“Yay! Okay…I LOVE YOU SLONNE!”
“LOVE YOU OSCAR! MOMMY AND DADDY LOVE EACH OTHER TOO.”
I wink at Lencia. “We sure do.”
“Very much so.”
The moment I pull into Helena’s driveway, worry erupts. Marcus’ Toyota Camry is parked there. Call it instinct, but I can already sense something is off.
Why would he be here?
My thoughts are confirmed at the front door by Marcus and Helena’s screams which overpower every stable thought in my mind. Valencia’s eyes widen. I hope my gut instinct is wrong, but I fear drugs have to do with this. Marcus came into the office late today, disheveled and on edge.
Valencia quickly unlocks the door.
“WHY WOULD YOU DO THAT?”
“WHY WOULDN’T I?” Helena screams. “WHAT WAS IT? TELL ME!”
“IT WAS HEROIN, OKAY? ARE YOU HAPPY NOW?”
Oh, shit.
I forget how to inhale properly, but Valencia doesn’t. She hurries the twins down the hallway to their bedrooms, acting as a barrier between the tense scene. It’s evident when I turn the corner and survey the commotion in the kitchen that I no longer know Marcus’ capabilities.
He’s staring straight through Helena, who’s hands are trembling over her face. A phone is discarded on the floor between the barstools and the dining table. My heart sinks at the sharp knife discarded onto the granite kitchen counter-top.
Oh, Dio.
They can’t see me from where I’m standing.
Helena steps back. “I’ll call the police if you don’t leave my house right this second!”
“Are you crazy?” My half-brother scoffs. “You don’t even know half the story!”
“I know guys like you. I do not give a damn who you are; I want you out.”
“What gave you the fucking right to put it all down the sink anyway?”
“Her sensibility, that’s what,” I grit. Both of their heads snap my way, and just like that, Helena rushes past him to collect her fallen phone. “Hey, are you okay?”
“Yeah…just get him the hell out of here before I return for my coffee.” Tears stain her cheeks when she rushes past me and down the hall. I cannot begin to explain my fury at Marcus as he grinds his jaw and stares down at the knife as if it’s nothing.
“What the fuck did you do?”
“I wasn’t going to hurt her.”
“Bullshit! Answer me.”
I can’t believe it! Here I was having one of the best nights of my life with my family and Marcus just has to ruin it.
My half-brother stands frozen as I round the counter to put the knife away. My heart breaks for Helena. She doesn’t deserve this inconsiderate bastard threatening her. Nobody does.
“I don’t even know why you’re still here. This doesn’t involve you!”
“You best believe it fucking involves me. Helena is my sister-in-law and Valencia—”
He cuts me off. “Is your wife? Don’t worry, I get it.”
“No. You don’t get it or else you would have left when Helena asked you to. What did you do to her?” I cock my head, throat hoarse at the next question that falls. “Are you on something?”
“No.” Marcus’ eyes darken and I notice their reddish tinge. It’s all the evidence I need to know he’s lying. “I was in the area and wanted to see Helena. So what if I had heroin on me? I’m not using, I wasn’t going to start using here! She saw it, fucking lost it, and put it all down the sink. Do you know the street value? I lost thousands in seconds, Giulio! Thousands!”
I have no sympathy for him.
None.
“You’ve lost more up here.” I tap his head, fuming. “Shame on you. That’s all I can say.”
“Get the hell out!” Helena screeches when she reenters with Valencia by her side. “I said out!”
“You’re a bitch!” Marcus erupts with a pointed finger. Redness rises from the back of his neck to his head. “I’m glad all we ever did was fuck because you’re not worth it. You’re not worth the time nor the effort. You deserved your husband dying all those years ago because at least—”
“You finish that sentence and you won’t like the results,” I threaten. My blood is boiling as I grip his collar with no intention of letting let go. “I don’t care at this point, I will call the police.
“Oh you’re defending her now, huh? Being the golden god in Valencia’s life isn’t enough, you have to go on and be her protector too?”
Ignoring Marcus, I apologize to Helena and Lencia on his behalf and drag him out of the house.
Helena and Marcus were seeing each other? That day at school drop off she was hinting at seeing somebody…but…I never suspected that it would be my half-brother. It’s news to me.
The old me would have driven Marcus home and ensured he made it there safe. Tonight…he’s pushed me past the point of empathy. I can’t control him. I’ve tried and tried with him. I can’t change him. It’s up to him to be willing to change, no matter how many times I’ve hoped he would choose me as his anchor.
“One day you are going to see the consequences of your actions and you’ll wish you had listened to me to seek some help. Because after what I witnessed tonight, you need it more than ever.”
“I don’t need help or anything else from you!”
“Not even your job?”
“I’m only there to keep up half of my deal. I don’t give a shit about representing your company. I do it for the clients and I do it because YOU. OWE. ME.”
“You only need me because I owe you?”
“YES.”
“You don’t need me for support?”
“NO, I DON’T.”
“Not even for the money I give you?”
The same fucking money he uses to traffic drugs, instead of investing in his future!
“NOT. EVEN. THAT!” Marcus screams in my face, shoving my chest with glassy eyes at each staccato word. I don’t budge, but if he wants to get started tonight, I won’t be as lenient to his blows as I was last week. Marcus has disappointed me beyond repair. I can’t do it anymore.
