CADEN

"What the hell happened to your faces? Please don't tell me you two fought," Martha flinched as soon as Mad accepted the call on the large TV screen from the middle of the room, in black shorts and a yellow hoodie.

"No mom, I had a minor accident at the traffic circle, and Caden." She paused and looked behind her to where I am lounging on the couch, unnecessarily piling an apple. "I don't know what happened to him." She finishes with a sigh.

"You had an accident on the street?" Dad exclaimed.

"It was actually my fault, I stopped in the middle of the road, speaking on the phone, and I pissed the traffic, a friend had to get me out of the charges."

"Whoa, wait, charges?" He breathed and adjusted his grey tie.
Knowing my dad, that's his annoyance and frustration gesture.

It means run if you have to. But I never flinched a bit for it. I don't normally care about his threat or the fact that he's pissed.

I was drowned in a bathtub by my own mother, so anything else the world could offer is just a poke on my back.

"It was my fault dad, I'm so sorry." Mad apologized for being hit and having wounds all over her.

Oh, please, she can't be this dumb, is she?

"No, my dear. Are you fine? Maybe we should get on the plane and come over," Dad worriedly told his kid.

"No! No! I'm fine. I think I'm more human than Caden; he's more a mess and he hasn't seen a doctor yet." She brought those soft eyes back to me.

But what she didn't know was; I didn't matter. And it's okay. All that matters to me is her safety, and I promise none of this would ever happen again. It was all that has been prowling in my mind while she was resting on the couch the past hours ago.

"Why did you let that happen? Weren't you supposed to keep her protected? Why would you always prove your uselessness and failure?"

YES! That was my dad talking to me.

"That's the way I am dad. Surprise? Happy Birthday." I replied, flashing my teeth at him from the couch.

His brows knitted, his eyes darkened. He can't possibly come out of the big screen, can he? He's not that monstrous, I guess.

"You're unbelievable, you think this is a joke? CADEN, Cara died because you took her out to play and left her there alone, while you follow other kids for nonsense. And now Madison got into an accident because of your irresponsibility. Let me make this clear for you. I swear to God, I will not have you ruining my family again. I have enough of your problems. You're sick and unbelievable." He yells through the speaker.

I peek up at the TV screen when the room became silent. I almost thought the call is disconnected, and then toss a large piece of apple in my mouth and continue to slice more.

"It wasn't his fault." I heard a frail voice said in the quiet.
It was Mad's.

It made me smile mentally. I don't know why.

"It is, I know who that little devil is." Dad barked in protest, causing my fingers holding the knife to lose balance and slightly torn my lower thumb, spilling a little amount of blood, I had to fist my hand to hide it.

"Jude..." Martha began, sounding irritated by her husband.

I shoot upright and grab another apple from the small basket on the coffee table before announcing: "I will go to bed."

I needed some alone moment.

"This is not the way to lead him to the right path." I heard Martha say as I leave the room.

While I take off my shirt in my bedroom I listen to every conversation from the living room through the light walls of the apartment.

"He will never change, he's so much. I can't with him." He says.

"It wasn't his fault, I swear." It was Mad, her voice was vulnerable.

It made me wonder why she's not rebelling against me! I mean I gave her every reason to use it against me.

"Maddie, it is his fault, just look at you, faithful, reasonable, and respectful. Why can't he learn from you?" Dad questioned loudly.

There was a prolonged quiet, none said anything.

I drop my head in my hands and heave a deep sigh. Until then a soft voice responded, taking my breath away.

"Dad, just because I'm slightly obedient doesn't mean I'm a better person than Caden. Yes, he might be stubborn, but he's growing up. He's struggling with change and everything about maturing. I understand a little but not all because he wouldn't open up and it's okay. That's how every teenager is, if you're lucky you will have easy teenagers around you but most are hard to understand. And honestly, with Caden, he's suffering from something. I think he needs more attention and caring rather than... The relationship you two have."

It was now I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding in.

Did she just defend me?
Why?
I mean no one ever did. It was always my fault. I was used to taking the blame.

"I think you should rest, okay? I will have Mitch check on you when he's back in town," Dad told her.

"Tell Caden to at least go to the clinic." Said Martha.

"I will try."

***

I toss and turn on the bed, I couldn't sleep no matter how much I needed it to escape from this confusing presence and return to when Cara left, to when mom did too.

Then a knock came from the other side of the door.
"Caden?" She softly called.

"I am sleeping," I mumbled in the pillow when the door began creaking.

"You're not, you're speaking." She points from the half-opened door. She has a bowl and a napkin in her hand.

I sat up against the headboard, my legs stretched out, and shook my head at her.
"Why wouldn't you just leave me? I'm okay, you know? You are the one who was involved in an accident."

She cautiously steps further into the room, her bottom lip between her teeth.
"But you're the one with the most wrecked face." She thinned her eyes at me.

"You are gonna have a scar on your neck." I beckon to the cut on her beautiful long neck.

And a sudden frown takes over her face when she settled opposite me at the edge of my bed.

"Pretty obvious. Is not big deal though, is just another addition to my hideous look anyway." She presses her lips and wets the cloth in the water before adding: "Can I help you clean your wounds?"

I didn't know what to tell her, but I know damn well that; hideous and her doesn't work together. And if that cut made a scar on her neck, I would make sure to kiss it over tens of times a day, if she let me.

"Yes. Thank you." I nodded, and she brought the warm cloth to my temple.
I winced slightly at the contact.

"Sorry." She retorted, panic evident in her luminous eyes.

She was difficult to understand; I wish I recognized her enough to know why she affects me this much.

I almost questioned why she defended me out there. I wanted to know because my head and mind were playing tricks with me. I don't know what to believe.

With a small smile on my lips, I asked instead, "You saw who hit you?"

She cleaned the red stain off the towel and squeezed the water back into the small bowl, bringing back the warm towel to my face, tenderly. It was soothing. Watching some strands of hair sliding out from her messy bun was even more soothing.

"Yes, it was some middle-aged man. Why?" She queried.

Middle-aged man?
Could it be...
No! Dad said Kane Esteban will have a chance for a trial, but that doesn't mean he's out of the cell. Right?

Would he come after us after being freed?

I don't know. The world is a messed up place, so everything is possible.

"I need to go." I climbed off the bed and grabbed a shirt.

I sensed her body rising from the bed behind me while I slipped the shirt over my head.
"Go where?" Bewildered, she asked.

"I-I will be back. Don't wait for me. Just go to bed." I announced as I rushed to exit the apartment for Center Yorker.

It was my fault Mad almost died yesterday, and knowing the family behind it is just some minutes' drive away from here. I couldn't resist.

I should take away his. Before he takes away the last piece of me.

I can't imagine a life without Mad. It was the plan all along; that's why I ended up at Stanford University.

Maybe I should just get done with this game before it's too late.