“I love you too, Tommy,” said Allison.
“Me, too,” whispered Nate.
I took a deep breath, then slowly let it out. I rose to my feet, knowing my resolution was going to be easier said than done, but resolved to make it happen. After a moment I turned to my children, deciding the time had come to broach the other reason we were there.
I regarded each of them carefully, holding their gaze. “Okay, if you haven’t figured it out by now, we’re here this morning to try to get things straightened out in our family,” I said. “So along those lines, there’s something else we need to cover, and I want absolute honesty from both of you. Recently, I realized a couple of things. For one, I know you two haven’t been telling the whole truth about what happened on the night of the break-in.”
Nate froze.
Allison looked away.
“I know you’re hiding something,” I pushed on. “This secret of yours, whatever it is, is tearing apart our family. I intend to get to the bottom of it.”
Allison shook her head. “I don’t know what you’re-”
I silenced her with a raise of my hand. “This isn’t the time for lies, Ali. Not now, and not here.”
“I don’t-”
“Absolute honesty. Am I making my self clear?”
Allison looked away. “Yes, sir. You’re making yourself clear.”
“Nate?”
Swallowing, Nate nodded.
“Good. Well?”
When neither child responded, I let the silence grow until it assumed an almost corporal presence between us. “I could act as if I already know everything, but I’m not going to do that,” I said at last, carefully observing my children’s reactions. “I’m giving you a chance to speak up on your own. What happened that night, Allison?”
“God damn Travis,” she said softly, apparently realizing the source of my suspicions.
“Your brother Travis has nothing to do with this,” I said. “Talk.”
“No.” Allison turned and started down the slope.
In three quick strides, I caught up. I took her arm and spun her around. “What happened that night, Allison?”
Allison glared back defiantly. “You already know.”
I tightened my grip on her arm. “You’re going to come clean about this. What are you holding back?”
“I…”
“Why’d you shoot him?” I asked, taking a stab in the dark.
“She didn’t,” said a small voice behind me. “I did.”
I turned, staring incredulously. “What?”
“ I shot him,” Nate repeated, his voice trembling.
“Shut up,” hissed Allison.
I released my daughter and turned to Nate. “But why? I thought-”
“I shot him because he wouldn’t stop hurting Allison.”
Shut up, you little cretin!” Allison screamed.
Dumbfounded, I knelt before Nate. “From the beginning, kid,” I said. “Tell me what happened.”
Nate glanced miserably at his sister. “I can’t, Daddy.”
“Sure you can,” I said, gently taking his hands in mine. “That night when I left, you were up in your bedroom loft reading. You heard a noise downstairs.”
“Yes, sir.”
“You opened the trapdoor to the loft and looked down into the entry. Then what?”
I could see Nate thinking back, remembering that hateful night.
He sits very still, listening.
A man with skinny, hairless arms stands below. The intruder checks the street, then heads into another part of the house.
“Then what, kid? Please talk to me. You heard something and went down to investigate?”
“Yes, sir.”
Hugging the wall, he creeps down the hallway. He pauses when he reaches the living room. “You like it, don’t you, bitch?” someone laughs. “Oh, yeah. You love it.”
He risks a glance into the room. His eyes widen when he gets to the man on the couch.
The man’s jeans are down around his knees. Allison lies trapped beneath him, her skirt above her waist, torn underwear bunched around one ankle. A strip of duct tape seals her mouth; another binds her hands. Tears stream down her face. Blood runs from her nose.
“Move, damn you!” the man on top commands. He delivers a backhanded blow, sending a gush of blood from Allison’s nose. “I said move!”
“What did you see?”
“Allison and a man in the living room. He was… hurting her. Then the other one came and I hid.”
He slides behind the door. An instant later the other man bursts in.
“Joey, get outta here till I’m done,” the first man orders. “There’s gotta be cash. Find it.”
“There ain’t none, Cal. I looked.”
“Where’s the money, bitch?” Cal demands. He grabs Allison’s hair, jerking her head from the couch.
“She might be able to talk better if you took off the gag,” Joey points out.
The man rips the tape from Allison’s mouth. “Where’s the money?”
“There isn’t any,” Allison sobs.
The man doubles his fist. Coldly and deliberately, he hits her. Grinning, hits her again.
“So you hid. Then what?”
Nate glanced at Allison, then lowered his head and continued. “I sneaked back to the hall closet and got your gun.”
“Then what?”
“I went back…” Nate’s voice faltered.
He hesitates outside the living room. He cocks the revolver and steps into the room.
“Oooohhh, baby, get ready,” the man on top of Allison pants. “I can’t wait no more!”
“Get off my sister.”
“Huh?” The man opens his eyes. “Where’d you come from?”
“Get off my sister,” he repeats, his voice quavering.
“Christ, Joey,” Cal laughs, rising from the couch. “Lookit this. They’re givin’ the diaper patrol guns now.” Using Allison’s torn underwear, he wipes his swollen member and pulls up his jeans.
Staring at the pistol, the second man backs away. “Let’s go, Cal. There ain’t nothin’ here anyway.”
Cal smiles coldly. “I don’t think so.”
He motions with the gun toward the door. “Get out,” he pleads, hating himself for his smallness, so scared he’s begun to cry.
“You’ve got guts, kid,” Cal chuckles, moving forward. “I’ll grant you that. Now gimme the gun.”
He wishes he could run, knowing he can’t. He glances at Allison. Eyes wide with terror, she’s curled her legs beneath her to cover her nakedness.
“Fork it over,” Cal orders, moving closer still. “Now!”
The revolver bucks in his hands.
Oh, God, I missed…
Cal rushes in. “You little bastard!” he bellows, rage darkening his face.
And again the deafening roar of the pistol and the smell of smoke and the sound of screaming…
“… and I shot him. I… I’m sorry, Dad.”
Shocked, I remained silent for a long moment. Finally I spoke. “Nate, aside from lying about what happened, you have nothing to be sorry for,” I said. “Not one thing. If I had been there, I would have done the same as you. You did what was necessary to protect your sister, and I’m proud of you for it.”
When Nate didn’t respond, I continued. “Listen, it’s natural to feel bad about something like this, but this is way too much for a kid your age to be carrying around on his own. You should have spoken up.”
“I couldn’t.”
I gave Allison a look of irritation. “Because your sister made you promise?”
“That’s not the only reason.”