Page 91 of Monsters

“You think you’re a man now do you, boy?” Anthony asked, cool and calm in his dark patronizing voice.

This was how it always started.

My heart pounded painfully, and my mouth grew dry.

I remained silent. My mother waited by the counter, unsure of what to do and too intoxicated to make full sense of it. Mason, on the other hand, stood stony-faced against his opponent.

“You’re free to leave, boy,” Anthony recommended. “There’s nothing keepin’ you here.”

Mason scoffed at his arrogance. “That’s what you’ve wanted this whole time, isn’t it? To fill the shoes of someone else and take what isn’t yours. Well… you should take your own advice and fuck off,” he replied through gritted teeth. “No one wants you here.”

My mother stepped forward touching Mason’s shoulder, reality having sobered her up some. “You need to go upstairs—”

“Shut up, Mom.” He shrugged her off, and she flinched away as if burned. “Enough already. This is your mess and if you’re not gonna clean it up, I will.” Mason turned his attention back to the intruder. “Get the hint, you’re not welcomed here, Borelli. She doesn’t love you. You’re not Dad, and you never will be.”

A duffle bag dropped to the ground in defiance.

“Now look what you’ve done to your mother,” he goaded. “Janice… where’s my welcome?”

“Stay where you are, Mom.”

There was a silent stand-off as Mom looked between the two men who stood in her kitchen, evidently unsure of what to do. Making the same poor decision she had many times before, she tentatively rounded the counter and approached Borelli. They were both in view now, him draping a thick possessive arm around her shoulders.

“Son, there’s—”

“Don’t call me that. I’m not your son.”

“Son,” Borelli continued, ignoring Mason. “Understand your deadbeat father left, which makes me the man of the house now,” he taunted. Mason’s jaw clenched, nostrils flaring. “We don’t need you here. In fact, we have some news, don’t we, Janice?” His hold on her grew tighter and my mother, through her drunken haze, was starting to panic. She became fidgety, and Borelli responded by pulling her closer restraining any movement.

“We don’t need to tell them now—” she started, nervously trying to placate him.

“Nonsense. Where’s your brother? Lucas!” Borelli bellowed, his voice shaking the house just as much as the thunder.

Swallowing hard, I gripped the railing ready to run if needed.

“Leave Lucas out of it,” Mason warned, his voice taking on a tone I hadn’t heard before. It was terrifying.

“Shut it. This is something I want you both to hear. Lucas! Come out now,” he shouted again.

“Darling, he’s asleep. We’ll tell him in the—”

Wrapping a big bear paw around my mother’s neck, Borelli held her at arm’s length. She clawed at his grip while teetering precariously on her toes. It was a sorry sight. A sorry sight because this was how she now preferred to be treated. Borelli, without so much as a second thought, backhanded her across the cheek and released his hold. Her head snapped sharply to the left, and she stumbled, catching the corner of the island counter in enough time before she fell.

“Don’t you dare contradict me,” he boomed. “If I say he should be here, he should get his ass down those stairs.” This was how he worked. Calm and calculated at the beginning, and when he didn’t get his way, his temper would escalate until we all lay on the ground bloodied and bruised.

“Get the fuck out of my house,” Mason yelled, stepping protectively in front of Mom.

“Not your house anymore, boy. Your mother and I are getting married.”

A dreaded silence fell over the household as the words sunk in.

My brother saw red and even looked somewhat shell-shocked from the admission. “The fuck you are! You don’t belong here.”

“It’s Lucas who doesn’t belong.” This came as no surprise. I had always been Borelli’s target but hearing him confirm it by singling me out had my heart pounding. “He’s weak. The world isn’t kind to the weak, especially not here.”

Mason had become incensed, a raging fury glistening from his eyes, and a smiling Borelli claimed a small victory.

“You will never touch him again,” Mason warned through a snarl.

---