Part 47 (1/2)
Chapter Twelve.
Evelyn It was a Tuesday, in the afternoon, after my introductory math cla.s.s ended. The work was trivial. I barely paid attention. My tutors did a masterful job of preparing me.
My phone rang.
”Evelyn,” my father said.
”h.e.l.lo, Father,” I said, cheerfully. ”How are you?”
”Shut up,” he growled. ”Walk back to your dormitory. Now.”
He hung up.
I almost dropped the phone. My fingers were trembling. Victor would be over after cla.s.ses to pick me up. If Father saw us together...
He was waiting for me. I knew it. My feet moved on their own. I drifted out of the lecture hall and down the hall, then outside. Then, I saw him. He was standing on the sidewalk in front of my dormitory building. After a quick glance to either side, I rushed across the street and walked up to him, clutching books to my chest.
”h.e.l.lo, Father.” I said, warily. ”I need to...”
”Get in the car.”
He was parked illegally in the street. I went over anyway and got in, my temples pounding as I waited for him to get in. He started driving.
”Victor is here and you've been seeing him socially.”
”He took me to the beach,” I murmured, in a very small voice.
”To the movies, to the park. You see him almost every day.”
”Yes.” There was no point in lying. He would know. He always knew.
”What do you do with him?”
His hands tightened on the steering wheel. I clutched the books harder to my chest. ”I... I don't want to talk about it.”
”Has he f.u.c.ked you yet?”
The question was like a slap to the face, like cold water dumped on my head.
”What?”
”You heard me.”
”That... I...
I hadn't slept with him. Not yet, but when he spoke like that, Father was at his angriest. I tried to sink through the seat and disappear.
”You're coming with me.”
”Where?”
”Home. I'll make arrangements for you to transfer to another school. Had I known the boy transferred here I would have taken care of it already. I'll send someone to gather your things. We're leaving. Now.”
”No.”
He slammed on the brakes and stopped the car. ”What did you say?”
”I said no,” I snapped back at him. ”I like it here. I like Victor. He's fun. I have fun with him.”
”You're not here to have fun.”
”You're not paying for this. I earned the scholars.h.i.+p.”
I reached for the door. He hit the power locks. I popped the lock and he seized my arm in a vice grip, yanked me back into the seat and floored the gas, throwing me back.
”You can't!” I screamed, ”You can't!”
He slapped me.
It knocked me back in the seat. I covered my mouth. My fingers came away stained with a hint of red from my split lip. I didn't even feel the pain.
I let out a low whine as the tears started to flow.
”Stop that,” he snarled. ”How many times do I have to teach you to keep your emotions under control? You're a girl. If someone sees you crying you'll be destroyed. You have to be ice, Evelyn. Ice.”
”I don't want to be ice. I want to go home.”
”We are.”
”Not with you.”
The steering wheel creaked under his fingers. ”I will tolerate this for now. You'll come to understand after you calm down and we have a chance to talk. After I speak with Karen and Victor leaves, you might be allowed to come back here. I can understand your wishes to stay. I'd rather you graduated from my alma mater as well, but-”
”No. No. You are not going to take him away from me.”
”He's your stepbrother, Evelyn. It's unseemly, and I already have...”
”Have what?”
”Nothing. Nevermind. Be quiet. It's a long ride and I'd rather not listen to your inane chatter the entire way.”
I was going to say something else when a white shape rocketed past his side of the car. Victor's Firebird blasted past us and her tires shrieked as Victor wrestled the wheel around. The car bucked on its springs as he came to a stop across the road. Father slammed on the brakes again, stopping short. He turned the wheel sharply and hit the gas, trying to drive around, but Victor rolled forward, blocking his path. He leapt out of the Firebird and ran around the back, threw open the trunk and pulled out the longest, heaviest wrench I'd ever seen. It was as long as his forearm and looked like it weighed twenty pounds. To my utter shock, Jennifer was in the pa.s.senger's seat. She got out as well, following Victor.
”Out of the car,” he bellowed, in a voice that shook the windows.
The wrench bobbed in his hand.
I wasted no time. I ripped the door lock open and spilled out, dropping my books in the process. I ran around and behind Victor. I clung to his back with my arms around him.