Nina stiffens. “Don’t tell me what to do.”
“I’m tired of you berating me as if I’m five years old.”
“When you start acting like an adult, I’ll start treating you like one.”
I push myself up to a sitting position, frustrated. Last night I was so tired after a busy week’s work, as well as going to and from the hospital, that I decided to take Sunday off, but now I wish I hadn’t bothered.
“Come on,” I say, “it’s Dad’s first day home, and this is the last thing he needs.”
“Well, maybe Mark should have thought of that before he—” Nina stops abruptly as Mark shoots her a glare.
I frown and look at Dad. He’s also glaring at Mark stonily. There’s an icy undercurrent, as if the door’s open and the autumn breeze is blowing through the house, but the sliding doors are closed, and the coolness is coming from the atmosphere, not the weather.
“What’s going on?” I ask suspiciously.
“Nothing,” Mark says.
My gaze slides from him to her and then to Dad. He looks at Thea.
“Hey,” I say to her gently, “how about you go and ask Grandma if she needs some help?”
She puts down her pencil and says, “Okay,” then scrambles to her feet and goes out of the room.
“What’s going on?” I ask again, my heart starting to race.
“Nothing,” Mark repeats, more forcefully this time.
But Nina has clearly had enough. “A man knocked on our door last night,” she reveals.
“Oh?”
“Apparently Mark borrowed money off him, and he wanted the first installment.”
My jaw drops. Another loan shark? When my brother confessed his debt to us, we pushed him to tell us all of it, all the credit cards, all the loans.
Nina is breathing fast, and her eyes are filled with fury. My eyes widen. “This is a new loan?” I ask, and she nods. Mark drops his gaze to his jeans and scratches at a mark on them. “You’re still gambling?” I ask, incredulous.
He doesn’t reply.
“How much?” I demand. When he doesn’t reply, I direct the question at Nina. “How much?”
“Another five thousand,” she says.
“Five thousand…” Horror fills me. “Mark, how could you?”
Slowly, the resistance seeps out of him, and his shoulders slump. “I only borrowed a thousand,” he says. “But they charge a hundred percent interest if you don’t meet a payment, and late fees…” He sits forward and puts his face in his hands. Oh jeez. So if the loan isn’t paid, it’s going to balloon into a huge sum.
“He can’t stop,” Nina says bitterly. “He’s so fucking weak.”
“There’s no need for that,” I tell her, even though at that moment I agree with her.
“You’re going to ruin us,” Dad says bleakly. I can tell by his face that he already knows about the extra debt. That’s probably one reason why he seems so beaten today.
“Don’t,” Mark says, shaking his head, covering his face.
Emotion wells inside me. “I know you’re not trying to hurt us on purpose. You have an addiction, and you need help.”
“I’m so tired of it,” Nina says, and bursts into tears.