They Called My Death a Tantrum, So I Stayed Dead novel · Chapter 3 of 24

Chapter 3: The Cake

Pierce says Ewan smashed a cake in his face and cursed the family, Cadence catches him on which hand it was, and Lorna smells something coming from Ewan's room.

I went through the wall and into the kitchen.

Pierce stood by the counter with white frosting smeared across his face and down his collar.

A thin line of blood ran from his hairline to his eyebrow.

The cake lay on the floor in two broken halves, and the plate had split under it.

My mother had both hands on his cheeks.

"Oh, baby. Oh, my baby. What happened?"

"I took him a slice," Pierce said, and his voice shook. "I only wanted to make peace."

"And?"

"He opened the door and shoved the whole cake in my face. Then he pushed me and I hit the corner of the cabinet."

He sniffled once.

"He called me a fraud, Mom. He said you were all shameless, and that you play favorites, and none of you had the right to tell him what to do."

I stood in the middle of the kitchen with my mouth open.

I had not said any of it.

My body had lain on that bed for twenty hours, and I had said nothing to anyone.

My father came in fast from the hall, and his face had gone dark.

"He said that to you?"

"He said it to all of us," Pierce said. "Dad, I don't even care about me. I care that he said it on my wedding day."

He reached for my mother's sleeve and put his left hand on her arm.

The thin gray band on his wrist gave a faint glow, and Pierce glanced down at it.

His mouth moved, only slightly.

It was a smile.

I looked at the cabinet corner he said he had hit.

There was no frosting on it and no blood.

"I didn't do it!" I shouted.

Nobody heard me.

"That's it," my father said. "I've let him sulk long enough."

He went down the hall with his fists already closed.

I followed him, shouting.

My father pounded on my door with the flat of his fist.

"Ewan! Open this door right now and apologize to your brother!"

Nothing answered him.

"You hear me? You're twenty-seven years old! You smashed a cake in his face because you can't stand that he's loved!"

My mother came up behind him, still holding a dishtowel to Pierce's forehead.

"Alden, don't shout," she said. "He'll only dig in deeper."

"Then he can dig," my father said.

He hit the door again.

"He's selfish," my mother said. "I've said it for years. He's selfish and jealous, and now he's jealous of his own brother's life."

Pierce stood behind her, a hand pressed to the cut.

Cadence had gone for a glass of water a minute before the crash, because my mother told her to stop knocking.

Now she came back from the dining room holding it.

She was holding it so tightly that her knuckles had gone white.

She looked at Pierce's face for a long moment.

"Pierce," she said, "which hand did he hit you with?"

"What?"

"You said he shoved the cake in your face. Which hand?"

Pierce touched the cut.

"The right," he said. "His right."

Cadence frowned.

"Ewan hasn't been able to close his right hand since the crash," she said. "He couldn't even hold a coffee cup with it. He told me that last week."

I felt something in my chest that was not quite hope.

Pierce's face did not change.

"The left," he said. "I meant the left. It happened so fast, Cadence."

"The door was shut when I left it."

"He must have closed it again after."

"In the minute I was getting water."

"Cadence." My mother had turned. "Honey, he's bleeding. He's hurt, and he's confused. Don't cross-examine him."

"I'm not," Cadence said. "I only want to understand."

"He was attacked," my father said. "What's to understand?"

Cadence looked at the door.

She looked at the ring box in her other hand.

Then she looked at the cake on Pierce's collar, a long smear, white and even.

It had landed in a neat stripe.

"There's no frosting on the door handle," she said quietly.

"Cadence." Pierce's voice went soft, hurt, and pleading. "Are you saying I'm lying?"

"No. I'm saying I don't know."

"After everything I did for this family today?"

My mother put a hand on Cadence's shoulder.

"Sweetheart, don't do this to him. Not now. He needs to feel safe, and so do we."

Cadence's eyes dropped.

I watched her give way, one inch at a time.

It was the same slow loss I had watched for three weeks, and I had never been able to name it.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'll get a towel."

Pierce touched the band again, and this time I saw the faint light climb the inside of the band and fade.

I had no idea what it meant.

Ada had said that every time he asked for something, the house got quieter.

My mother had taken a step toward my door with her arm still around Pierce, and then she stopped.

She lifted her chin and sniffed the air.

"Alden," she said. "What is that smell?"

← Chapter 2 · All chapters · Chapter 4 →

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