Page 34 of Between Brothers

Instead, I was forced to clench my teeth and begrudgingly follow the symphony of their domestic bliss.

Her high-pitched screeching and the occasional sound of flesh popping off flesh painted the picture even before I entered.

“I don’t give a fuck what your pipe dreams are, don’t you ever do that again!” she wailed, her body flush against his as they continued their shoving match. Every now and then, her long, slender arms snaked out as she tried to land a decent smack.

“You need to take your ass to bed. You hear me? Get the fuck to bed, woman. This shit don’t concern you.” My father railed, until his east coast accent started to bleed into each word.

“Don’t concern me?” She swung her head back, her eyes big and wild.

She normally didn’t look like that unless she’d had a line or two, but I was pretty sure she was sober. Her house robe was sliding off her shoulders and her ass was flashing at times, but she didn’t give a fuck.

She was trying her best to grab her bull by the horns.

“He came out of my body, you thick headed–” She stopped with the insults, gripped his shoulder and shook with all her might.

“Stop it, you ain’t gonna shake any sense into him.” I snorted.

He reached for her neck, and she brought the other hand up, striking him clean. Her entire palm popped against his unshaven cheek. It sounded vicious, and left an angry, red mark welling across half his face.

He grabbed her hair, and I finally snapped to life.

He let her go before I reached him and bounced off the counter that I shoved him into.

“There you are, you little pussy.” He smiled, laughter trickling from him despite the way my mother was trying to box at him.

“Oh, I’m here. This pussy will give you more fight than your wife, you can count on that. Matter of fact, you’re welcome to try your luck anytime you can find enough balls to,” I calmly invited.

“Stop it. Stop it!” she pleaded, with both of us.

I’d never seen her so ashen. Her hands were trembling.

“Jesus,” Roy scoffed, making me aware of his presence at the kitchen table.

“Go to bed, Kate.” Birdman’s voice was low and full of warning. The unspoken, if you know what’s good for you, hung thick in the air.

“She doesn’t have to go anywhere.” I antagonized. “She’s old enough to make her own choices.”

My mother waved her hands in a plea for me to let her handle it.

“I’ll go, but you better be nice, Robby.”

He snorted, not taking his eyes off me.

“Robert,” she snapped, calling him by his full government name.

His mouth twitched up on one side, before he finally tilted his head and fixed his gaze on her. “Do I need to repeat myself?”

“Just– Don’t hurt him.” She shakily tried to establish a peace, even as she took a hesitant step away from him.

I licked my lips and summoned every ounce of patience I possessed while staring at the water in the sink. It was dingy, only a few suds remained. Half of a lone plate stuck up out of the water.

While she danced on glass, I momentarily lost myself to the mental image of drowning the cocksucker in that dirty, cold water.

“Like you’re any fucking threat. The fuck you gonna do, woman?” He was taunting, when I came back to the conversation at hand.

She stepped forward like she meant to give him a goodnight kiss, her gaze lowering in deference while that shaky hand came up to tenderly rest on the cheek she hadn’t blessed.

“Hurt my son and go to sleep, Robby. You’ll find out.” She smiled, tapped his cheek and stepped back, keeping her gaze locked on him while she gave a passive, little nod. “Everybody goes to sleep sometime. You’re not fucking special. Remember that.”