"One of the local groups, kind of a gang, beats him up about once every two weeks or less. He's reported them before but nobody said who did it so he just stopped. They've tried to call the house and have left messages but I don't know what happened to them. He doesn't go to any clubs or try to do any sports because we're there," my special girl informs me, angry now and ashamed.
"Does he hate us," I asked.
"He should," Abigail whispers," We never help him. I don't even talk to him at school and I should."
"I need an explanation," I say looking at Mark," You are the oldest. You are bigger, stronger and have a commanding presence that will make anyone back down from you and have kept a bad element away from your sisters, correct?"
"Yeah dad," Mark answered quickly but confused.
"Then explain to me why for almost four years your brother has been allowed to be the punching bag for a group of thugs," I ask and get silent," Never mind, Abigail?"
"Yes," she is still angry but not with me.
"Can you explain to me why you never in the entirety of your high school career up till this point ever acknowledged the pain and suffering to your brother," I ask and she bows her head.
"Because I was stupid," my brightest child informs me, head hung low.
"Our name, our family, is one that is respected. Your friends and their parents value our time and our company for many reasons not including our wealth and charity. People at your school KNOW that I am very harsh on anyone who unjustly attacks my children in any way for any reason. How did they think they could do this to us, to our family," I ask and finally Bethany decides to answer, with pride.
"Because Guy isn't family," I hear her say the words but don't fully comprehend their meaning," He's never been a part of our family, he was quiet and a freak when Mom brought him here and I made sure he knew his place years ago."
"Knew his place," I ask, regaining my composure.
"I told him we didn't want him Daddy because we didn't. Mark didn't need a little brother who was quiet and creepy and neither did Abigail. You only brought him here because you love Mom. I told him that he wasn't one of us and that he wasn't to interfere with our lives while he was living here," Beth explains as I sit on the edge of my desk in shock," Besides this isn't about Guy it's about Mom, is she alright?"
My daughter seems to be proud of herself as she tells me about what happened during my honeymoon with Loretta and how she ensured that Guy would 'learn his place'. I think at all the times he told me and his mother he didn't want to come or more aptly when Bethany told me he didn't want to go. After a while I stopped asking hoping he'd come to me when he was ready, how wrong I was on that thought.
"Dad where is mom," Bethany asks again and I harden my resolve.
"She's not your mother, your mother was taken from us by a drunk driver years ago Bethany. Loretta is your Step mother and she might not be that for much longer. You did what you thought would be easiest for you and your siblings and either strong armed them, bribed or lied to them along the way to make it happen. You blinded me and Loretta to what was happening to Guy for the past few years when he needed this family more than anything else in the world. You took a scared boy who wanted a home and family and you poisoned him," I have left the desk and made my way over to my children who are fearful in my presence," Your Step Mother Loretta is with Guy in the hospital, he was stabbed earlier today half way across town and left to die in an alley. My wife is with her child and losing her mind because my children decided it was alright for them to make him suffer."
"Dad I didn't know she was doing this," my son attempts to plead his case but I'm not interested in mercy pleas at the moment.
"Neither did I, now what I'm going to do is figure out how to fix almost four years of damage my children have done to an innocent boy who is now a young man and pray that the woman I love doesn't leave me because my children are monsters," I say the words and move behind my desk to begin my planning," Why are you three still here? Leave."
Slowly my children file out of my office and leave me to my thoughts which sadly aren't very good ones. Bethany masterminded it but I would have hoped Abigail would have been stronger or Mark would have been a bit wiser to see what they were doing to Guy. I'll need to build a case if Guy was involved in something horrible but more than that I need to tell Loretta the truth about what has been going on and after that I need to bring the winds of change.
Guy
When you are dead you don't have shit to worry about. No obligations and no pressures of life. I didn't have many of these before I died but it's nice to know they aren't coming in the future. I open my eyes, I can only see out the left one, and note a white room with a small curtain around the bed that has been pulled back to let a little light in from the outside. First thing I realize is I'm not dead, well fuck that ruins that idea. Second, I can tell they decided I'm really worth saving since they have the big white machine that goes 'ping' sounding off next to me. It's really not very subtle and now it's drawn attention from a nurse or some woman in those clothes you always see on the medical shows. She is going over everything on a clipboard and wants to make sure I'm comfortable. I'm in a bed with tubes sticking out of my arm and nose, I try to say I'm fucking peachy but my throat is dry as hell and hurts. I motion to my mouth and watch the nurse lady leave quickly and return with a small plastic cup of water and a straw. A couple sips and I'm ready to take on the world. Not really as a doctor comes in to inform me that the doctor, a different one, who is in charge of my care and will be able to speak with me after I get some rest. I've been resting for I don't know how long but a needle goes into a tube and then everything fades out.
I'm awake again this time it's too bright as someone pulls the blinds back on the window and I'm being hit with sunshine right in my face. I shift and groan when I hear someone talking.
"He's waking up," I know the voice, yay mom is here," Honey are you alright? Can you hear me?"
"Kinda hard not to," I remarked and cracked open my eyes a little to see her.
She looks like she's been drinking and hung over again, her hair isn't done or at least not very well, her clothes aren't the fashionable wife of a high powered lawyer and her makeup is nowhere to be found. Mostly she looks a little happy and more than a little sad all at once. I look around the room a little, we're alone which is a minor blessing as I really don't want to speak with or deal with anyone.
"How are you feeling honey," Mom asks and I shrug," The rest of the family is at home but I'll call them, they're going to be happy to hear you woke up."
"Whose family are we talking about," I ask, not as confused as I might sound before trying to reach for water and see a cast on my hand," Well that's wonderful."
"Guy you had me so worried, I thought I lost you," Mom says and I look at her skeptical.
"Worried, this worried you," I ask and she doesn't catch my meaning.
"Of course honey, you're my baby boy and I love you," Mom says the words and I hear the machine next to me begin to sound off fast.
I don't say anything about the absurdity of her words mostly because the nurse comes in the room quickly and ushers her out telling her I need to calm down. Once she's gone I try to make demands and explain that I don't want any visitors but a needle in the tube connected to my arm causes everything to go fuzzy and I drift back to sleep.
Waking up from meds is like waking up from being knocked out, only your body doesn't want to get moving. I'm moving around only to find that my arms are secured to the bed and when I begin to struggle a nurse comes into my room quickly to gain control of my situation.
"Easy, we had to restrain you for your safety. You almost pulled a stitch earlier when your mother was here," she's trying to calm me down but I want to get the hell out.
I see the nurse come in and there is a needle in her hand and now I'm panicking. She calmly takes my tube in her hands and I glare at her. She sees my face and calmly pushes the fluid into the tube and into my arm. I fight it, it's hard to do and I fail but I fight it as I burn a fucking hole through her before blacking out.
Third time's the charm right? I hope so as I slowly wake up and do a quick check to find that I am still stuck in bed with my hand and now apparently my feet locked down by straps. I lay there with my one eye open and wait for a moment and sure enough here comes the nurse.
"Are we calmed down or do we need another shot," she asks but I don't answer," the monitor in the nurses station told me you had woken up so faking sleep isn't going to make this go any quicker. Are you feeling more relaxed?"
I don't answer her; I keep lying on my back and staring at the ceiling as she does her checkup. I don't care why she's here, I just lay there waiting for her to finally leave.
"Guy we can remove the restraints when you have calmed down and won't do anything that would harm yourself but you need to calm down," She tells me and I still don't move but my heart is racing," okay well I'll leave you here and check back on you in a couple hours if you're still awake."