The Unseen by JL Bryan Page A

interrupted. “I want you to come home where we can care for you.”
    “I can’t do that,” Cassidy said. “I have to work.  If I don’t work, I don’t eat.”
    “I’ll feed you plenty.”
    “That’s not what I mean.  My job—”
    “It will have to wait until you’re better.  Let your brother and me take care of you.  You want to help Cassidy, don’t you, Kieran?”
    Kieran shrugged, not looking up from his phone.
    “You chained up your face,” Cassidy said.
    “Yeah.  Cool, huh?” Kieran beamed at her, his steel chain glinting in the fluorescent hospital lights.
    Cassidy’s mother, who stood slightly behind Kieran, shook her head vigorously and looked at Cassidy with pleading eyes.
    “Um...at one point, maybe,” Cassidy said. “It’s kind of dated now, though.”
    “Oh.” Kieran frowned and looked at his feet.  Her mother gave a little smile.
    “I like the hair, though,” Cassidy added, which caused their expressions to instantly switch—Kieran smiled again, looking up at her, while her mother shook her head and looked away.  Cassidy wanted to laugh, but she was afraid it might hurt.
    “It’s just some stupid thing Devin did,” Kieran said, but he was grinning as he touched his half-shaved green hair.  Devin had been Kieran’s best friend for years.
    “Kieran, can you go find me some coffee?” their mother asked.  She gave him two rumpled dollar bills.
    “No problem.” He walked to the curtain and glanced back. “It would be kinda cool if you stayed with us, Cassidy.  I’ll help you out and shit.” He shrugged and left.
    “Watch your language!” their mother called after him, then she turned to Cassidy and spoke in a lower voice. “It’s important you come, at least for a while.”
    “I’ll be okay, Mom, but thanks—”
    “It’s not just for you.  Your brother needs you.  He’s running wild, Cassidy.  He’s failed five courses at school, and they’ve put him in summer school, but he’s still skipping class.  He doesn’t listen to me anymore.  I’ve become a ghost to him.”
    “What can I do about it?”
    “You talk to him.  He’ll listen to you.  He looks up to you.”
    “He does not.  You don’t remember how we used to fight every day?”
    “It’s been years, Cassidy.”
    “What do you want me to say?  ‘Do your homework, stay in school?’”
    “At the very least.”
    “What else?”
    Her mother sighed. “He’s out with these friends all the time.  I just worry he’s going to turn out...badly.  That things will go badly for him.”
    “You mean you’re worried he’ll turn out like me, r`ight?  You might as well say it.”
    Anger flashed in her mother’s eyes, and Cassidy shivered.
    “Your father and I came to America to give you a better life,” she said. “Much better than what you would have had back in that miserable little village.  And you’ve thrown it away.  You’ve both thrown away the life we tried to give you, the life your father wanted for you—”
    “Stop bringing Dad into this.” Cassidy felt her eyes stinging and steeled herself against the urge to cry. “You know that’s not fair.”
    “It’s the truth. The truth is often unfair, you’ll learn,” her mother replied.
    “I’ve already learned that one, but thanks for the cup of ye olde Irish wisdom, anyway.  Does it come with potatoes and porridge?”
    “Get smart with me and I’ll break your other leg,” her mother said. “See if I don’t.”
    A nurse returned with a clipboard of paperwork for Cassidy to sign, consent forms for her leg surgery.  For a minute, the pen scratching the paper was the only sound.
    When she left, Cassidy looked at her mother.  She wanted to resist the idea of going back home for all the obvious reasons—she’d have trouble getting privacy with Peyton, she’d have trouble getting high and relaxing with her mom around, she’d be a long way from work, her mother would harass her at every opportunity about changing