, for Christ’s sake.”

“Linc, drop it.”

“We have to do something. Send him a fucking message.”

“No. I promised her we wouldn’t.”

“No.” I point at him, my keys in my hand. “ You promised you wouldn’t. Leave me the fuck out of it.”

“Linc, you can’t do anything.”

I open my door and climb behind the wheel as he joins me. “I’m just going to talk to him.”

“Don’t. I promised her.”

“You did. I didn’t.”

I start the engine and take off. How the fuck are we even related?

There’s no way I’m letting this go.