"Arnold, do you love him? You seem pretty serious about him." Evelyn never thought she would ever be able to ask her little brother about the word love. But here she is, filled with curiosity still not believing how meek and warm he was in front of that little boy Kyoko.
"You saw him right?"
"What? Yes?"
"Oh so you are not blind then you must be stupid." Arnold rolled his eyes.
"So are you or are you not?"
"For god's sake, you saw how adorable he is and you are still asking me that foolish question?"
Evelyn gaped her mouth open. Adorable? Did I hear right? Did he just call someone adorable?
"So it was love at first sight?"
Arnold took his time to answer the question. He seemed a bit hesitant to say it.
"No, I was just curious. Heard that sex with mates are the best you could ever have and also I wanted to know why that old hag left us? What was she found so precious to her own kids?"
Arnold smiled as he zoomed in on a picture he took of Kyoko who was as red as an apple because of how embarrassed he was just a bit earlier.
"Don't call our mother an old hag." Evelyn retorted.
"Tell me one motherly thing she has done."
His once nice mood was already ruined when he heard Evelyn calling her a mother, he kept his phone down and dead stared at her, anticipating her answer. Even if he knew there was nothing, she would be able to come up with.
Evelyn on the other hand, hitched as she was dumbfounded with the question, she struggled to find the words but couldn't, instead she tried to change the topic.
"So can you understand her feelings, what she was chasing after even a little?"
Arnold thought for a while. "I get the feeling of wanting to abandon everything for my darling but still her mate was not even as lovable as Kyoko, so she's still a witch."
"I said, don't call our mother names, Arnold!" Evelyn stated, stern.
"And I said to name one motherly thing she has done. She ruined my childhood, she fucking robbed me of the chance to have a normal life. She is the reason why I am so messed up like I am in the present."
"It wasn't that bad. You got your own business and inherited her gang."
"Of course, it was not so bad for you. You weren't the one who was forced to grab the gun at eight, you weren't the one who had to see their dog beaten up to death and couldn't do anything because you were tied up and the best part was on your fucking 9th birthday. But I was."
"Hey, I-
"No, I am not done Ms Evelyn Rudox. See, even our last names are different being siblings. Now tell me it was you who wasn't allowed to have friends or even show a remnant of affection towards anyone, because you knew you would find them dead in front of your door the next day. Were you? No right? So who the fuck are you to judge whether it was not so bad or not?"
Evelyn pressed her lips into a thin line. She was shocked? Scared? Guilty? She didn't know what to feel. She had never seen Arnold lashing out like now, he was always a perfect little brother in her eyes.
She and Jaden were raised together while Arnold was raised somewhere else and she had no idea what he had gone through during those years.
"So that's the reason you murdered dad?"
"It was an accident," Arnold growled at her.
"That you planned."
Arnold scoffed. "You really think my hatred for that dog is that shallow? If I had killed him, trust me it wouldn't have been an easy death."
Evelyn gulped as she knew none of those and her naiveness made her extremely guilty.
She didn't know how to comfort him even far from knowing if he needed comforting or not. But now she knew why he was so silent all those times when they met at 18 and why he spoke to them only at their father's funeral. She knew he at least cared about them.
Amidst all those thoughts, she was pulled out by a ringtone. Arnold's once frowning face relaxed and was replaced by a small smile when he saw the caller ID.
"Darling." He called out as he went outside the room.
"At least he has someone he loves now." She mumbled, staring at her brother's figure slowly disappearing, determined to protect him and his happiness now.