Chapter 14Domestic Violence
LEO AND ANTON RETURNED from the creek with soaking wet towels. The fact that they only argued twice was a sign of just how fucked up things were. Leo switched off the truck in front of the cabin and set the parking brake.
“I’m telling you, Lars needs a doctor,” Anton said for the four hundredth time. “Wet towels won’t do shit to help him. Since when are wet towels prescribed to fight Russian poison?”
Leo didn’t disagree. If not for Dal’s message, Leo would have suggested taking the risk to get Lars to a doctor. If things were as bad as Dal had implied, going to a hospital would be more deadly than staying here.
But all he said to Anton was, “How do you know what will and won’t work? Since when are you a doctor?”
“You’re such an ass.” Anton slammed the truck door and stalked inside.
Leo grabbed the big plastic garbage bag out of the back of the truck and followed his brother upstairs. The wet towels were inside. Leo felt inadequate bringing them inside for Lars.
Nonna sat at the table, meticulously inventorying all their supplies. She pointed a finger at various cupboards and shelves, directing Bruce to put things away after she noted them on her list.
“Lars is getting worse,” Nonna said by way of greeting as Leo and Anton entered the cabin. “You two need to run back down to the farm. There’s a leftover bottle of penicillin in the bathroom cabinet from when your dad got sick last spring.” For a split second, her eyes clouded with worry. “The poison in the back of his neck is spreading. If the penicillin doesn’t work, I may need to lance the infected area.”
Leo felt his muscles tense with alarm. His grandmother would’t think of sending them back to the farm if things weren’t desperate. The bag of towels in his hand felt like a joke.
“Go now,” Nonna ordered. “While you’re down there, clean out all food and supplies before the Russians show up and take everything. Otherwise, with the way you boys eat, we’ll be out of food in a little over a week. If anything looks amiss, turn around and come back. Here, I’ve made you a list. The Russians will hopefully be too busy in the towns today to bother with our farm.”
Leo took the list before turning to Bruce. “Up for a supply run?”
“Bruce stays here to help me with Lars,” Nonna said. “It will be faster if Anton goes with you since you both know where everything is.”
Leo checked an irritated grumble. Everything Nonna said made sense, but he didn’t like being saddled with his entitled little bother again.
“Don’t worry,” Anton said with an easy smile, “I’ll be sure to get underfoot.” He marched out of the cabin. He probably would have given Leo the middle finger if their grandmother weren’t standing there.
Nonna gave Leo a severe scowl. “Be nice to your brother.”
Leo snorted and stalked out of the cabin. Be nice to your brother. Was it any wonder Anton was so cocky? He had everyone looking out for his needs. In the meantime, the farm was dying around them and Anton did next to nothing to pull his weight.
As Leo drove back down the hill with Anton, his little brother took Nonna’s list and ripped it in half.
“What did you do that for?” Leo snapped.
“Half for you, half for me.”
Leo was incensed. “Did you even look at the list before you did that? We should split it up by area, not just tear it in half.”
Anton rolled his eyes. “You’re overthinking it. Our house isn’t that big, man.”
As much as Leo wanted to argue the point, it wouldn’t help anything right now. He and Anton would be more efficient if they weren’t arguing.
When they were less than a mile away from their house, he stopped the truck and got out.
“What are you doing?”
Leo ignored his little brother, pulling out the binoculars he’d grabbed on the way out of the cabin. He climbed onto a large rock outcropping, which gave him an unobstructed view of the farm.
He scanned the orchard for any sign of Russians. Nothing moved among the apple trees.
He skimmed past the orchard to the barn. Nothing looked out of place there, either.
Lastly, he studied the house. Everything was as they had left it, even down to the skid marks from his father’s truck when he left to find Lena and Dal.
Anton joined him on the outcropping. “Can I see?”
“In a minute.” Leo was checking the highway leading to the farm. It was clear. No Soviets anywhere. Nor was there any sign of his dad, Lena, and Dal.
Leo passed Anton the binoculars. “It’s clear. Come on, we can drive down.” Leo had been prepared to leave the truck behind and go on foot if necessary. They wouldn’t have been able to get food supplies, but they could have gotten the penicillin.
The rest of the drive passed in silence. Anton was out the door before Leo could turn off the engine. By the time Leo got into the house, Anton was in the living room with the television on.
“What are you doing?” Leo snapped. “We didn’t come down here so you could watch your favorite show.”
“For your information, I was checking to see if there was any news.” Anton glared at him. “What’s with you? You’re always on my case. Nothing I do is good enough.”
“You need to grow up.”
Anton’s face turned red. “Just because you’re pissed off about losing your football scholarship doesn’t give you the right to be such an asshole all the time. I’m sorry you’re not at Berkley playing ball, okay? I’m sorry your shoulder got fucked up. No wonder Jennifer dumped you. Who’d want to be with a dick wad every damn day?”
Mentioning Jennifer was like throwing a gas can onto a
