“What the hell does that mean?” I asked.
“Look, whatever this Hailey girl told you, you know it isn’t true. You saw John a couple months before his death, right? You said so yourself that he was high when the encounter happened,” my mother said.
“I said I thought he was high because never once had he ever raised his voice at me,” I said.
“He did to us all the time,” my mother said.
“Because you ripped his art away from him, and it spiraled him into drugs,” I said.
“Well, that was his choice. It could’ve just as easily spiraled him into something else like music or mathematics,” my father said.
“Taking away a child’s ability to express themselves through art is supposed to drive them toward math, Dad?” I asked.
“So, what was this heroic act our son supposedly died doing?” my mother asked.
I could feel my blood pressure rising as I set down my fork and drew in a deep breath.
“One of Hailey’s art students was selling drugs out of her studio. Some guys came by and threatened her, dragged her out of bed by her neck, Mom. John was there and got them away from her, and then he set out to fix it, so they wouldn’t come back. Those same guys killed him because he was trying to protect her.”
My parents fell silent while they both studied my face. My eyes volleyed back and forth between them, holding onto the hope that the truth would finally set them free of this fucking nonsense and that knowing their son was a hero who devoted his last breath to save the life of a woman would somehow make them proud of him.
But the hope was short-lived the moment my mother opened her mouth.
“And you think this was John?” she asked, grinning. “You think he got sober and became Superman.”
“You have to admit, Bryan, it doesn’t sound at all like John,” my father said.
“Are you two serious?” I asked. “You really don’t think your son was capable of getting sober and staying that way, much less helping a woman. Dad, you were the one who drilled into our heads the value of treating a woman with respect.”
“Yes, but not saving her life,” he said.
“So, you wouldn’t save Mom’s life?” I asked.
“I’d do it in a heartbeat, but that’s because I love her. Was John in love with your girlfriend?” he asked.
“No. They weren’t dating. He probably loved her, yes, but because she helped him, pulled him off the street and gave him a place to clean himself up. Mom. Dad. He had a place he was renting before he died. His own home,” I said.
“Are you sure she didn’t track you down, Bryan?” my mother asked. “Sounds like she just wanted a piece of the other brother, if you ask me.”
“Don’t you ever talk about her that way again,” I said.
“I’m just stating a possible truth. John couldn’t have done those things. He didn’t have it in him. He was always the shy, timid kid. You were the outgoing one,” my mother said.
“John died because he was mixing with the wrong people. For all you know, he knew those guys who came into her studio if that’s even true. And you need to learn from his death, son. You need to get away from people like Hailey.”
“And Drew,” my mother said.
“Before you end up like him,” my father said.
I couldn’t believe my ears. My parents had actually found a way to spin my brother’s heroic death into nothing other than more lies, deceit, and manipulation. They were still trying to find a way to get my life back on some path they felt I should be on, and it made me realize why I’d automatically accused Hailey of all those things and why my emotional reaction had been the way it had been that day in the back of her art gallery. I’d been scared that I’d fallen in love with someone like my parents.
The thought made me sick that I could ever lump her beauty and her honesty in with the likes of the disgusting people I was looking at.
“Well, you might get your wish with Drew. He’s probably going to leave the company soon to open his tattoo parlor, which I think is better for him anyway. It’s where his passion lies,” I said.
“Oh, you’re going to liquidate,” my father exclaimed.
“Never said anything about that,” I said. “I’m happy for Drew no matter what he chooses, but I’m staying with the company.”