My Stepbrother-Too Hot To Handle

DABBY:

After witnessing something upsetting almost an hour ago, I found it difficult to enjoy my dinner or the ambiance. It was particularly challenging to remain composed while dining with my stepfather’s father, especially after crying my eyes out just moments before.

During the meal, I became increasingly distracted as Damien’s grandfather bombarded my mother with questions. I only snapped back to reality when he inquired about our town and school.

Despite feeling uneasy, I tried to engage in conversation with Mr. Anderson, who appeared to be in a foul mood all evening. As my mother recounted how she met Damien’s grandfather, I couldn’t help but think about the shredded pieces of paper I had stashed away in my closet.

As soon as Damien’s grandfather left us a package and departed, I hurried back to my room to retrieve the papers, including the one I had glued together. I locked the door, turned on some music, and got to work.

‘I was going to make a meaning out of these papers tonight,’ I promised myself.

I got bored midway as I tried harder, and ate a lot of night snacks to keep me going. I was determined to finish it in a few hours, and it was something I knew that I could do.

2:00am had passed in the night, and the paper was beginning to make sense after numerous sorting, discarding, and rearrangements. Two full pages were almost done forming, at different time phases of shuffling. Around 4:23am, I was done with two finely glued pieces of shredded paper to become full pages.

And as I read through what had been shredded into pieces of paper, my heart felt like it would drop as it beat really fast. I didn’t really understand the details of the paper context because there was unnecessary use of grammar, but I did understand one thing.

Mum and Mr. Anderson were married and living together, after they had signed a contract about something.

It was hard to believe it no matter how many times, that it was exactly what I was seeing in the paper. I knew that mum was the type to never indulge in something that would waste her time.

She hated being tied down to something for too long, and that was probably why she dreaded being too emotionally invested in her relationships.

‘But getting married because it had something to do with a contract?’ That was too much.

I was unable to sleep again and just spent my time getting dressed for school, and using ice packs to relieve the stress bags that could form around my eyes. I spent long hours getting ready, because I was overthinking so many things that I needed an answer for immediately if I could.

I could not even ask mum straight up about it, because I didn’t want to make things more weird and bad between us. I couldn’t even nurse the idea of showing Damien, so that we could work together to find out what was going on, because we were definitely not on good terms.

Leaving the house in the early morning, I noticed the lingering dew in the air and opted for a leisurely stroll to the street junction. With my earpods in, I listened to melancholy music, exacerbating my already aching heart. My heart kept hurting about nothing in particular.

Mason phoned to inquire if I had left home, and I paused for a while, claiming I had already hopped on the bus whilst passing the bus stop during my walk. I didn’t want him to witness my emotional turmoil, so I trekked to school alone.

By the time I got to school, I was tired and sweating already, which kind of rejuvenated me into letting go of my pain. I just went to the bathroom to adjust my makeup, and got ready for first class. Mason came by later.

More than anything at that particular moment, focusing on class and what the teacher was saying was so hard. It had never really happened for me to be out of it when the teacher was teaching, but I was experiencing it, and getting back on the listening track was hard.

I struggled to understand everything that was being taught from the first period to the one before lunch hours, as I finally heaved a sigh of relief as soon as the bell for lunch rang. Mason and I went to eat lunch, together with his other friends from other classes.

We were talking and laughing over some silly online joke that a celebrity made, and I noticed that the mood in the cafeteria suddenly turned cold against me.

I wondered what the extreme stares from everyone in corners suddenly became about, as one of the guys sitting in front of me showed me that video that was posted on the school forum. My heart dropped in even more pain, and tears dropped from my eyes immediately.

“No. I never bargained for this all over again. I didn’t. No, I didn’t,” I murmured over and over again like someone who had lost her mind, and stood up from their midst immediately as more tears dropped from my eyes.

“Calm down, Dabby. Calm down,” I heard Mason say to me why trying to pat my back, but there was no way that could even sink into my senses.

I couldn’t believe that what we had been trying so hard to hide and keep, had finally become the truth that was backed up with a live video this time around. There was nothing to lie about again, unless we said we were somewhat related. Because that was the only plausible explanation, to entering Damien’s house at a late hour.

As I turned away from the table and ran away from the cafe, I heard Mason call my name as I stumbled to the floor. I stood up again after dusting my clothes, ran to the class to pick my bag, and dashed out of the school building immediately.

I could see pointing fingers directed to me, from people who recognized the girl that was running out as the one in the video. And all I wanted to do was run back home, more than any other place at that particular time. I took the bus, and went straight to the house immediately.

The door to the gate was kind of opened, and I wondered if Damien didn’t leave the house or probably had not seen the news. I quickly entered into the house and made to push the door to the main building open when I heard a loud yell.

“So, you are leaving on a fake trip because of your father?! Really? Isn’t that what cowards do?” I heard mum’s loud voice say in anger, and I wondered who she was talking to.

“Do not, test me Joanne. Why on earth would you follow me back into the house? You have been crossing our boundaries and I want you to remember sternly. This, is just a setting made by me and you,” he seethed under his breath.

“Oh. So you know that now. You know better to do the right thing, than being such a jerk. You have not sent the complete money of this, that I am doing. My business? You’ve gotta fund it all, like it was in the contract!”

“And I said that I will, after I got everything I wanted from my father. Now that he believes we are married, he is making preparations. And I have the right to act however I like in my own house, woman. Do not make me hit you!” Damien’s dad warned angrily, and my heart froze further at what I was listening to.

“You wanna hit me like you do to the rest of your girls. Hell, no, don’t try that. I’mma bitch, and I’ll show you what a crazy woman can do. So get your damn clothes back into the room, get your ass down, and act like a good family!” she yelled again.

The next thing I heard immediately was a slap that reverberated round the entire house, which made me lose balance in fear.

‘What happened?’Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.

A louder one followed after, and I almost fell, in reaction to how fierce the slap would have been.

‘Oh dear! What the heck is happening? What? What was happening between mum and Damien’s dad, and what did I just hear them say and do.’

“Now, you do not mess with Joanna Sanders. Get your bags up, and return to work. We will meet in the evening, darling,” I heard mum’s voice again, and a loud kiss followed next in the background, as I quickly ran to the back of the house to hide.

‘Everything was fucked up. Everything.’