on my door in the middle of the night, moments before I caught her fucking our stepbrother in the woods.
“I often forget,” I said as I dusted off a glass bottle with a boat in it. “You were too young to remember our grandfather.”
“Are these photos from all of those trips that you go on and on about?” she asked.
“Why are you so mad at me?” I asked her. “I haven’t even given you a reason to be angry yet.”
“I saw you last night,” she said unaffectedly. I laughed in response.
“The truth is, Audrey, you didn’t catch me; I caught you .”
“That is true and also not very true.”
“Do explain,” I smiled smugly. Audrey was a tricky game player, and it was exhilarating for me to have her finally pinned. “I would love to know how you letting our stepbrother fuck you in the ass is in any way incriminating to me.”
“I’ll have to show you,” Audrey smirked before lifting her phone to her face and scrolling a bit. Then she handed it to me with the display revealing a folder labeled Michael .
“What is this?” I asked.
“Open it,” she succinctly replied. Carefully, I tapped on the icon, revealing dozens of photos of me jerking off in the window with Lydia lying bare breasted below my window. Then there were photos of her coming into my room, and finally, a video. “Click on that, too.”
“No,” I replied.
“Okay, then I will,” Audrey snatched the phone away from me. Sounds of Lydia screaming for me were heard in muffled tones. “You see, Michael, I sit up on the hillside and survey this property every afternoon. Most of the time, I get glimpses of the usual bird or a lone butterfly finding a flower. But then, sometimes, I catch something far beyond usual.”
“You fucking bitch.”
“No, Michael, fuck you, ” she said coarsely. “I would never let you get away with having more on me than I have on you. You’ve always been a slimy little snake.”
“What were you going to do with the tape then?” I asked.
“I suppose the same thing you were going to do with the footage you have,” she snapped. “I saw you trotting about and I know what you were doing with your phone.”
There was no denying the standoff in which we found ourselves. Neither one of us wanted to give in; we were too much like our self-centered father. The only option was to find common ground.
“Let’s be honest with each other, Audrey,” I started in order to gain control of the situation. “This isn’t about us. This entire trip wasn’t about us either. I’m also quite certain that certain salacious deeds we’ve done were subconsciously about hurting the one person all of this was about: our father. He has the money, the notoriety, and the power. We, on the other hand, don’t want to be eradicated from any of what we’re entitled.”
“Where are you going with this, Michael?” she seemed bored by my dialogue.
“I’ll be more direct,” I sighed. “We each have something to hold over one another’s heads. Instead of threatening each other, let’s just understand that we both don’t want the contents to be found.”
“I’m not deleting the footage,” she interrupted. “You’re too much of a liar to be trusted to do the same.”
“Name calling aside, sister,” I reprimanded. “We don’t have to delete the material. Our only job is to ensure that no one else ever sees it. Otherwise, the other person will leak the other’s footage.”
“I can do that.”