My Stepbrother Silenced Me for 72 Hours, Then Begged Me to Talk novel · Chapter 6 of 24

Chapter 6: Lights Out

By Thursday I had a support group.

It met in the health office at lunch and it had exactly three members, plus me.

The nurse brought a first aid kit and her sister's banana bread.

The hot dog man brought the hot dogs, which I felt was showing off.

Marlene brought her laptop, so we could watch the first ten minutes of Split the House together and shout at the husband.

"He is clearly hiding a boat," the nurse said.

"There is no boat," said the hot dog man.

"There's always a boat," Marlene said, and she paused the video on the husband's smile.

I laughed so hard I got hiccups.

Out in the corridor, a camper walked past the open door and stared at a fire notice until I was out of sight.

The laugh went out of me all at once.

"Twenty hours left," I said, and I held up a napkin.

My phone was in Reed's folder until six, so I had done the math in ketchup.

It said 20 HRS, with a sad face.

"You want to get through it?" Marlene asked.

"I want to get through it without making anyone cry," I said.

"That's a very specific goal."

"I'm a specific person."

That night Reed led me across campus to the committee building to sign a compliance form.

I knew it was a compliance form because it said COMPLIANCE FORM across the top, and under that, in his careful handwriting, nine lines for my signature.

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