Chapter 25 Screams and Breakdowns

Chapter 25 Screams and Breakdowns
The living room had turned into a battlefield, the air thick with shouts and sobs that bounced off the walls like shrapnel. Mom's "emergency meeting" had cracked open the family's rotten core, and now everything was spilling out,lies, betrayals, secrets festering for years.

I stood there in the middle of it, jaw throbbing from Robbinson's punch, blood trickling from my lip. Ruby was beside me, her hand on my arm, but I could feel her trembling. Susan and Lilly on the couch, faces twisted in rage and pain. Robbinson pacing like a caged animal. Mom in her chair, hands over her mouth, eyes wide with horror.

Susan's scream cut through first, raw and primal. She lunged toward the mantel where Humphrey's urn sat, that brass container holding what was left of the man who'd broken us all. "You bastard!" she yelled, pointing at it like he could hear.

"You ruined us! Touched us, hurt us, got us pregnant,and for what? Your sick 'love'? Your control?" Her voice broke on the last word, but she kept going, screaming at the urn as if Humphrey's ghost was lurking inside. "I hate you! We all hate you! You weren't even my grandfather,you were nothing! A monster hiding as family!"

Lilly stood too, tears streaming down her face, belly heaving with each sob. "Why us?" she wailed, joining her sister-sister in the rant. "You said we were special, but you made us feel like trash! The bruises, the words,'you're worthless, Lilly, no one wants you but me.' You twisted us! Made us rebel just so you could punish us more!" She grabbed a pillow from the couch and hurled it at the urn.

It bounced off harmless, but the act fueled her. "And now your babies? Inside us? We should've aborted, but we couldn't,because of you! Your ghost is still controlling us!"

They turned on each other then, the screams shifting. Susan whirled on Lilly. This is your fault too! You always went along with it longer! 'Don't tell, Susan, he'll get mad.' You enabled him!"

Lilly fired back, voice shrill. "Me? You were the one who said we deserved it! 'He's just teaching us.' You believed his lies more than I did!"

They lunged, hands grabbing hair, nails scratching. "Liar!" "Bitch!" Screams overlapping, bodies tumbling onto the floor in a tangle of limbs and bellies.

Mom broke then,and stood up, hands clutching her chest. "Stop! Please,it's my fault! All of it!" She collapsed to her knees, sobs wracking her body. "The lies,I started the lies! Hiding Susan, pretending she was Humphrey's. My affair with Robbinson... I enabled the dysfunction,turned a blind eye to his temper, his distance. I saw the bruises on you girls, but I believed his 'accidents.' I was too wrapped in my own shame to see the truth!"

Robbinson moved toward her. "Annie…"

"Don't!" she shrieked, pushing him away. "You! cheating with me, hiding our children,Susan, Richy. You let Humphrey raise them, abuse them, while you played a charming husband. Your remorse? Fleeting! Sleazy! You knew and did nothing!"

Physical fights broke out then. Robbinson turned to me, with a red face . "This is your fault too! Impregnating my wife?"

He swung a fist again, connecting with my gut. Air whooshed out. I doubled over.

"You bastard!" I gasped. Lunged back,grabbed his shirt,and punched his jaw. We tumbled,fists flying, grunts. Blood on my knuckles,his or mine?

Ruby screamed. "Stop! The baby!"
Susan and Lilly still scraping on the floor, pulling their hairs and slapping themselves.

Mom crawled over. "Girls,stop! The pregnancies!"
But chaos reigned,Shouts, Cries,and Furniture scraping.

Then Susan clutched her belly. "Ow…cramp.."

Lilly stopped. "Susan?"Susan doubled over, "Hurts. Contraction?"Labor scares,pregnancies advanced,and stress triggering.

Mom: "Call 911!"