Disintegration by Scott Nicholson

Author:Scott Nicholson
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Haunted Computer Books
Published: 2010-10-21T10:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Jacob awoke with his mouth dry, heart pounding in his ears, wrists aching. He thought he smelled smoke and realized he'd been dreaming of the house burning down. His back was stiff. He rolled over and looked across the room. Joshua's bed was empty.

The windowsill was gray with approaching dawn. He sat up and rolled his shoulders and neck, loosening the sore muscles. The smoke he'd smelled was from a cigarette. Joshua stood by the door, smiling, scratching in the stained armpit of his T-shirt.

"Morning, brother. How did you sleep?"

"Worse than ever."

"You got no peace of mind. Them shrinks didn't do you a bit of good."

"How long do I have to stay here?"

Joshua flicked his cigarette, sending ashes onto the rug. "You act like I'm holding you here against your will." He laughed, the barking of a thirsty dog. "I ain't my brother's keeper. Pretty funny, huh?"

"Can I go, then?"

"It's a long walk back to town."

"I'll call a cab."

"Sorry. I can't let you use the phone. You might say something we'll both regret."

"Okay, then. I'll walk."

"So you don't want to wait for your dear, sweet honeybunches of a wife."

"Leave her out of this."

"That ain't the deal."

Jacob looked at the closet. The door was closed. He wondered what was hidden behind it. "You have the house. And what I already paid you. Isn't that enough?"

"What the hell good is this old place since I can't sell it? Nothing but a snake den of memories that sneak out and bite you. You owe me plenty more, Jake. You've owed me for a long time. Now it's time to pay up."

"Whatever you want. Just leave us alone."

"'Us'? I thought you'd decided your wife was a cheating bitch who deserved to die."

Jacob rubbed his eyes with the tops of his fists. "No. I didn't say that. You said it, didn't you?"

"Jake, how many times do I got to tell you? I'm only doing what's best for you. I'm only doing what you would do, if you had the cojones."

Jacob leaned forward, straining, and looked under the bed. Nothing. "You never took care of me."

"Better than the old man ever did, that's for sure."

"Because he loved you the best."

"Love? The old man? Them words don't go together."

"He did all of this for us, Josh. He wanted both of us to carry on for him."

"Except I never wanted it. Not the fucking legacy, not the place in the community, not the life given in tireless service to others. I just wanted the money. But Dad fucked me over by leaving me the house instead. Laughed all the way to the goddamned grave, with you sitting there holding his bedpan and a fresh copy of the will."

Jacob's head throbbed and his tongue rasped against the roof of his mouth, the result of too much whiskey. He looked around the room. The only time he had ever desired ownership of this house was when the lawyer cracked open the will and announced that it belonged to Joshua. Maybe he should have bought it then.

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