The Redemption of Callie & Kayden

perplexed. “What are we doing here?”
    He turns down the stereo and takes his seat belt off. He stares at the building for a really long time before he speaks. “You remember dad talking about his dad sometimes and it always kind of sounded like he pretty much treated dad the same as he did us?”
    I nod, staring at the guards outside. “Yeah, I guess.”
    “Well, you want to know the truth?” he asks and looks at me. His eyes are a little glossy and I wonder if he’s about to cry or something.
    “I guess so.”
    “He was actually worse, if you can believe it. Dad had a brother and his dad—our grandfather—killed him… beat him to death.”
    My heart stops beating inside my chest and for a moment I’m thrown back through time into the kitchen. The knife enters my side. It hurts. Not just the pain. It hurts because he’s my father. He’s not supposed to do this to me. He’s supposed to protect me, not destroy me.
    “And now he’s here,” my bother says, nodding his head at the jail.
    I pause as I take in the building and the fence around it. “How did you find this out?”
    “I wanted to know… where we came from. Why we had such a shitty life. Was it just a freakish fucking coincidence that we were born into a crappy home with crappy parents? Or was it inevitable?” He pauses, staring at the fence and the sharp barbed wire. Then finally he cranks the wheel to the side and flips a U-turn, the tires spinning as he floors the pedal and drives down the road.
    I’m not sure what to do with what he said or if there’s anything to do, but I have to wonder if I’ll end up just like my dad, just like he ended up like his. I wonder if Dylan thinks the same thing. I wonder if he prefers physical pain over feeling emotions. I wonder if my dad does. I wonder a lot of things at the moment and it starts to pile up on my chest. Everything I’ve worked so hard to get rid of over the last few months is returning, the silent storm stirring.
    But then I wonder if my dad could have changed his life, knowing the outcome. He could have made himself feel things and be a better person, just like I can. I don’t know why I choose that moment to do it. It’s probably a little fucked up and twisted, but the need to get it out of me is more overpowering than anything else. Instead of reaching for a sharp object, I reach for my phone. I dial Callie’s number and when I hear her voice the storm in my chest calms.
    “Are you having fun?” she asks with hope in her tone, wanting me to be happy.
    I take a deep breath and say it with all the emotion I have in me. “I love you.”
    She’s quiet for a moment and I can hear her breathing, in and out. “I love you too.”
    For a moment, everything makes sense in the world. For a moment, the darkness in my life lights up. For a moment, everything is perfect and still.
Callie
    I have a silly grin on my face when I return back to the benches. I just got off the phone with Kayden and he told me he loved me. I wasn’t too sure about him going out alone to Virginia. I was worried about him meeting another family member who would let him down and hurt him. But it has to be going well. Because he said he loves me. Loves me. I’m practically skipping.
    Greyson, Seth, Luke, and I are at a basketball game. The crowd is really loud, and whistling and shouting fill up the stadium, along with the sounds of sneakers scuffing along the court. The air smells like peanuts, popcorn, and sweat.
    “Where are Greyson and Luke?” I ask when I sit down in my seat next to Seth.
    Seth points down at the bottom of our section where Luke and Greyson are standing near the railing, chatting about something. Greyson keeps waving his arms animatedly and Luke keeps shaking his head in disagreement.
    Seth’s brown eyes scan my face as he reaches into his popcorn bucket. “What’s with the silly grin, my darling Callie?”
    My smile grows as I grab a handful of popcorn. “Kayden just told me he loves me.”
    He almost throws the popcorn bucket onto the floor as he reaches to wrap his arms around me. “I’m so happy for you,” he says, hugging me.
    I embrace him back, laughing as we squish the popcorn bucket between our bodies. “I’m really happy for me too.”
    He pulls away with a grin on his face as he sweeps the spilled popcorn off his lap. “I know you are, which is good. I really didn’t want to kick Kayden’s ass.”
    I laugh softly at the idea of it. “I’m sure Kayden’s