Thinking about all of this brought back tears. I started hyperventilating.
“Della,” Brian said, with the same uneasiness he’d displayed in the principal’s office earlier that day. He couldn’t offer comfort or wise words. He wasn’t Dad. No one was.
I stayed in his room for a long time that night. He watched me cry in silence, but at least I wasn’t alone.
After the funeral, everyone gathered in our living room for an early dinner. We were overwhelmed with casseroles and baked goods in the days following Dad’s death. Aunt Tilda organized everything on the breakfast bar so family and friends could share one last meal in honor of Dad.
Mom did her best to make conversation with everyone. She tried to be her normal, social self, but watching her was hard. She was broken. Brian and Amber sat on the staircase holding hands. I had no one to really talk to. No one to really understand me. The one person who always managed to make me feel better was gone forever.
Awhile later, I slipped out the front door without anyone noticing and started walking down the street. Outside, the sun was setting, and the streetlamps flicked on. I walked along the sidewalk, thinking about Dad and all the things I’d miss about him. His kindness. His wisdom. I thought about all the future experiences that had been robbed from me. He’d never see me graduate. He’d never meet my first boyfriend. He’d never walk me down the aisle.
I followed the circle of houses leading me back home. I hoped by the time I returned everyone would be gone and I could finally be alone. I already felt alone and feeling that way with a bunch of people in the house nearly suffocated me.
I walked past the community pool. As I passed Amber’s house, a crashing sound interrupted my concentration. The sky was now completely dark. There were only patches of light streaming down from the lampposts along the sidewalk. I heard another sound, realizing it was coming from Amber’s garage. The light was on, although the rest of the house appeared dark. Her parents were probably still at my house consoling Mom.
I moved closer to the garage and peered into the lower windows. Her mom’s car was parked inside, and the walls were lined with shelves and boxes. I looked closer and saw a pair of legs beside the car. It was Brian. His pants were around his ankles, and the tail of his shirt fell almost to his knees. Amber was in front of him, her skirt hiked up to her waist.
Gross, I thought. I felt physically ill. I could have gone my entire life without seeing this, let alone on the worst day of my life. What was Brian thinking? Acting this way with Amber after our dad’s funeral?
As I turned, I heard another sound. A painful gasp. Like someone struggling. I looked back. Brian had his hand around Amber’s throat. The other hand was yanking at her hair. It didn’t look like sex, or even rough sex. It looked like Brian was hurting her. My first instinct was to bang on the garage door, but before I could, Brian looked over his shoulder. He saw me.
The look on his face terrified me. I stumbled back, picking up pace down the sidewalk. The last thing I needed was Brian complaining I’d followed him again. But it wasn’t just that. The whole scenario disturbed me. I was so frazzled; I didn’t even notice Danny walking to his own house.
“Della,” he said. “Is that you?”
“Danny,” I said, dropping the hand that had been covering my mouth. I was out of breath and crying from all of it. Shock. Fear. Grief.
“Are you okay?” He stepped away from his front porch and came to meet me on the sidewalk. “What am I saying? Of course you’re not okay.”
“What?” I asked, my mind still picturing Brian and Amber. Oh right. Dad. “I’m still waiting for everything to sink in. I can’t believe he’s gone.”
“I loved coming to your house over the years. He was a great man,” Danny said. “He’d be so proud of you and Brian.”
I blinked the image of Brian away. I looked behind me to see if he was coming. He wasn’t, so maybe he hadn’t seen me after all.
“Are you sure something else isn’t bothering you?” Danny asked. “You seem scared.”
“I just…” My mind was weary, too tired to say anything but the truth. “I just saw something really disturbing. I don’t know what I should do about it.”
“What’s going on?”
“I just saw Brian… with Amber.”
“Like, with Amber?” He gave me a knowing wince.
“Yes.”
“Man, that’s awkward.” Danny looked embarrassed for me, and slightly annoyed with Brian for not being more discreet.
“It wasn’t just that.” The scene flashed through my mind again. “The way he was with her. He looked like he was hurting her.”
“Hurting her?”
“She looked like she was in pain. He was squeezing her throat. It was the scariest thing I’ve ever seen.”
Danny exhaled. “Okay, even thinking about that makes me cringe—”
“No, forget the sex part.” I’d told Danny what I’d seen, and now all the details were pouring out of me. I couldn’t hold them in a second longer. “He was attacking Amber. He’s dangerous. Violent.”
“Violent?” Danny put his hand on my shoulder. “Just take a breath.”
“No, I need to do something about this. I need to tell Mom. Brian can’t go around acting that way.”
“Don’t you think she’s got enough on her plate right now?”
“I’m telling you, what I saw was not normal.” I pressed my palms against my temples.
“Della.”
“I don’t know if Amber is even okay. Maybe we should go back together. Make sure he hasn’t hurt her,” I said, pointing down the street.
“Della.”
“I’ve always known he was a creep, but to be doing something like that after our dad’s funeral—”
“Della, will you just stop?” Danny shouted. His volume silenced my rant. “I know you don’t particularly like
