His revelation was followed by silence.

The only sound was that of Dad’s cries

echoing throughout the home. Then, I watched as Carrie rose from her seat. She
marched straight up to Dad and loomed over him. He glanced up at her pathetically.
He was met with a closed fist to the jaw. “How could you? You were tight on cash so
you sold my baby brother?? What the hell is wrong with you? Did you even stop to
think about what that would do to us? I blamed myself for such a long time. I never
fully recovered from that. And Mom. You seriously thought that Mom would take
that stupid run-down dump that you called a house over one of her own children?
You're psychotic.” “It was never about what anyone else wanted. It was always about
him. His wants and his needs. And he hated me,” David muttered, clenching the
handle of his revolver with a vice grip. “He never loved me like he did you two. He
would have given me away if he had the chance. Me. A child. His own blood.” Dad
sheepishly gazed up at the two of them. As the reality of our situation sunk in, I
began to realize that I felt no sympathy for my father anymore. A cocktail of emotions
swirled within me at that moment: disbelief, betrayal, despair. But at the forefront of
them all, rage. Dad had taken my brother away from me and lied to everyone about
it for what? A few dollars? I knew I’d never be able to look at him the same way
again. My father was the devil incarnate. “Look, David, I’ll make this up to you. I can
make things right! I just, I-” “No. You can’t. And you know that… But I can. And that’s
exactly what I intend to do,” David spat, his eyes burning with resentment. Dad
peered down at his lap. He didn’t utter a word. He just accepted whatever my
brother had in store for him. I solemnly stood from my spot at the table. I knew just
as well as Carrie and Dad and David what had to be done. “Derrick, Lauren, can you
two wait outside please? We need to have a little talk with Dad. Alone.” They silently
shuffled out the door. Lauren turned back and opened her mouth to speak, but
thought better of it. I watched as her blonde curls bounced around the corner and
into the hall. Once we heard the front door shut, we all circled in. I won’t bore you
with the details of our conversation. I will say that David’s revolver was feeling very
chatty, however. It took a real liking to Dad, too. Such a shame they didn’t get to
meet sooner. I don’t feel an inkling of remorse. Why should I? I have enough
insurance money now to pay off both Lauren and my student loan debt, plus there’s
one less monster roaming the earth. But the best part of all? Now that things have
quite literally simmered down, I finally have my long-lost brother back. And that’s
something I wouldn’t trade for the world.