(45) Cards to Play

Her head pounded. And pounded. And pounded.

Pieces of her mind shut down that once functioned normally.

When past and present meet in a tumultuous storm, Makennah's brain stopped working. Stopped thinking. Stopped doing anything other than keep her alive.

Breathe.

Heart beat.

Lungs inflate.

Eyes blink.

Pores sweat.

Muscles contract.

But her brain stopped. Her thoughts stopped.

Numbness. Despite all of the functions she knew her body was carrying out - especially with all of the extra hard work it was putting in to begin to heal the wounds of her neck - she only felt. Kind of...invisible. Like she wasn't there. Or more like an out of body experience.

She knew something traumatic happened to her. To her family. To the Sinclair's. But she didn't feel it. She didn't feel anything.

Without a game plan, Matt parked the car. Jonah unbuckled his seat belt. And the three crammed in the back piled out of the car. Unexplainably, her legs worked just fine. They carried her to the door and up the steps and into the house.

All five of them trudged through the hallway following the laughter and voices of Will and Carolynn flirting in the kitchen. At the sound of them, her hand briefly lifted and brushed a soft touch against her neck. She hadn't seen a mirror but she knew...knew it was awful.

Makennah hung back while Matt took charge like the best big brother, how he always did.

"Oh my God! Matthew!" Carolynn gasped loudly.

"Son, what's going on?" Will commanded in a deep tone, demanding answers immediately.

"We're fine. I promise we're fine," Matt answered calmly.

"All three of you! Oh my God did get in a fight?!" The initial shock faded into motherly concern.

"No," Makennah spoke up from the back and shouldered through the wall of bits to present herself to Will and Carolynn. "They were protecting me."

Carolynn's eyes instantly clouded with tears when she laid her eyes on Makennah. And still, she only registered numbness.

"What happened?" Will inquired calmly. His eyes trailed over her face and neck. She forgot about the scratch on her cheek. "Is everyone okay?"

"We're fine," Matt said.

"You don't look fine," Carolynn countered.

"You should see the other guy," Makennah commented.

Will crossed his arms over his chest. "Where is the other guy?"

"Gone," she answered for all of them. "Gone and he's not coming back. There's no need for damage control. Or...legal interaction."

Will made eye contact with her. "Are you sure? 100% positive? Because I need to know that I don't need to involve the authorities. For your protection," Will looked over at all of his sons. "For all of your protection."

Nick, Josh, and Matt stood in solidarity with Makennah. What just happened didn't happen.

It didn't happen.

It's over.

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Before the family commenced their "talk," Carolynn ushered everyone upstairs to clean up. While Carolynn helped clean the boys' wounds and ice their fists, Makennah showered and washed off the grime of the interaction that already felt like a distant memory.

Dressed in black leggings, a white hoodie, and her jean jacket with the fur, Makennah tiptoed down stairs while she brushed her damp hair out of her face.

The boys and everyone were already crowded into the dining room, conversing in low tones. About her. About what happened.

Instead of joining them, Makennah sat on the bottom step and hung her head in her hands. She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to explain. And she didn't want to open up those doors to the past.

"We showed up and he was already slamming her up against the wall and choking her."

"When we pulled up, he didn't even stop."

"We saw her shove him in the face and that's when he grabbed her mouth and scratched her cheek."

"So then Matt goes over and pulls him off of her and Makennah just fell on the ground."

"Jonah went over to help Makennah and we all...tackled the guy and took him out."

"We protected Jonah and Makennah. We promise. Jonah was in no danger. We wouldn't let anything happen to him."

"What was Makennah doing outside?" Carolynn asked.

"We don't know. We just took the guy out, grabbed Makennah, and got out of there. We didn't ask any questions," Matt answered.

"I think she knows him. The guy," Nick added.

She was tired of them carrying on a conversation about her when she was right there. Truly she was the only one who knew the facts. "He's my ex boyfriend," she said loud enough for them to hear.

Will, Carolynn, and Matt followed by Nick and Josh rounded the corner and found Makennah on the stairs. Carolynn knelt on the ground in front of Makennah and gingerly touched her knee. She couldn't stop staring at Makennah's neck.

It was bad.

"How are you doing, sweetheart?" Carolynn asked.

Numb. "I'm fine." Cold. Hurting.

"Will you tell us what happened? What was he doing there?" Carolynn urged her on.

Makennah rested her elbows on her knees and kept her gaze glued to the ground. "I don't know. He went on about something about his ex. The girl from the soccer game." They all nodded like they remembered. "I don't know how he found me. He's completely blocked from my life. I haven't spoken to him in six months."

She didn't want to do this. She didn't want to talk about these things.

What she needed was an Advil.

"Did he corner you outside?" Carolynn asked while everyone listened and waited for answers.

"Yes I took the trash out because I was waiting on the managers. It's a part of my job to make sure the trash gets taken out but all of the guys were busy in the kitchen. I didn't think it was a big deal." She wanted to see all of their faces but her neck hurt too much to look up. "Speaking of, I probably need to call Jill." She kind of just disappeared and left a bleeding bruised coward in the parking lot.

"We already took care of it," Will informed her, leaning against the door jam.

She twisted her hands back and forth over and over. "That's never going to happen again. You all have nothing to worry about," she tried to assure them.

What she really needed was to hide away in her bedroom for awhile and then she would be fine. After she healed and everyone stopped talking about, it would be no big deal. It was just another day. Another moment she regretted ever meeting Lucas. But she could get over that and she needed the Sinclair's to do that too.

"Makennah, forgive us but we don't know that for sure. We don't know him at all. Clearly he thinks he's capable of taking control of you," Carolynn explained.

Licking her lips, Makennah studied her hands. The sad thing was that he did take control of her. He was capable of crumbling her in his fist. And it made her furious. "He would never come here. And after what the boys did to him, he isn't going to come back."

"How do you know that?" Will insisted. He sounded angry at the prospect of anyone ever showing up to his house uninvited looking for Makennah.

They would never understand. It was useless to explain. "Because I know."

"Makennah, obviously you underestimate him. Look at what he did to you," Will said bitterly.

Makennah couldn't help but laugh. "No offense but you all live in a fairy tale world." She lifted her head despite the pain to look them all in the eyes. "You're kidding yourself if you think he's never done this before. He's a weak coward who thrives off of control. He controlled me for months until I got away from him. Matt and Nick and Josh pummeled him. Literally beat the life out of him. He lost control and he hates that. He's never going to come here because he has to go home and lick his wounds and cry like the little bitch baby that he is." Makennah stood to her feet. "Pardon my language," she muttered as an after thought.

Carolynn stood as well and leaned on Josh. "Makennah...if he's done this before, you deserve to file charges against him. This isn't a silly little mishap. He choked you."

"You don't think I know that?!" She yelled. "I want to put this behind me and move on and you're not helping!"

"Makennah." Will stepped forward and blocked his wife. "First of all, watch your tone," he warned. "Second...What Carolynn is getting at....is that it is our sole job to provide for you and protect you. Tonight you were seriously injured by a man who had no right to ever lay his hands on you. If you're saying this has happened before, that is reason enough to believe he will do it again. If not to you, then someone else."

Maisie.

Will continued. "Every single one of us will stand behind you and support you if we press charges. The boys will be safe. No one here is going to get in trouble."

Tears sprung to her eyes. She had already put this family through enough. "You don't understand. He has a very powerful family. They know plenty of people on the inside and in law enforcement. He would get away with it."

Will placed both of his hands on Makennah's shoulders. "Makennah," he said softly. "I don't mean this boastfully, but I promise you I have more cards to play in my pocket than they do. And whatever they could ever try to use against you would disappear. And I know the best lawyers in the entire state of Colorado. He would never get away with this. I swear to you."

Makennah shook her head. "It's not even about that. You're a lawyer, Will. You know what kind of hell it is to go through a long trial. You think I want the entire world knowing what happened? You think I want everyone here to know I'm a foster child? Everything about me would be out in the open. There would be no privacy whatsoever."

It shocked her still that no one in Braxton had figured out the truth about Makennah. As far as she could tell, she was probably the only foster child in the whole city so no one suspected it from her. But she liked the privacy. She liked being in control of what people knew about her.

"On top of that," she continued before anyone could interrupt her. "He is not my problem anymore. I got rid of him and I want nothing to do with him."

He's Maisie's problem now.

"Pressing charges doesn't mean that you would have to deal with him or even talk to him. That would never happen," Will explained.

Makennah tucked her hands into the pockets of her jean jacket. "You don't get it. He isn't my problem anymore. He's dating someone else. She can deal with him."

"What if he's hurting her?" Matt asked, suddenly interjecting.

He is hurting her.

"Listen this is already nice," she made eye contact with everyone. "I know you all care. But this is not my battle. Not my problem. He is not my boyfriend. And he got what he deserved. That's enough for me even if justice didn't occur legally." She sighed. "If you don't mind, I would really like to borrow the car."

Will's head snapped at her odd change of subject. "What?"

Makennah pinched her fingernails into her palm. There was something she had to do. "Can I borrow the Jeep? Just for a little bit."

"Makennah...this conversation isn't over," Carolynn explained calmly, crossing her arms over her chest.

"You can take the Jeep," Matt said, offering her the keys.

"Matthew," Will warned. "You don't get to make that decision."

"Please. I need to do something." Unfortunately, one way or another, whether the Sinclair's liked it, she was taking a car. And she was getting out of here.

"What do you need to do?" Will asked.

"I need to go see someone."

"We'll take you," he offered but it wasn't a suggestion, more like a command that wasn't supposed to be argued with.

"No." She snatched the keys out of Matt's hands and darted for the front door, dodging between Matt and Nick.

"Makennah Claire!" Carolynn hollered from where she stood, trying to grab her.

"I'm fine! Would you all just stop?! Please stop! I said I'm fine! It's handled! It's done!" She yelled frustratedly. "I'll be back. I'll be safe."

She ran out the door and jogged the path to the car.

"Do not get in that car, Makennah," Will warned in a calm even tone.

Makennah hopped in the front seat. Her life, her issues, had nothing to do with them. They may be her foster parents but they had no idea what her life was like or how she should operate with her problems. At the end of the day, they were temporary. And Makennah had to live with herself forever.

It was more important that she help herself, heal herself, clear her conscience.

Even if that meant pissing off the Sinclair's. Even if it meant risking everything.

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I'm thinking about doing a spin-off with Matt and telling his own story once he gets to college in a couple months. Would you guys be interested in reading? Comment below!!

Xoxo

W. Carolina