Between Brothers

The Audacity

Daniel

By the time I came home, she was lying across the bed. Sleep must’ve called her home because she was wasted. I can only wonder what caused her that much distress. She went through an entire bottle of wine at dinner, normally she shows restraint but not tonight. Tonight she just didn’t stop, that’s definitely not like her. But the only variable was Chris, I’m sure he’s the reason though neither of them will admit it. 

I find her clothes thrown around the room, cleaning it up I grab it so I can place it in the hamper. I grab her panties and notice they’re damp. Not like I peed my pants wet either, they are I’ve just been f****d wet! 

Damnit! I left them the f**k alone and he f****d her, was she even drunk? While I know I have no right to feel angry, I’ve cheated on her in the past and it was the biggest mistake I’ve ever made. But I know that she’s never forgotten, trying so hard to be perfect as if I really needed that. 

I sat on the edge of the bed and watched her sleep, this is total bullshit. I have the right mind to go shoot my brother, but I know the bastard would be waiting for that. He’s always had a way of taking things that didn’t belong to him, and here he is doing it again. To question her about it, clearly she’ll lie and won’t admit she f****d him not unless she came up pregnant and even then I swear she’d take it to her grave. I know that she never stopped loving Chris, he looms over every relationship she’ll ever have. We men are constantly being judged by his standards, I guess he left a pretty big mark because none of us even measure up in her book. 

The frustration consumes me and I need a drink, I throw the f*****g clothes into the hamper and leave the room before I do something regrettable. I pour myself a drink, Jameson Irish Whiskey. I keep a bottle handy, though I promised a long time ago to stop drinking due to domestic disputes we’ve had in the past. I am not a perfect man, but I am trying. Letting the alcohol burn my throat as it goes down, I start to feel a surge of jealousy. An emotion I haven’t felt in a long time because no one else has ever made me feel like I was losing the battle. 

I pull out my cell phone and dial the bastard's number, half expecting him to send me straight to voicemail, so imagine my surprise when he actually answers. 

“Hey little brother, what can I do for you?”

“You couldn’t just stay the f**k away could you?” I hiss, pouring myself another glass. I need all the courage I can get. 

“Stay away from what?” He asks, the smug asshole knows exactly what I’m talking about.

“Don’t play coy with me, I’m your brother I know when you’re being a d**k! You think you’re special don’t you because she loves you? I’m marrying her and there’s not a damn thing you can do to change it” I feel pretty good about myself, I know that’s a fact he hates. Knowing that I have something he wants, It probably doesn’t sit well with him. Good.

“Look you little twit, you’ve always been pretty fuckin’ stupid. You can keep believing you won because she’s playing house with you, due to this stunt you’re pulling I’m sure you know I CAME IN YOUR FIANCEE! And guess what, I will do it again! I was her first and I’ll be her last, you had your chance and you fuckin’ blew it. So step aside peacefully or I’ll run you the f**k over with a bulldozer”

“YOU CAME IN MY FIANCEE?” A fact I already knew, yet hearing him say it made it worse. 

“Yep! And from the look of things, you suck at making her c*m. Might wanna fix that”

I throw the phone across the room, the feeling of enmity rising to the surface as I take another long sip from the bottle. I go to the room and stare at her spread across the bed as if she’s had the best day ever, f*****g b***h! I know I suck, no one has to remind me of that but MY FUCKIN’ BROTHER! 

I take another slow sip as I step towards the bed, before thinking I sit the bottle on the dresser and start to shake her awake. I want answers, though I know I don’t deserve them. 

“Wake the f**k up!” I shout, even I could feel the walls shake from the base of my voice. 

“Huh? What time is it?” She mutters, slowly waking from her drunken coma. 

“It’s time for cheating whores to wake up” I say, climbing onto the bed. She scoots out of my reach, trying to escape me but I grab her ankle and pull her closer to me. 

“Daniel, you’re drunk! I thought you promised not to do this!”

“And you promised to love me and not be a w***e but here we are”

“What are you talking about?” She says, trying to push me away. 

“I know you f****d Chris! Are you kidding me? MY FUCKIN’ BROTHER!” I’m shouting again. She’s shrinking down into a ball, or at least trying to. I stare down at her and I can see her moaning, imagining her moaning sweet nothings for him. Before I could register what I’ve done, my hand flew across her face. I see the tears starting to form and somehow it pisses me off even more. Did she cry while he was in her? NO! I slap her again, and again, and again. I’m blinded with rage and anger and frustration and jealousy to realize that she’s not moving. 

Somewhere during the tantrum I was throwing, my hand changed, forming a fist and I was hitting her over and over. 

This.

This was the reason I knew I didn’t deserve her, I had this problem with her before and she went with me through the therapy, took care of me while she healed from the damage. I stopped drinking to never result in this, but she forced me to do this. She betrayed me with him, doesn’t she know he’ll just hurt her again. 

I slide off her and stand by the dresser, swigging from the bottle again. No matter how blinded by hate I am, I cannot hide the bruises on my knuckles or the blood staining my hand. I turn to look at what I’ve done and she isn’t moving. I should call the Paramedics but I know this won't look good, because it’s not good. I press my back against the wall and sit on the floor, head between my legs I hear someone banging on the door. Just like last time. 

Hesitant to answer, I wait to see if they’ll go away but no they only get louder. 

I stalk to the door and swing it open, finding Officer Mendoza and friends standing at the door. Great! Just what I needed. 

“Hey Danny, got a report of a noise disturbance. What’s going on?” Julian asks, being an actual cop looking for a reason to react. 

“Oh ummm, we got a bit loud. Sorry” I slur, trying to get to the couch and sit down.

“Mmhmm, well if we can speak to Tara and confirm that, we’ll be able to move on” He looks uneasy, like he doesn’t believe s**t I’ve just said. Which he shouldn’t.

“She’s laying down.” I muttered, but made the mistake of waving my hand in his face. He saw the bruises, the blood that stained them. He groans and walks out of the room. I'm sure he told his partner to watch me because the big son of a b***h sits in the white chair directly across from me. It’s not even a moment later, he comes out of the room carrying Tara. She lies lifeless in his arms, did I kill her? 

What have I done? You’ve killed the only person who didn’t consider you a waste of space, should’ve just told the truth and let her f*****g go. You pushed her into the arms of another man and then beat her to death because of it. How ironic!

The look of rage flashes across Julians face, I’m a deadman walking. His partner arrests me and there goes her ever loving me again… I give up.

***

Julian

FUCK THE AMBULANCE! I called it in while en route, driving as fast as I could to get her to the hospital. I know, I know I said I was done but I never stopped loving her. Whether it was for s*x or because she somehow climbed into my dark heart and let the light in, I will never know but I love her and I can feel the life draining from her body. The thought of her dying is looming in my head and I want it to leave. Arriving at the hospital, they grab her and run. I know I won’t see her for a while, so the waiting room it is. 

My partner took Daniel in, better him than me. I wouldn’t even have wasted time turning him in, look I’m a cop but I never said I was a straight-shooter. Crooked pays the damn bills, I’m not a superhero but I’m not the villain either.

I fiddle with my phone, knowing the mistake I’m about to make but I need to tell him. I press his name on the phone and call him, it’s late but the devil never sleeps. 

“Chris, you need to come to the hospital” I say as soon as he answers. 

“This isn’t Chris, it’s Kayleigh. Why does he need to come to the hospital?” She asks, she’s fishing. She’s always been up his ass, no matter how much he reminded her that they were just friends she refused to see it that way. 

“Put Chris on the fuckin’ phone. I don’t have the energy to deal with you”

“Well, he’s in the shower. I’ll let him know you called”

The line went dead. This only meant she would never tell him, I’ll try again in a few minutes when I think HE has his damn phone. 

An hour passes and the doctors still haven’t come back out, I annoy the nurses who remind me to sit in the waiting room for a response. perras estupidas! I swear.

Stomping around the waiting room, in storms the Devil.

“Where the f**k is she?” He asks, not even looking in my direction. This man is ready for a war that isn’t needed, she’s alive. I’m assuming.

“She’s in the back, they haven’t told me anything so I’m taking it as a good sign”

“f**k that!” He’s being irrational and angry, but looks as scared as I do. He storms over to the desk, staring at the nurse who sits behind it. She tried to pretend he wasn’t there but his presence is too dark, too angry and too strong not to. She looks at him as if she knows why he’s there, she just nods and calls the doctor on the phone. f*****g Puta! She couldn’t have done that for me, I’m a damn Police Officer and I got the damn run around.

The doctor appears as if they were hiding behind a wall awaiting someone to call them, again total bullshit. He tried to say he couldn’t tell Chris anything because he wasn’t family, but him being Chris, he used his connections to convince him otherwise. 

“She’s in the clear for now, just some head trauma. Lacerations to the face, probably from whatever hit her. There’s a little swelling on the brain, which we are closely monitoring and for now poses no threat to her health or wellbeing. We’re going to keep her here for a few days and make sure she’s moving in the right direction. If we find anything, we’ll call you”

The doctor then disappears as quickly as they can, leaving Chris and I standing in the hallway fuming. 

“Jules, what the f**k happened?” He growls, he doesn’t care who said it or did it he just wants answers. 

“I’m not supposed to be telling you this, I could lose my damn job”

“Like you’ve ever played by the rules before… WHAT FUCKIN’ HAPPENED?”

“I was responding to a noise ordinance, realized the address and went. Got there and Daniel answered the door, he was drunk. Hands bruised and bloody, I didn’t even notice until he waved his hand to point toward the bedroom. I went to ask Tara about the noise and found her unconscious. She was out of it, so I tried… I tried to wake her but she wouldn’t. She wasn’t moving  and her face and clothes were covered in blood.”

“Where’s Daniel now?” 

“He’s in lock up”

“I want him home, he’s my brother and I’m worried about him”

“You’re full of s**t! He’s safer in lock up”

“You have two hours to bring him to my house, or I’ll come to yours!”

“I’ll lose my job”

“I’ll make sure you lose that either way! BRING DANNY BOY TO ME OR ELSE!”

He storms off and leaves the hospital, of course he makes sure he gets the last word. Do I take Daniel to him or do I let the law handle him? Guys like us, never get a fair break in the courtroom, so I’m guessing we should do this ourselves. Fine, I’ll pick up the i***t and head to Chris’s but the blood will not be on my hands.