She’s jolted back to the present by the sharp shout of Coach Irene. Despite the woman’s tone, her eyes were soft, worried. With a smile that stretched the crow’s feet at the corners of her eyes, Irene asked, “Are you okay to play today, dear? You’ve seemed rather tired since you got on the bus. Are you unwell?”

Coach Irene always had a motherly way of speaking, just like Jenny. Of course, she could switch that voice in a second when she took the helm of her team, but right now, Rainie couldn’t be more grateful for the woman’s concern. The twins wouldn’t ever receive it from their own parents.

Rainie nodded her head with a smile breaching her lips despite the ringing in her ears. “Yes, Coach. I’ll be out in a second.”

Coach Irene clasped Rainie’s shoulder before turning and walking back down the narrow aisle of the bus. She joined the rest of the team in grabbing their game duffels from the undercarriage while they all stole glances at the opposing team running drills on the fresh, thick moss field. White and gray uniforms gleamed in the sunlight, blinding to look at for more than a few seconds. If any of them felt the same, they hid it well under exceptionally-aimed kicks and coordinated efforts by every team member.

Gated off from the field, obsidian asphalt seemed to shimmer in the early fall heat. It was a spacious parking lot, though only a few vehicles spotted the vast space. One of them immediately drew Rainie’s attention and she could feel the anger swell. Despite the ‘35 Chevy pickup with its fading paint looking like nothing spectacular, it was a truck Rainie always watched out for. The truck that carried the man she despised to every one of her games. A truck that caged her while her brother suffered blow after blow by that same man’s hand.

Standing beside the devil’s transport was the man himself, his lips turned up in a proud smile while he held Rainie’s mother—ever so prim and proper—close to his side. He would wait for Rainie to pass by their truck on her way to the field before showering her with pride-laden words, and telling her how excited he was to watch her play.

Caleb would never hear that praise. Nothing he did was good enough for their father.

But that wouldn’t matter for much longer. Everything Rainie needed was carefully distributed and copied to her phone, her laptop, the seven flash chips hidden around her room, and a few stash spots she had around town. Caleb didn’t know about the chips, and Rainie wouldn’t tell him. To her younger brother, this was all a waste of precious time. A suit that would go nowhere because the system was so incredibly fucked up.

Rainie didn’t care. Law school was just around the corner, hopefully at little to no cost with the soccer scholarship she was aiming to receive. Putting their father behind bars would take time, yes. But she’d do it, if not for Caleb than for her own selfishness.

While Rainie’s peers sought futures filled with success or fame or both, she had only one goal. One thing she wanted more than anything else.

Crush her parents under the evidence and a law degree and make them regret ever touching Caleb with those filthy, abuse-laden hands. Even if it was the last thing she did.