My Religious Mum
904 Words
Gabriel's POV
The dining room was so quiet I could hear the hum of the air conditioning and the rhythmic, annoying scrape of my mother’s fork against her fine plate.
Everything in this house felt like it was made of glass, expensive, cold, and ready to shatter if you breathed on it too hard.
I sat there, my ribs still aching, feeling like a doll they had dressed up for a part I never auditioned for. Across from me, Derek looked like he hadn't a care in the world, cutting into a steak with a precision that made my skin crawl.
"You look pathetic, Gabe," Derek said, not even looking up. The silver of his knife flashed in the chandelier light.
"Slumping like that. Once you heal, I am taking you out to the stables. You need to learn to ride. And we are going to the range. You can’t even hold a glass without shaking, I will teach you how to handle a gun so you don't look like such an easy target."
Sarah beamed, her hands clasped under her chin like she was watching a saint perform a miracle.
"Oh, Derek! That is so generous of you. Gabriel, isn't that wonderful? To be a real Miller man."
I felt a surge of heat crawl up my neck. It wasn't fear this time. It was pure, unadulterated annoyance. I pushed my peas around the plate, the clear lenses of my new glasses making Derek’s smug face look far too sharp.
"Don't bother," I said. My voice was small, but in that silent room, it sounded like a gunshot.
Derek’s knife stopped moving. He slowly lifted his head, his dark eyes narrowing. "Excuse me?"
"I said don't bother," I repeated, finding a sudden, jagged bit of courage in the pit of my stomach. "I don't need to learn how to shoot things to feel like a man. But if you are so worried about my weakness, maybe I can return the favor. I will tutor you in Biology so you can finally stop getting an F. It’s embarrassing, really. Even the nerd knows how to pass a basic lab."
The silence that followed wasn't just quiet, it was heavy. It was the kind of silence that made your ears ring.
My mother’s face went from a smile to a mask of pure horror. Her hand jerked, catching the edge of her wine glass. Red liquid splashed across the white tablecloth like a fresh wound.
"Gabriel!" she shrieked, her voice cracking into a high, ugly register. "Apologize! Right now! How dare you speak to your brother like that? Oh, praise God, I don't know where he gets this insolence from......"
"Enough, Sarah."
Miller’s voice cut through her panic like a cold blade. He hadn't stopped eating, but his eyes were fixed on Derek. A slow, twisted smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth.
"Why should he apologize?" Miller asked, wiping his mouth with a linen napkin. "The boy has a point. Derek, you’ve been failing that course for two semesters. If you spent half as much time on your studies as you do on... whatever it is you do at night, I wouldn't have to keep donating to the science wing to keep you enrolled."
Derek’s knuckles turned white around his fork. He looked humiliated, his jaw tight enough to snap, but there was something else in his eyes as he looked at me. He looked... impressed. Like a predator seeing a rabbit grow teeth for the first time.
"Since when did you start talking back, Gabe?"
Derek asked, his voice a low, dangerous vibration. It wasn't a question; it was a challenge.
"Since I realized your bite isn't as bad as your grades," I muttered, taking a sip of water that I didn't even want.
The tension was so thick I thought I might choke on it, but then the front door opened. I heard footsteps, confident, heavy boots marching down the hall.
A guy walked into the dining room. He was tall, with blonde hair and a smile that looked like he owned the world. He didn't wait for an invitation. He walked straight over to Derek, who was still fuming in his seat.
"You are late for the gym, Miller," the guy said.
Before anyone could say a word, he reached down, grabbed Derek’s face, and kissed him. Hard. Right in front of Miller, in front of my mother, and right in front of me.
My mother made a sound like a dying bird. She stood up so fast her chair flipped backward, crashing onto the hardwood.
"Why... why are you kissing a guy?!" she screamed, her religious mask finally shattering into a thousand jagged pieces. Her face was contorted, replaced by a frantic, ugly confusion.
Derek didn't pull away. He didn't even look at her. He leaned back in his chair, his eyes sliding over to me, cold and defiant. He watched me to see my reaction, his gaze daring me to say another word.
"Problem, Sarah?" Derek asked, his voice dripping with a dark, satisfied malice.
I sat there, my heart thumping so hard I could feel it in my throat. The glasses Derek bought me were working perfectly. I could see everything. And for the first time, I realized that this family wasn't just broken, it was a war zone.
And my mum may not be surviving it.
- Writer
