My Little Sister

Her hand flew through the air, meeting his cheek with a gratifying thwack. “You cold hearted son of a…”

He grabbed her hand as she reached back to slap him again.

“Calm down, you don’t know the whole story.”

“I don’t need to know anything other than you lied. You kept me from Jerry when he needed me most.” She jerked her hand away from him with tears streaming down her face. Carol turned storming toward the door. Anger swirled in her wake.

Thomas couldn’t let her leave without knowing the truth. It hadn’t been his idea to keep his baby sister in the dark, but the consequences of his promise to Jerry glowered in front of him.

His hand slammed against the door as Carol attempted to leave. He spun her around, but she couldn’t see the concern or the brotherly love of the man before her. “You’re going to listen to me.”

She closed her eyes and turned her head. She wasn’t going to listen to anything. She thought about when she was child, sticking her fingers in her ears, scrunching her face up singing a barrage of la, las, so she wouldn’t have to hear. She stood imprisoned against the door.

“It’s not going to work this time, Carol. I know you can hear me. Listen, please.” Thomas, dropped his head, drew in a deep breath and sighed. “Jerry called me a month ago.”

"A month ago!"

Carol struggled to get out of Thomas’s grip. “He begged me to tell you he was dead. Carol do you have any idea how hard is was to hear my best friend, the man you were going to marry, tell me that he was never going to come home?” Tears welled in Thomas’s eyes. “He wanted to protect you. He didn’t want you to be burdened with ‘part of a man’, his words Carol. His words, not mine.”

“It wasn’t your decision to make. You should have told me anyway.”

“I argued with him. I told him he was wrong, you were stronger than that. All he needed to do is come home. We’d take care of everything. We’d make it work.” He stopped, looking for understanding in Carol’s eyes. “Nothing I said changed his mind. I finally relented, promising to keep his secret. I didn’t do it to hurt you. I did it because,” Thomas started crying, “because he said he would take what was left of his life if I didn’t. I didn’t doubt that he would do it.”

Thomas’s head rested on her shoulder. Carol embraced her brother, united by their pain and sense of loss. “Well, I know now. So I guess, we’ll go back to the old days.”

Thomas looked up, examining his sister’s eyes. The sparks of rage had been replaced with the spark of a woman with a plan.

He chuckled shaking his head. "Poor Jerry doesn't stand a chance against my little sister."

Prompt- Cold Hearted
Word Count 491 of a 500 word limit