I Died Afraid My Broken Arm Burdened Them novel · Chapter 18 of 24

Chapter 18: What Ellis Said

Dale hit my brother in the mouth.

It was one blow, short and flat, with all his weight behind it.

Bram went off the table and landed on the carpet beside a chair.

The few guests who were left gasped and drew back.

Nobody stepped in.

Dale stood over him with his hand still closed.

"Get up," he said.

Bram wiped his lip with his wrist. There was blood on it.

He did not get up.

"Hit me again," he said.

"I will."

"Do it. I earned it."

"You think I hit you because you're a rich boy?" Dale's voice was low and rough. "I hit you because you made him kneel, and you stood in a doorway for ten years and watched."

"I never watched."

"You read the reports."

"I never saw his face."

"I did!"

It cracked out across the empty tables.

The last of the guests hurried toward the doors.

Dale pulled a chair around and dropped into it with his elbows on his knees.

He was breathing hard. His knuckles were split.

"I want to tell you something," he said. "And you're going to sit there and take it."

Bram stayed on the floor.

"Go on."

"Three weeks ago," Dale said. "The dock. I was ten feet away. I heard the bone."

"He didn't make a sound. He just sat down on a pallet and held it against his stomach. He was gray."

Dale rubbed his face with his hand.

"I said, kid, you need a hospital. You know what he said to me?"

Bram looked up.

"He said, 'An X-ray is two hundred dollars. Mom's pills are nineteen hundred on the fifth. I can't do both.'"

← Chapter 17 · All chapters · Chapter 19 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend