Chapter 20 - ULRIC’S VERSION OF BROTHERHOOD
Ulric requested one mediated sibling meeting before trial.
No Esmond.
I agreed.
He looked older.
Not dramatically.
Just tired.
First words:
“You won.”
I said:
“This isn’t final.”
“You know what I mean.”
“No.”
He laughed bitterly.
“Tavian picked you.”
“Yes.”
“After I spent ten months cleaning vomit out of his sink.”
There.
The ledger.
“I know you did more.”
“He called you when he was scared.”
“He called you when he needed help.”
Ulric stared.
“That is exactly it.”
Then:
“I was useful. You were trusted.”
That sentence landed.
He had named his wound.
Then:
“Did Tavian ever say he didn’t trust you?”
“No.”
“He didn’t choose me.”
“Not the same.”
“To me it is.”
There.
Then I asked:
“Why smash the table?”
Ulric looked down.
“Esmond kept saying Tavian chose you.”
“So?”
“I heard Tavian saying it again.”
A dead brother speaking through a child.
Then:
“I wanted him to stop.”
“With a bat?”
“Yes.”
No excuse.
Then:
“Did you want guardianship for the house?”
“No.”
“Money?”
“No.”
“Then what?”
Ulric looked at me.
“I wanted something Tavian gave me at the end to mean I was his brother too.”
I understood.
Still.
“Esmond isn’t that thing.”
Ulric closed his eyes.
“I know.”
Maybe now.
Then:
“Do you think I should ever see him?”
That was the trap.
If I said no, I became punisher.
If yes, I could feel disloyal to Esmond.
I answered:
“That depends on what you do next and what Esmond can handle.”
May you like
Ulric nodded.
For once, no argument.
