A few days pass quietly before my father summons me to a family dinner.
Our meal is oddly quiet. Good food floods the table; honey garlic chicken wings, potato wedges, salad, and roasted chicken. Our wine glasses are full, but no one talks.
My father's blue eyes glance at me every now and then.
My mother's cheeks are almost pink with some unrestrained emotion.
The two of them live together now that the earl has officially divorced Xavier's mother. They don't have to hide anymore, but people still whisper about how my mother had used her vixen charm to steal a married man.
Father's knife cuts into a chicken's thigh and hits his plate with a sharp clang. I wince as I take a bite of my chicken wing. Earl Dwyer glares at me as if I shouldn't be enjoying the meal that had been prepared for me. Instead of finishing it, I put half of the remaining wing back on my plate. Xavier watches all of us with an innocent smile on his face.
Earl Dwyer says, "I got a call from Blake today."
Some of the air leaves my body. "Oh?"
In my mind, a little voice is going, 'No, no, no, no,' as I try to hide my panic. Blood drains from my face. I need to run and find somewhere to hide, but I can't leave my seat. My legs feel stuck, glued together.
"Were you and Xavier in a romantic relationship when you were younger?" Father stares at me, and my stomach squeezes shut. I realize then that the food is only for decoration tonight. But Father continues, "He says you boys kissed and had... sex?" He tastes the last word and scowls as if he doesn't like it.
My mother shakes her head, clearly overwhelmed.
Why would Blake go to my parents for help? Why would he think they could help us?
Everything is ruined.
I bow my head as a knot forms in my throat. "We didn't know we were brothers then."
Xavier shrugs as if he would have done the same thing regardless of whether we are related. He eats with gusto, peeling the flesh off his wings. The dark brown sauce coats his lips as he crushes a few potato wedges between his teeth.
"You lied to me," my father says, and I feel like we had gone back to the night of the prank when everyone was watching me, waiting for me to denounce Xavier.
My face warms. "I didn't want to get in trouble. I was scared." My voice cracks, something it hasn't done since I was a teen. I struggle to meet anyone's eyes and wish I could shrink to the size of an ant and disappear.
Earl Dwyer shakes his head. "This is ridiculous. You had sex with your brother, knowing how sinful it was; you lied to us for years, and even after Xavier tried to drown you, you still went back and had sex with him again! Why didn't you talk to your mother and me about what you were going through and see how we could help? Do we mean nothing to you? Really? As your parents, we're putting an end to all this. We should have never introduced you to each other. And since I can't trust either of you to stay apart, starting tomorrow, one of you will live here, and the other will live in America."
Xavier laughs. "You have always been a controlling ass but sending one of us to a different country... now that is a new one." He raises his wine glass and says, "Cheers to having the most controlling bastard in the world as a father." Xavier mimes touching his glass against others before taking a long drink. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm parched."
Earl Dwyer's lips twitch. "Your mother and I spoke about it, and we think Xavier should go to America."
They haven't spoken to Xavier once since this conversation began, as if he had ceased to matter to them.
YOU ARE READING
Fool's Love
Historical FictionA lie is an intentionally false statement. Something Lyon's mother tells him to protect him, but when Lyon and his half-brother get a bit too close, they realize how normal they could have been if their parents had simply told them the truth. To pun...
