I’m reeling when I get home. I go spend time with Max, trying to forget my problems for a little while, but I can’t.

It just keeps spinning through my mind, over and over again. The look on that guy’s face haunts me. I keep seeing him smashing into that car, and then admitting to what happened. He looked so sad and horrified.

But worst of all, I knew it the second he said those words that my father was involved.

I can’t imagine another reason why my brother would be talking with the Walker brothers. I don’t know why else he’d hate Luke so much. And my father not allowing me to even so much as write the father of my son a letter was always so suspicious and strange to me. I knew he hated Luke, but I never realized exactly how much.

He’s always wanted to control me. Everything I’ve done in my life has carefully been orchestrated by him, from the small things to the large things, except for Luke. My father wants me to be the person that he imagines I should be, but I’m so far from that. I don’t want to give up and just be that boring girl.

But they’re my family. Picturing them covering up the murder of a woman and sending an innocent man to jail is just too much for me.

I keep it pushed deep down for two days. I don’t see Luke, because he has to work and my family seems to be watching me like a hawk. My brother in particular keeps checking in on me, pretending to be casual about it, but I can tell. He must have heard about us snooping around the shed. He must know. He’s too close with the Walker brothers not to. At some point in the last five years, I think they told him the truth, and now he’s part of it. Now he wants to help cover it up, to help his friends.

He wants to help the murderers, all because they’re the same as him. And that disgusts me.

A couple days is all I can do. I’m boiling on the inside, trying to stay calm, trying to distract myself with Max, but I can only do so much.

On the third day, Thomas disappears. He goes out for a few hours with the Walkers, and I stay home to take care of Max like usual. I get Max to sleep, but I don’t go to bed. I can’t get to sleep these days, because when I do, I just dream about my family destroying the life of the man that I love.

Thomas comes back around one in the morning. I’m sitting on the couch, watching crappy TV, when he comes stumbling into the living room.

He blinks at me, surprised and clearly drunk. “Oh. It’s you.”

I give him a look. “Who did you expect?”

“Mom,” he admits. “She’s usually up late.”

“Drinking,” I say. “I wonder where you get it from.”

He narrows his eyes at me. “What’s your problem?”

“You know my problem, Thomas.”

He grins wickedly. “Yeah. That trash boyfriend of yours. He start drinking and beating you yet?”

I roll my eyes. “Not everyone is like you.”

A flash of anger, but he quickly covers it. “Come on, sis.” He walks over and sits down on the couch. “Don’t be so mad.”

I watch him for a second. He doesn’t normally talk to me like this, or at least he hasn’t for a long time.

“I have a good reason to be mad.”

“Why? Because Franklin and Julian scared you the other day?”

My eyes go a little wide. “That’s what you call it? Scaring me?”

“Sure,” he says, shrugging. “You think they’d hurt my sister? No way. They just wanted your trash boy.”

“Stop calling him that. And you weren’t there.”

“You shouldn’t have been snooping,” he points out. “Why were you there anyway?”

“Why were they following me?”

He shrugs. “I told them.”

“Told them to follow me?”

“No, just that you were leaving with Luke.”

“What’s your problem, Thomas?”

“I’m sick of you doing stupid shit.” He eyes me warily. “You’re going to get people in trouble.”

I stare at him for a second. “You know the truth. I know you do.”

He looks away from me. “You should watch yourself.”

“Who owns that black truck?” I ask him. “Which brother?”

He cocks his head. “You mean Eli’s truck? He hasn’t driven that in years.”

I take a sharp breath. I haven’t thought about Eli in all of this, not even for a single second… but it makes so much sense.

Eli is the youngest of the three Walker brothers. He lives at home, doesn’t go out much, doesn’t work as far as I can tell. I heard he had a bad drinking problem a couple of years ago, but haven’t heard anything about him since.

Maybe he’s drinking to drown his feelings. Maybe he feels guilty about ruining Luke’s life, and killing Lucinda Chavez.

I stand up, heart beating fast. “I’m going,” I say. “Tell mom for me.”

“Going where?”

“Out.” I walk toward the kitchen.

“You better not,” he says angrily. “You can’t keep running away.”

“And you can’t keep trying to cover for them,” I say to him flatly. I turn and leave without another word. I head upstairs, scoop up Max, grab his bag with some toys, blankets, and other things he’ll need, and pack myself some clothes. When I’m done, I head out the front door and get into my car. Max doesn’t wake up as I get him into his car seat.

I sit behind the wheel for a second, staring at my house. I didn’t even know I was making this decision until I was upstairs packing. I don’t have enough stuff, but I can probably buy what I need. I have some savings now, and I still have my job.

I know I’m doing something I can’t ever come back from. If I drive away with Max now, they’ll never forgive me. I spot Thomas standing in the doorway, watching me, but not trying to stop me.

I slowly pull out of the driveway. I left this home a long, long time ago. I’ve been staying here, accepting their help, but I’m done with that. I’m done with them. I’m not their daughter anymore. I can’t be, not if I want to keep on respecting myself.

My brother covers up for them. My mother is a drunk, so who knows what she’s aware of? And my father is the man responsible for sending Luke to prison.

I won’t be a part of it. Not anymore.

I drive away and I don’t look back.