Taking the Blame

“Yeah, it was a good decision to adopt Jenny. I don’t know what I would’ve done if she wasn’t with us!

“Don’t even remind me about Charlie. I haven’t gotten a good night’s sleep since she killed these kids. Jenny’s been so devastated too! She keeps asking to take her sister’s place in jail.”

I knocked on the door. Mom opened it, and her smile vanished when she realized it was me.

“What are you doing here? Stay outside for a bit. We’re hosting guests today, and I don’t want you ruining everyone’s good time,” she said ruthlessly.

After she closed the door, I heard her explaining, “Don’t worry about it. It was just the garbage collector.”

I was finally allowed back into the house at nightfall, only to be slapped by my father.

“You knew today was an important day for Jenny! How could you come by and drag everyone’s mood down? You couldn’t stay at the prison for just another day? You’re the reason everyone’s making fun of us now!”

My mother looked me up and down, then quickly hid Jenny’s trophy away in fear that I would somehow ruin it.

“You chose to come back today, didn’t you? Isn’t it enough that Jenny had a bad childhood? Why must you still pick on her? Why couldn’t they have given you a few more years in jail?”

I was no stranger to these words. They had been frequent ever since Jenny was adopted.

I glared back. “Did you forget the truth while you were lying to everyone? Jenny is the real murderer here!”

Something dropped behind me.

My parents rushed over to console Jenny. “Ignore her, Jenny. What happened was an accident. It wasn’t your fault.

“If Charlie had told you how dangerous it was earlier, you wouldn’t have risked your life to bring those three kids there. I know Charlie hid it from you on purpose. It’s not the first time she’s had it out for you!

“Get over here and apologize to Jenny now!”

Jared was displeased. “That was mean, Charlie!”

Jenny grabbed his arm as he walked toward me and looked at him sadly. “Mom, Dad, Jared… It’s okay. The first thing she saw when she got out of jail was me winning the award. I can understand why she’s so angry. But Charlie, I got that award through my own hard work. I don’t need your help.

“If it makes you feel better, you can have the trophy. I can leave the house too, if that’s what you want.”

Jenny grabbed the trophy out of my mother’s hands and threw it on the floor. Then, she rushed out of the house.

“Jenny!”

Jared pushed me aside and ran out after her. Shards of the broken trophy cut into my skin as I fell onto them, and I sucked in a cold breath.

Just as I got to my feet, my father kicked the back of my knees, forcing me to kneel on the shards. Pain shot up my spine.

Red quickly stained the floor, but my parents ignored it. A bottle of glue was dropped in front of me.

“You can get up after you finish piecing it back together, or we’ll pretend we never had a daughter.”

I was strangely calm. They had never been on my side since they brought Jenny home.

She was sent to an orphanage after her parents were arrested for their crimes. Her good grades and sweet words enticed my parents to adopt her out of all the other orphans they sponsored.