Page 56 of The Devil We Crave
He shrugs and makes a “cool” face.
“Oh, you know…” He clicks his tongue against his cheek. “I’m basically already in college.”
Dad snorts in the background. “Not if you don’t yank up those math grades, bud. And gimme my fucking phone back,” he chuckles, pulling it away from my brother.
“Dad, c’mon!” Massimo blurts. “I was talking to Wren!”
I cringe and bury my face in my hands. Wren giggles behind me. “I gotta go anyway, Mas. Good to see you guys!”
Dad makes her promise to “really consider” his offer to skin Bryce alive. Then I close the door to the bathroom to save my friend from my insane family.
“She’s going to think you’re serious if you keep saying that, Dad,” I giggle.
Dad’s brows lift. “You think I’m not? Fuck that douchebag. Wren’s an honorary De Luca at this point. I feel it’s within my purview to go kill the little shit.”
Mom sighs into the phone, rolling her eyes dramatically. “He’s gotten worse since you left for the semester,” she says.
Dad chuckles and then leans in to kiss her, right in front of Massimo and me.
Sodisgustingly cute.
“You guys totally cock-blocked me with Wren there,” my brother pouts.
“Massimo Marko Vasily De Luca!” My mom gapes at him. “First of all, never saycock-blockin front of your mother again,please. And secondly, hon?” She shakes her head. “You’re coming on too strong. It’sborderlinecreepy.”
Massimo rolls his eyes. “It’s calledgame, Mom. It’s not creepy.”
Dad snickers. “Nah, that was pretty fucking creepy.”
Mom and I both crack up.
“Whatever, bro,” Mas scowls at our dad. “You and Mom have a literal sex cage in the basement and you’re callingmecreepy?”
I make a barfing noise as Dad bursts out laughing. Mom, meanwhile, tries to hide her crimson face from the camera. She's still giggling, though.
“First, it’s not asexcage,” Dad sighs. “And second, let’s try our best not to call our fatherbro. Okay?Dude?”
Massimo sighs, grinning. “Well, don’t tell Wren, but…” He shrugs. “Truth be told, Galina’s the one who has me wrapped around her finger.”
Dad laughs again and then starts play-wrestling with Massimo in the background as Mom grabs the phone.
“How are you, hon?”
I grin and shrug. “Oh, you know. Fine.”
I’m always “fine”. Never “really stressed with my course load this semester”. Never “really missing you guys and sometimes feeling like a scared little baby alone here at college, even though you're all barely an hour away”.
Anddefinitelynever “really bad because Dad’s business partner’s son got me drunk and maybe drugged me this past summer and sexually assaulted me. He shoved his fingers into me, and it really hurt, and then he tried to make me give him a blowjob, and the only reason he stopped was because I deliberately peed myself to gross him out, and I’m still really ashamed and shaken up and sometimes wake up crying from nightmares about it”.
I know my family loves me unconditionally. I know my father would literally kill for me. Mom too, probably.
But telling them all that feels like too much.
Hey, I know I’m a grownup but there’s this problem that I walked into and I need you to fix it because apparently I can’t do it myself.
I mean,please.
So I hide it. Bury it. Pretend it didn’t happen. Put on a brave face.
