Page 68 of Valentine's Daddy To Go
“Only sometimes. It’s not a big deal. So many people do it, Nell. You met Tom back there. He does like five times the amount I do, and he’s fine.”
I stare at him, aghast.
“Brian, Tom has no teeth and looks like a dead man walking.”
“No!” my brother shouts. I jump at his sudden raise in volume, but I manage to keep my cool. “That’s not a very nice thing to say, Nell. I thought our parents taught you better.” He chuckles to himself madly, with a slightly crazed look in his eye. I ignore his comment, not wanting to get into any of that right now.
“What about Jaybird?” I ask, trying to change the subject for now. “Did Nash and Colt really fire you for stealing?”
Brian’s mouth goes into a tight line as he rolls his eyes.
“They weren’t treating me right, okay? From the second those assholes hired me, they didn’t want to give a chance, not a real one anyway,” he whines.
“So, you actuallydidsteal,” I begin. Brian interrupts me.
“No, I took what was mine. What I wasowed. I’ve been toiling away for so long. I deserve that money. It belongs tome.”
“So, you just took it?” I ask in a disbelieving voice.
“Yeah,” Brian smirks. “I used to dick around and play all those computer games. Well, I learned a lot of shit about computer systems and whatnot. Plus, Jaybird’s security system was set up by idiots anyways. Penetrating their firewall was so fucking easy. I could probably teach my girls how to do it.”
I stare at him.
“But what about your family? Your kids? How do they fit into this hacker drug lord image you have?”
“What about them?” Brian shrugs. I’d been fairly calm for this whole conversation, but hearing Brian dismiss his daughters so casually sets me on fire.
“Are you kidding me? I just foundyourdaughters playing in a river without any supervision outside a homeless encampment where god only knowswhatcould have happened to them! And you were too busy because Mr. Does-Whatever-The-Fuck-He-Wants was cooking meth! For fucking real, Brian?”
I’m expecting my brother to realize what an absolute dumbass he’s been, and to break down crying. After all, that’s the Brian that I know. Someone spineless, who’s always blubbering and in need of help.
But the drugs have changed him because this time, he gets all red in the face. He starts to aggressively approach me, and for the first time ever, I’m afraid of my brother.
“Brian?” I hold up my hand defensively, but he’s too far gone. My only sibling hits me in the chest, knocking me to the ground.
I scream as I fall, tumbling to the forest floor. I look up at my brother, shocked and confused. I don’t know what to do.
Brian looks down at me, his features contorted in rage. But the anger leaves his face, and it’s replaced with regret as we stare at one another.
But before either one of us can say anything, Nash flies out of nowhere and tackles my brother. They both hit the ground, and Nash starts punching the ever living shit out of my brother.
I’m frozen to the spot as I watch Brian turn into a crying, sniveling mess. It’s not hard to see that he’s been overwhelmed, and at the rate Nash is going, he’s going to physically break my brother. While I am pissed and upset with all the things Brian’s done, I know he still has the ability to be a good person.
I get up from the ground and grab on to Nash, pulling back with all my strength. I don’t want him to cause any serious damage.
“Nash! Get off him! We need to leave!” It takes a lot of effort, but I manage to penetrate the fog of anger. Nash backs off of Brian. He doesn’t seem to want to, but he stops the punching and stares at my whimpering, sniveling brother who’s now in a fetal position on the floor.
“Don’t ever touch Nellie again,” Nash hisses with real rage in his face. “Otherwise, consider yourself six feet under.”
“Let’s go,” I plead, pulling on his arm. Nash seems not to hear, but then he spins around and leaves with me.
As we’re tramping through the forest, I look back one last time and see Brian moaning while clutching his sides. Even with everything, my heart still goes out to him. The only difference is that this time, I’m not going to help him.
Today, he can help himself.
We’re almost back at the car, and I stop Nash from continuing.
“Um, I need to clean myself up. My nieces are waiting for me, and I can’t let them see me like this.” There are tears streaming down my face, and I have dirt and mud on my body and clothes.
