No One Came Chapter 17
“Nico, Mom came to see you.”
No reaction.
“Nico, please say something to me.”
Still no reaction.
Mom crouched down and tried to take his hand.
He snatched it away.
“Go away.”
Nico finally spoke.
His voice was barely a whisper.
“Sis died because of you.”
Mom froze.
“If you had disciplined me, I wouldn’t have kept bullying her. If you hadn’t always protected me, I wouldn’t have thought it was okay.”
“Every time, you took my side. Every time, you said she was overreacting. You made me feel like she deserved it.”
He lifted his head.
His eyes were red, but there were no tears.
“Now she’s dead, and you blame me. That slap wasn’t for her. It was for you.”
“You know you were wrong, but you don’t have the guts to admit it, so you pushed it all on me.”
“Go. I don’t want to see you again.”
Mom stood there, motionless.
She opened her mouth, but no words came out.
Finally, she turned and left.
After she walked out the door, she stood in the hallway for a long time before slowly sinking to the floor, covering her mouth as silent sobs shook her body.
She knew her family was gone.
But it hadn’t been lost today.
It had started to rot from the very first time she told Nico, “He’s just a little boy. Let him be.”
Sixteen years, bit by bit.
By the time she finally saw the decay, it was far too late to fix.