Free Damage by Anya Parrish

own ring during the ceremony, thanking me for the chance to join my family; Penny, that day in seventh grade when I started my period in science class, checking me out of school and taking me to a movie, helping me forget how embarrassed I’d been by the long walk to the nurse’s office in my stained jeans.
    Penny has always done nice things for me. She’s always there when I need her, never expecting me to say “I love you” back, never asking for anything but that I let her love me in place of those babies she can’t have, and Dad doesn’t want to adopt.
    And through it all, I’ve always assumed that I didn’t love her, that Penny was nothing but an irritating reminder that my own mother can’t be bothered. But now, staring down at her, seeing her face puffy and red on one side where Vince hit her …
    I realize that I love her. I really do.
    Tears well up in my eyes as I take her arms and help her to her feet. I’m shaking more than she is, and as angry as I can remember. I want to find Vince and smash his face in. I want to watch Rachel hurl a hundred heavy bottles at his head.
    Funny how the idea of Rachel hurting people isn’t as horrifying if it’s someone I think deserves it.
    “I’m okay. I’m fine.” Penny sniffs. I guide her into a chair at the kitchen table just seconds before Jesse appears at the back door.
    “The guy got away. He ran into the woods.” His face is so pale, his lips look almost red against his skin. He’s obviously freaked out, but why shouldn’t he be? I told him I was taking him to a safe place, and all I’ve delivered is more awful.
    But why? Vince has always been a leech, but he’s never hurt Penny. In fact, I’d always assumed one of the reasons she gives her older brother handouts is because he makes her feel loved in a way Dad can’t, in that warm, laughing-over-shared-memories-from-your-childhood, family kind of way. When they talk on the phone she usually sounds happy. Unless he’s asking for money, of course.
    Is that what went wrong? Did Penny finally tell him “no,” and a slap across the face was the result?
    “Do you want me to call the police?” Jesse doesn’t sound wild about the idea. “They might be able to find him in the woods or something.”
    “It’s okay.” I pat Penny awkwardly on the back, wishing I had more experience giving her comfort. She’s still hunched over, clutching her hand, sobbing, and it’s starting to scare me. “We know where he lives.”
    “You do?” Jesse’s eyebrows shoot up and the fear in his eyes burns a little brighter. But it isn’t fear for himself. It’s for me. For me and my family. The realization makes my chest ache. He isn’t at all what people at school think he is. He’s a good person, maybe even a great one.
    “He’s my brother,” Penny whispers, voice fragile. I crouch down beside her, laying what I hope is a reassuring hand on her knee. “You were right, Dani. I should never have given him money. I should have forgotten I had a brother.”
    What? I’ve never said anything to her about Vince. “Penny, I don’t—”
    “I found the letter this morning, while I was getting the laundry from your room.” Penny and Dad can afford a housekeeper—two housekeepers—but Penny likes to clean the house and do our laundry. She says it makes her feel like she’s taking care of her family. “I only read it because it had my name on the envelope. I thought you’d left it for me on purpose.”
    Oh no. The blackmail letter Mina and I wrote after rehearsal. I must have left it out on my desk instead of sticking it in the drawer like I’d thought.
    “I’m sorry, Penny. I didn’t mean any of that stuff. I wasn’t going to give it to you, I just … I’m sorry. I know you were only trying to help.”
    “He’s beyond help. He always has been. He’s probably going to end up in jail again, even if I don’t press charges for today.” Penny sighs, but lifts her head, swiping the tears from her face