“WHAT!?” I heard a chorus of voices.
“You FILMED US!?” Maggie screamed at Logan in horror.
I remembered how, after I had first found these videos on Logan’s phone, I had a quick thought about the angles in some of them. How they looked like the others may not even have known he was filming. Apparently, they didn’t know about ANY of the videos.
All of them, even Logan, looked at me like I lost my mind while I laughed my ass off. I laughed so hard I had to hold my stomach because it felt like the staples would fly out. They just didn’t get the joke.
Their beloved Golden Boy had betrayed all of their trust, violated their rights, and placed them all in grave danger. THAT was the guy they kept defending and supporting. THAT was the guy they wanted as their son, while I was downgraded to either tenant or servant. THAT was the guy they all chose over me. As far as I was concerned, they deserved each other. Sadly, I couldn’t just leave them to their fate without knowing exactly what happened because, until I turned eighteen, I would be affected by this as well. Though, at that point, I wasn’t yet sure as to what degree it would affect me.
Logan tried to make a run for it, but Aaron, John, and Grampa Mike had him pinned down surprisingly quickly.
“You ... You know about...” Claire stuttered, making her priorities known while her shaking hand was covering her mouth.
“Yes, ever since I walked in on you all on Ava’s sweet sixteen. Gotta say, made the difference in treatment between your children very clear. You were all a little too busy to notice me, though.” I added when she looked shocked and despaired at the same time. “Just add it to the long, long list of activities your family excluded me from. But now we need to deal with the mess your favored child has caused.”
I had said it with just a smidge of vindictiveness in my voice. It was still enough to make her fall to her knees and break down completely. Especially after the barrage of accusations she had just taken from me a few minutes ago, that already had her in tears. Her parents were quickly by her side to support her, but I had more pressing matters to attend to.
The moment the others had sat Logan down on the sofa, they started bombarding him with questions and demands. They wanted to know exactly what was going on, what the videos showed, and, most importantly, how he could be so “fucking stupid”. That last part made me smile again.
Thinking about what the best approach for this situation would be, I decided that Logan wouldn’t be able to come up with any half-coherent cover stories while being hammered by the others. If he hadn’t prepared one in advance, that is. In that case, it wouldn’t matter how quickly I got to him anyways. I wanted to let him enjoy this moment, when, for the first time in his life, they wouldn’t support him unconditionally, and went outside to smoke a cigarette first.
As I stood outside, I hoped the cool air would help me cool down as well. Sadly, before it had a chance to work, Grandpa appeared at my side.
“How do you even get these? You’re not old enough to buy smokes, kiddo.” he commented in some kind of exhausted disapproval.
“Uh huh. Shouldn’t you be inside with the rest of your family, trying to figure out how much compromising material Logan spread around?” I answered, not eager to take any kind of lecture after what had just happened. He was preparing to speak up when he heard my dismissive tone, but the wording I chose regarding ‘his family’ gave him pause for a moment.
“Your mother is crying badly in there. She could use a hug right now.” he said carefully, in a soft voice.
I wouldn’t be surprised if Danielle turned out to be his secret love child. Of all people, he chose me to go and make sure Claire was happy again. After he just learned how I had spent the last four years under her care.
“Then I suggest you go and take care of your daughter. It’s kinda a parent’s job to make sure their children are happy, don’t you think?” I responded, hoping he would take my hint.
“That’s what I’m doing. It would work best if it came from you.”
He didn’t say this like he actually meant it. Like he knew how big of a favor he was asking of me. No, he said it in a tone that suggested he was disappointed at how slow on the uptake I was. Looking at him, I saw that he actually expected me to simply ignore everything that happened, and make his daughter happy again.
“Wow!” was my sole quiet comment before flicking my cigarette bud into John’s garden, earning me another disapproving look from Grandpa, and walking back inside.
They were staring Logan down as he was sitting on the sofa looking like a beaten dog.
“What did I miss?” I asked them.
“Nothing.” Uncle John sighed.
“All right. Let me take over, then.” I said, as I turned towards the sofa.
Instantly there were a lot of concerned glances coming my way while Logan pushed himself further into the cushions, as if he hoped the piece of furniture would swallow him up. I guess they thought I would try to beat the truth out of him, because there was a breath of relief going through the room as I sat down in the armchair opposing him.
“I already know about the videos, Logan. I also already know how many you took and what they show.” I informed him, so he knew how useless an attempt at lying would be.
“How!?” Maggie asked.
“I have remote access to all of his devices. Phone, laptop, even his Smart-TV.” I said, matter of fact.
“Wait! Do you have access to all of my ... our devices as well?” Maggie asked, afraid.
“Anyway,...” I said, answering her question by ignoring it. “No sense in telling me made up crap, Logan. Just tell me what’s going on so I can deal with it.”
“So we can deal with it!” Aunt Danielle corrected me. She was really getting on my nerves.
“And just how exactly do you plan to contribute?” I asked, while rubbing the bridge of my nose. This was just going to be one of those days. “Do you have any experience in dealing with blackmail? Or data recovery? Or device security? That’s all things I deal with at work. You feel confident in going against armed men trying to extort money and sex from you? Remember, with the material Golden Boy gave them, getting the police involved would be a guaranteed prison sentence. For you!”
When Aunt Danielle didn’t respond, I continued.
“Logan?” I said in an expectant tone.
“I owe them some money.” Logan finally spoke in resignation.
“Define ‘some’ money.” Uncle John asked.
“About ... sixteen-thousand dollars.” he answered quietly.
“How much have you already paid back?” I asked.
“Maybe eight?” he said, uncertainty in his voice.
How the fuck could this moron not know EXACTLY how much money he gave away!? And how the fuck could it be just $8,000!? Claire took $2,200 from my bank account after she already gave him as much as she could!
“Does that number line up with what you gave him?” I asked Claire and Aaron, who looked at each other for a moment before nodding, though the shared look told me they had given him a lot more than six grand. Even after all this, they still covered for him.
“Fine...” I sighed, feeling my anger rising again. “How many of your videos do they have?”
Logan hesitated, his eyes wandering over the people surrounding us. “All of them.” he finally answered quietly, causing the rest of the assembly to look at me questioningly.
“Everyone but Granny and Gramps are on those. And me, of course.” I answered their silent question, causing a collective wail to ripple through the group. “And they are explicit enough to earn each and every one of you a prolonged prison stay. Apart from Ava and Maggie, of course, since he hasn’t made any videos since he left for college. They were still underage in the ones he has.” I added.