A Loaded Gun

Chapter 16

Brooke POV

I stretched sleepily, wincing when the effort reached my ribs.  Wait, my ribs!  They know.  No, they don't know.

I played the bullied girl perfectly.  I can even give them names: Enna Williams, the worst one; Gina Marion, the principal's daughter; and Emily Westin, her sidekick.

They were the main ones.  It kind of died off once I got to high school and Gina's dad wasn't the principal, but they still found little ways to hurt me.

A knock on the door made me flinch.  "Brooke?  You awake?"

I sighed.  "Yeah, I'm up.  I'm coming."

I opened the door to reveal Lucas.  He smiled, but his eyes seemed conflicted.  I followed him down the stairs, but he stopped at the sound of furious whispers in...Italian?

"Non puoi farle questo. E se fosse davvero Benny?"  Latin is paying off.  Something about you can't, to her, BENNY?  Why are they talking about Benny?

"Non ho altra scelta. Non sta dicendo la verità, non abbiamo altra scelta."  No choice, not truth, no option.  Or something along those lines.  What are they talking about?

A/N

Italian: Non puoi farle questo. E se fosse davvero Benny?

English: You can't do this to her.  What if it really is Benny?

Italian: Non ho altra scelta. Non sta dicendo la verità, non abbiamo altra scelta.

English: I don't have another choice.  She's not telling the truth, we have no other option.

The flurried whispers died down as Lucas beckoned me to keep walking.  I entered the kitchen, eyes flickering around to assess for possible threats.  I saw Marcus with a blank face, Michael with a concerned one, and Daniel...he looked furious.

Lucas cleared his throat.  "Everything ok down here?"  He asked cautiously.

"Yes.  We're all fine."  Marcus said, sending a glare towards Daniel, who glared just as fiercely back.

I was not convinced, but since we all seemed to be ignoring the obvious, everything was dandy.

"So, you guys speak Italian?"  All heads turned toward me, panic evident in their eyes.  "Do you speak Italian?"

"No, I just knew someone growing up who was Italian so I recognize the language."

I didn't mention the fact that I could sorta kinda translate what they were saying, loosely, thanks to Latin classes.  Thank God for Romance languages being based on Latin.

"We don't just speak Italian, we are Italian," Lucas said with an obvious look of relief.  I frowned.  "What's with the very obviously not-Italian names?"

"When our parents came to America, they wanted to embrace the culture, so they took names from all over.  They still wanted to preserve some parts of Italy though, so they taught us their language."

Makes sense, I guess.  "So what were you guys talking about?"  A flash of panic flitted across their faces.

Marcus was the first one to school his features and say calmly, "Business."  Yeah right.  Unless they had a business deal with Benny, they were talking about me.

I shrugged, pretending to buy it for now.  "Ok."

"So Brooke, Daniel told us you were bullied?"  Time to act again.  I shifted, seemingly uncomfortable.  "Yeah, it's a part of my life I'm not particularly fond of talking about."

"Ok, well, we need names.  So start talking."  Surprisingly, that blunt sentence came from Michael.  His eyes were hard and his face was set.

"Seriously, it's over now.  They're not doing anything to me anymore.  Besides, there can't be much you can do about it."

"Oh believe me, sorella, there is so much we can do."  I did my best not to flinch at Marcus' dark tone.  I didn't want to give them names because technically they never physically hurt me, which means they would be punished for nothing.

"It's nothing, okay?  Just drop it."  I snapped, bothered by the memories of the girls and the beatings from Benny.

"Brooke, do not talk to me in that tone.  Ever.  Understand?"  Marcus' thundering, angry voice made me shrink down into myself and I nodded meekly.

"Understood.  May I be excused?"  He nodded gruffly, and I fled to the safety of my room, shuddering under my blankets.

Marcus POV

As soon as she left, the argument from earlier continued.  "Marcus, this is a horrible idea.  You want to bring the man who presumably abused her here so we can see her reaction?  What the hell is wrong with you?  Besides the fact that he's in jail, if he is her abuser it will cause her to spiral."

"But that's exactly why we need to do it!  If she reacts negatively, we'll know it's Benny and we'll be able to punish him accordingly.  It obviously wasn't the work of middle school bullies, this is heavy abuse."

"So bring Benny here and question him!  Don't make Brooke see him!"

"I need to see her reaction to him, otherwise we're just guessing.  It's final, she's seeing him.  Lucas, pay his bail and get him over here.  Michael, go keep an eye on Brooke.  Daniel, stop arguing and don't say a word about this to Brooke."

Three voices saying "Yes Marcus" rang out.  They knew better than to question me. Or so I thought. Daniel hesitated before stepping out the door.

"Got something to say?"  My voice was low, dangerous.  He took a deep breath and nodded.  "Yes, actually.  Do this and not only will she never forgive you, I won't either for making her go through this trauma again."

"I'll take that risk.  Now go."

I knew for a fact that this was betraying Brooke's trust beyond belief, but I also knew that I couldn't let this continue any longer.

I need to find out what happened to her before it's too late. Before she's too far gone.

A/N I'm sure you're pissed off right now, trust me I am too. But people make bad decisions. This, however, falls under the category of cataclysmic. Don't worry, I won't leaving you hanging for too long.