Read Online Broken to Pieces by Avery Stark - Free Book Online Page B

time in bed praying for one more hug, one more word, just one more chance.
    "Emily?"
    She didn't realize that she had stopped at some point and was gently rubbing a finger over the purple writing. Barbara had already started down the stairs when she called out to her.
    Emily dropped her hand down with a sigh, "Yeah?"
    "Are you okay?"
    "Yeah, I just, uh, got lost in thought there for a second."
    "I can see that."
    Barbara moved down a few steps so that she could rest both of her forearms on the attic floor and then leaned forward and rested her soft chin on them.
    "Do you want to talk about something?"
    Emily sat down on one of the cross-beams.
    "It's just that," she hesitated, "I don't know if we should be having this party at all."
    Barbara smiled in a pitiful kind of way, "Why not?"
    "You don't think that it's wrong?"
    "Of course not. Carl and Caroline would want you to get some fresh air and have a good time."
    Emily couldn't help but feel overwhelmed by the feeling that her mother might not have cared so much.
    "I'm not so sure."
    She scanned the organized boxes again and it made her feel like her insides were tying themselves up. She was so angry with her mother, furious even. Not only was she a coward when Emily came to her for help, but she also took away her loving father in one selfish act of recklessness.
    Out of all of it, however, the one thing that made Emily the angriest was how she had tried so hard to forgive in all of the years that had passed. She lived every day under the assumption that her mom would never hurt her like that again, even if she never totally believed it. But as Emily sat there in the hot, sticky attic and ran her hand over the dusty cardboard that she would never again have the chance to help her parents with, she genuinely started to believe that her mother might have been the biggest monster of all.
    "Come down," Barbara said to her, "it's far too hot to be up here much longer."
    Emily nodded but said nothing. By the time she and Barbara finally found their way back down the creaking stairs, it was several minutes past noon.
    "Girls," Tex called from the living room. "What on Earth were you doing up there?"
    The two women-both of them covered in cobwebs and dust-made their way into the room.
    "It sounded like an elephant was up there," Gary exclaimed.
    Barbara put her hands on her wide hips, sending up a dirty puff, and replied, "Are you calling us elephants?"
    Gary smirked, "I'm not calling you anything. I know better than that."
    "You're darnn right you do!"
    Tex folded the newspaper that he was holding and set it down on the couch.
    "So what were you gals doing?"
    Emily rubbed her cheeks with her hands, allowing the gritty layer to scratch her finger tips, and answered, "We were looking for the stuff for the party."
    Gary leaned back in his chair, "Party?"
    "We have one on the fourth every year. It's usually pretty fun."
    Tex slapped his hands together and rubbed them back and forth, "You bet your ass it will be!"
    Emily always enjoyed his enthusiasm, whether or not she believed that it was genuine. With him, it seemed, everything was genuine.
    Behind her and Barbara, the front door popped open and Adam poked his head through the crack.
    "Emily?"
    His voice suddenly made her feel warm inside. She turned around and tried to dust herself off.
    "Yeah?"
    Adam cleared his throat and tapped his paint-flecked fingers on the door, "There is someone here who wants to talk to you."
    She hadn't been expecting anybody, but it didn't come as too much of a surprise. Random people had been filtering by since the funeral, whether it was past guests or friends of the family. All of them just wanted to give her their condolences.
    "Do you know who it is?"
    Adam shook his head.
    "He didn't want to come inside."
    Tex interjected, "Why the hell not?"
    "I'm not sure. He just asked if I could send Emily out alone."
    Emily sighed and licked her lips absentmindedly. Before she realized what she had done, the