The Border Part Six by Amy Cross

Prologue
     
    Nine years ago
     
    “Please, please…”
    Scrubbing furiously, Ben kept his hands under the hot water for as long as he could stand, before finally pulling back. Steam was coming from the sink, but as he held his hands up to the light he realized he could still see blood caked around the edges of his nails, so he twisted the faucet a little to make the water even hotter and then he thrust his hands back into the sink, wincing with pain in the process. All that mattered was getting rid of the blood, even the tiny particles he couldn’t see, flecked into the pores of his skin.
    “What are you doing?”
    Spinning around, he saw Jack standing in the doorway.
    “Nothing,” he snapped, hurrying over to push the door shut, only for Jack to put his foot in the way.
    “What are you doing, Ben?”
    “Well,” Ben replied, forcing a smile even though he was panicking and his hands hurt, “I’m in the bathroom, which tends to be a place where people expect a little extra privacy, so…”
    “What’s wrong with your hands?”
    “Jesus, there’s -”
    “Is that blood on your shirt?”
    Looking down, Ben frantically searched for any hint of blood, but he couldn’t see anything.
    “Maybe not,” Jack continued, “although…” He paused, eying his brother with even greater suspicion than usual. “You still looked. Almost like you thought I might be right.”
    “I’m busy,” Ben replied, trying once again to shut the door, “so if -”
    “I’ve never seen you like this before,” Jack told him. “Did something happen? You seem like you’re in kind of a mess. I mean, you’re always in a mess, but this time you don’t seem to be in control.”
    “I’d like to be left alone.”
    “To do what?”
    “I’m in the bathroom,” Ben hissed, “so what do you think?” He paused for a moment, waiting for Jack to leave. “You can stay and watch if you really prefer. It’s a little weird, but I guess you can tear off some paper and hand it to me when the time comes.”
    “What’s that on your hands?” Jack asked, looking down and seeing the red stains around his brother’s nails. “Did you cut yourself?”
    “Do you really want to know?” Ben asked, trying to buy time so he could come up with an explanation. “Are you really so goddamn suspicious that you have to know what I’m doing in the goddamn bathroom? I mean, that is some nuclear grade paranoia right there, Jack. Have you been taking lessons?” He waited for a reply, before sighing. “I was out in town,” he said finally, choosing his words carefully and deliberately since he still hadn’t figured out the end of his story yet, even as he got started with the beginning, “and I kind of got into a scuffle with this idiot near the Monument. You know what it’s like, there are idiots everywhere and sometimes you’ve just gotta punch of of them.” He paused, before forcing a smile. “It was over a girl.”
    “A girl?”
    “Is that so hard to believe?”
    “What girl?”
    “I dunno, she was with him. Although she was almost with me at one point too.”
    “What was her name?”
    “Beats me.”
    “What was his name?”
    He shrugged. “Don’t know, don’t care. Believe me, he came off worst.”
    “You got into a fight?”
    He nodded.
    “And you got blood on your fingers?”
    “Which I’d like to wash off now, if you don’t mind.”
    “Who did you fight?”
    “Does it matter?”
    “Bowley’s a small town.”
    “It was some kid, some out-of-towner. I’d never seen him before, I think he was just passing through with his girlfriend.”
    “What was the fight about?”
    “What?”
    “What was the fight about?”
    “It was about…” Ben paused. “He just called me a name, that’s all. I think I annoyed him by talking to his girl and he was just being an idiot, and to be honest I probably over-reacted, and that’s my bad. Hell, I guess I have a temper sometimes, right? You know, I’m not claiming to be an angel,