Carr scowled at Matthias, "Half brothers."
Kashi swayed on her feet, the information enough to make her remember her dizzying head. Both of them rushed to her side. Carr got there first, gently grabbing her arm to help her into a sitting position.
"We decided it would be best for her to curb her drinking for the night." Matthias said by way of explanation.
They may as well have been speaking Greek for all Kashi understood. Brothers. That would explain why the two looked so similar… It was so much to take in. Her head was a roar of thoughts, churning like a vortex, each glimpse of a thought too brief for her to grasp. Her stomach felt queasy. She had to remind herself how to breathe to calm the nausea that rose.
Breathe in, breathe out. Breathe in, breathe out. She chanted to herself steadily. The brothers were saying something but she needed to calm herself before she could think of facing either. What had she done? Kissing Carr, tossing him aside to have fun with Matthias who was Carr's brother…
"Kashi, hey!" Matthias' voice broke through her muddled thoughts. "You look like you're about to pass out again. Do you need—"
"Again?" Carr's voice was angry but laced with concern. He grabbed Kashi's arm, turning her to face him. He scanned her as if trying to sense something amiss.
She pushed his arm away, swatting away the hand that Matthias had put on her knee. "What is going on? Why didn't I know you were brothers? This is a lot to take in," she said the last part more to herself. "Guys—"
Carr sighed heavily, seating himself on the gravel in front of her. "Well, it's a long story. Not a happy one either."
Kashi didn't let his attempt at lowering her interest harm her one bit. "Well seeing as I need to sit down due to dizziness, I have plenty of time." She folded her arms, shooting a look at Matthias who had the good sense to join his brother in a seated position.
"We have the same dad, but different moms." Matthias said, scratching behind his head somewhat awkwardly. He was pointedly looking away from Carr.
"Yeah and our dad is a real piece of work." Carr nearly spat. His tone changed as he surveyed Kashi's pensive face and addressed her. "I can see the wheels turning. Go ahead. Ask Matthias why we're so close in age."
She had been wondering if they were twins but now… Kashi turned to Matthias who sent Carr a seething glare. "We were born three months apart, okay? Dad may have done some dumb things but he's not a villain Carter."
Kashi raised an eyebrow. Carter? Her look conveyed.
"No, it's Carr," he snapped, "and your dad may not be a villain, but mine is. He married my mother first and had five children with her. Do you know how much it crushed her to learn that he had another family in Chicago? When he chose you over us and left my mom to raise five kids alone?" His voice was razor sharp, all but shuddering with anger.
Kashi's heart felt like it took a physical blow. She couldn't believe who could be so horrible. And for Carr to have had to go through that...
"Go ahead Matthias. Defend your dad. Blow my family off as some mistake. I'd like to hear you say it to my mother's face. Do you know how hard she had to work when your dad ran off? She worked herself to the bone every day for us. And…" Carr took an inhale as if steadying himself. "And your dad threw the bare minimum at us, nowhere near what was needed to support five children, while your family could have slept in beds of cash."
Kashi curled her knees into her chest. She felt… she felt like she was violating some private conversation between the two of them. They seemed to have forgotten she was there. Their eyes never strayed from the other's, bodies tense, poised to move. From the twitch of Carr's fist… they were in dangerous territory. But she couldn't justify breaking in between. Even to stop a potential fight.
"Carr I didn't commit any—"
"But you knew. You knew. We were friends once. Both devastated by what our father did. You found it in yourself to forgive him. But when you chose a lying and cheating son of—"
Matthias moved faster than Kashi could detect and the two were suddenly brawling on the white stones.
Matthias tackled Carr with his full bodyweight, crushing him against the white stones. He swung a fist at Carr, connecting with his cheekbone. Kashi flinched as she heard the impact… the sight of red blood running from Carr's newly split lip onto the white stone. The two of them heaving, Matthias still without his shirt. Jeepers! It was on her still. She watched, frozen, as Carr, with astounding strength, simply grabbed Matthias' wrists and flipped him over. The crunch of the gravel against Matt's back made her wince. Both of them were shouting at one another. Quips of slurred speech and unintelligible words. They were trading vicious blows, neither atttempting to block if it meant they could pummel the other. Carr slammed his knee into his brother's stomach hard enough to make Matthias yell. Kashi wasn't sure when the tears had come to her face. Or how long people had started to crowd around them. She was vaguely aware of her own shouting at them to stop.
Time slurred. Lights became bright. Blue. Blue and red. It was two sheriffs wrestling them apart. Matthias' back was bruised and scraped from the stones he was pinned against. Both had bruised faces. Carr's nose was bleeding.
Kashi felt herself taking a step backwards before bumping into the stone fountain and falling in. Cold water doused her from her waist to her shoulders. Her legs were slung over the edge. The water did little to stop her from smacking her tailbone on the bottom. Water torrented down over her face. She tried to pull herself up, but her hand slid and she fell back underwater. Her nose stung as the water shoved itself up, burning and stinging. She coughed, more water coming in through her mouth.
"Hey, Kashi, it's okay."
It was Sierra.
Her friend grabbed her hands, pulling her to a seated position on the edge. Sierra threw a towel around Kashi's shoulders, hugging her.
Kashi was already crying. "Sierra, can you take me home?"
"I got you babe. I'll pack your things up, you just follow me okay?"
Kashi didn't deserve a friend like Sierra. She followed her friend out of the garden where Carr and Matthias had been led by the officers just a moment ago. She could see their silhouettes in the police cars. Some part of her almost didn't care. She pulled Matthias' dripping wet shirt off of her shoulders and dropped it onto the stones.