Beautiful Oblivion (The Maddox Brothers, #1)(31)

“Why would I think that?” Coby said, his voice shaking. “You don’t have a sense of humor!”

Dad ran around the table and attacked Coby, and my mother and brothers tried to intervene. There was yelling, red faces, pointing, but Trenton and I just watched from our seats. Judgment and shock were absent from Trenton’s face, but I was sunk back against my chair, completely humiliated. No amount of warning could have prepared him for the weekly Camlin circus.

“He’s not using again,” I said.

Everyone turned to me.

“What did you say?” Dad said with labored breath.

“I’m paying Coby back. He was short bailing me out a while back.”

Coby’s eyebrows pulled together. “Camille . . .”

Dad took a step toward me. “You couldn’t say anything until now? Let your brother take the blame for your irresponsibility?” He took another step. Trenton turned his entire torso toward my dad, shielding me.

“I think you need to sit down, sir,” Trenton said.

Dad’s face morphed from anger to rage, and Coby and Clark held onto him. “Did you just tell me to sit down in my own f*cking house?” he said, screaming the last bit.

Finally Mom yelled, her voice breaking. “Enough! We’re not a bunch of wild animals! We have a guest! Sit down!”

“See what you’ve done?” Dad said to me. “You’ve upset your mother!”

“Felix, sit!” Mom yelled, pointing at Dad’s wooden chair.

He sat.

“I’m so sorry,” Mom said to Trenton. Her voice was shaking as she nervously situated herself in her seat. She dabbed her eyes with her cloth napkin, and then put it gently in her lap. “This is very embarrassing for me. I can just imagine how Camille must feel.”

“My family is pretty rowdy, too, Mrs. Camlin,” Trenton said.

Under the table, his fingers began to ease up from where they had dug into my knee. I hadn’t even noticed until that moment, but my fingers found their way to his, and I squeezed his hand tight. He squeezed back. His understanding made a wave of emotion crash over me, and I had to choke back tears. That feeling vanished quickly when Dad’s fork scraped against his plate.

“When were you going to tell us that you were mooching off your brother, Camille?”

I looked up at him, suddenly angry. I knew the blame was coming, but having Trenton beside me made me feel a surge in confidence I’d never felt around my father. “When I thought you would behave like a mature adult about it.”

Dad’s mouth fell open, and so did Mom’s.

“Camille!” Mom said.

Dad put his knuckles on the table and stood.

“Save your voice,” I said. “We’re leaving.” I stood, and Trenton stood with me. We walked to the front door.

“Camille Renee! Get your ass back to this table!” Dad said.

I pulled opened the door. It had chips and dents in the bottom of the wood where my father had kicked the door open or closed during his many tantrums. I paused before pushing the lever on the screen door but didn’t look back.

“Camille! I’m warning you!” Dad said.

I pushed open the door and tried not to sprint to the Intrepid. Trenton opened the passenger door, I got in, and then he walked around. He was rushing to get the keys into the ignition.

“Thank you,” I said, once he pulled away.

“For what? I didn’t do a damn thing,” Trenton said, clearly unhappy about it.

“For keeping your promise. And for getting me the hell out of there before Dad came out to get me.”

“I had to hurry. I knew if he made it out there and yelled at or threatened you one more time, I wouldn’t be able to keep my promise.”

“That was a waste of an afternoon off,” I said, staring out the window.

“Why did Chase push the issue? What was the point in starting all that shit?”

I sighed. “Chase has ongoing resentment toward Coby. My parents have always treated Coby like he could do no wrong. Chase loves to rub Coby’s addiction in everyone’s face.”

“So why did you bother going if you knew that he knew?”

I looked out the window. “Because someone needed to take the blame for it.”

It was quiet for a few moments, and then Trenton grumbled, “Coby sounds like a good candidate.”

“I know it sounds crazy, but I just need one of us to think they’re good parents. If we all hated the way we were raised, it makes it more real, you know?”

Trenton reached over for my hand. “It’s not crazy. I used to make Thomas tell me everything he remembered about Mom. I just have a few vague precious memories of her. Knowing his memories were more than just dreamlike, fuzzy moments made her more real to me.”

I pulled my hand from his and touched my fingers to my lips. “I’m so embarrassed but so grateful that you were there. I never would have spoken to my dad that way if you weren’t.”

“If you ever need me, I’m just a phone call away.” He snapped his fingers a few times, and then began singing—horribly—a very loud and heartfelt chorus from “I’ll Be There” by the Jackson 5.

“That’s a little high for you,” I said, stifling laughter.

He kept singing.