Zenon's Game Chapter 60

We heard raised voices on the other side of the dining room door. Jake emerged again, this time with a guy following him.

"Char, he says he's here for you," Jake told his half-sister.

I noticed that both siblings had visibly tensed. Charlotte put her fork down, barely swallowing her salad. She stared up at the preppy boy standing in front of us.

"What are you doing here, babe? You should be back at school."

The preppy boyfriend was angry. "I heard you came back here to see your ex."

I thought back to the day Zenon and I saw her in a cocktail dress, sitting on the hood of another boy's car. She wasn't with this boy, sooo... he must have been her ex?

"You shouldn't be here," she said, "I came to see my family and I'll be back in college soon."

"I didn't come all this way to not have this conversation with you. Do you really want to do this here? In front of your family?"

"Do what?"

"You slept with him, didn't you?"

Ookay I did not expect that. I almost choked on a tomato.

"No!" Charlotte exclaimed, "I broke up with him this summer, months before I started dating you."

"You slept with him."

"I didn't."

"You're lying."

I gasped, covering my hands over my mouth, but it was too late. Everyone stared at me.  

"Sorry," I apologized, "I was just surprised by the accusation. Why would your girlfriend lie? The truth doesn't cost much but a lie can cost everything." 

"Who is this girl?" the boyfriend stared from me, back to the others, "Seriously.  Sounds like a Hallmark card."

"OK buddy, you've crossed the line." Now Jake scraped his chair back and stood aggressively in front of Charlotte's boyfriend.

This was escalating quickly. I stared down at my napkin, not sure what to do. Nicole wasn't saying anything and neither were the Albert brothers. This guy had walked into their home and was accusing Charlotte in front of all of us.

"Charlotte, you're so damn hot but a f*cking liar," her boyfriend exclaimed, "And now you're a cheat-"

"I told you I didn't do anything with him!"

Charlotte was the eldest sister, so her brothers hesitated before getting involved in her business. She was the perfect one; the one with her sh*t together.

"People saw you at a party! They said you left with him."

"That doesn't mean anything."

"Did you f*ck him?"

Zenon blocked the guy from getting any closer to his sister. "She said she didn't. Now you need to back off."

No one else in the room moved. We stared at the two boys as they faced each other. Preppy boy tried sizing Zenon up. Zenon may be younger, but he was a couple inches taller. And muscular. Zenon was a trained athlete and he glared down at his sister's accuser, his face expressionless. Intimidating.

"You're her little brother, aren't you? I heard about you," Prepster was already worked up and started going after Zenon.

Wrong move, bud. Zenon has a short fuse. You don't want to light that up.

"You've got some college girls on your roster, but stay out of mine. Leave this between your sister and me."

Zenon looked h*e*l*l bent on destroying this boy. "You better not have just confessed that."

"He did though," Jake shook his head, staring at the guy like it was a rookie mistake. 

"What did I do?" prepster asked nervously.

"Tell us to stay out of your roster... you were seeing other girls while you were with Charlotte," Jake summarized. 

Prepster began to lose his confidence, "No! No, I've been loyal, I swear!  That's why I'm here. Your sister hasn't-"

"Don't finish those words, preppy. I don't like you calling my sister names," Zenon said, "Now it's your time to go."

Zenon didn't need to raise his voice. Everyone understood that he wasn't afraid to get physical. And this argument was over because Zenon said it was.

Preppy changed tack. He pleaded with Charlotte over Zenon's shoulder, "Babe, I came all this way-"

"I'll walk you to the door," Zenon grabbed his arm.

"No!" he tried to fight back.

"Get out," Zenon shoved him.

Charlotte sat at the dining table with her salad discarded in front of her. She was emotional, and Nicole calmed her down.

Zenon had sent her boyfriend packing. We heard the front door shut and we remained seated in silence. We waited for Zenon to return. Moments later, the dining room door opened, and Zenon stood at the doorway.

Charlotte avoided his gaze and rushed past him, fleeing the room. Nicole followed her friend and, on her way out, she stopped to hug him.

"Thank you, Zenon. You always take care of us, even though it should be the other way round," she hugged him again.

Zenon came back to the table and sat down in his chair. The chairs on either side of him were empty. Dinner seemed a long-forgotten thought. He put his head in his hand.

Jake asked him, "Do you think Charlotte cheat-"

"I don't know," Zenon said,his head in his hand, "But she's my sister and I'll defend her every time."