Turning A New Leaf

Thirty-Two

Krist had spent the morning doing Instacart deliveries until Rocco got out of school for the day. He took him to Pita Pit for lunch and then over to visit Linda and Bill for the afternoon.

Atira had texted him from Brooke and Brad's, telling him that Brooke was so beaten that it looked like she'd been in a car accident and that Brad, in his frenzy, had raped her.

Krist had been floored to learn those details. Not to mention anger, disgust, and a whole plethora of other emotions. He was never a fan of Brad and didn't necessarily even like him, but he was still highly disappointed and sad to learn that his brother had done something like that.

Yes, Krist himself had been violent towards Lainey in the past. Yes, he was probably a hypocrite for feeling the way he did at the moment but at the same damn time, Brad was a piece of shit. Brad fucking strangled and raped his wife. Krist had just socked Lainey up a few times. Well, more than a few times, but regardless there was a difference, to him, between socking your girl and pinning her to the ground, strangling and raping her. Not that any of that shit was alright.

God, what a fucking lame.

Krist pulled into his mom's driveway, put the car in neutral, and threw the e-brake on. "We're here, Bud," he said to Rocco, trying to mask his shit mood.

Rocco unbuckled himself and bolted towards the front door. Krist texted Atira to let her know he would visit with his mom for a bit but wasn't sure if he would be doing more Instacart batches or heading straight home afterward.

"What's up, Ma?" Krist asked after he'd let himself into the house.

Linda was seated at the kitchen table, her forehead resting on her hand. She looked up at her son, eyes puffy and tired. "Oh, you know, trying to figure out all this...crap with your brother," she sighed.

Krist looked down at Rocco, "Hey, go find Grandpa and play," he instructed him and helped himself to a Coke Zero from the fridge. "You see Brad's fuckin' charges?"

"I haven't got it in me to look if we are being honest," Linda told him, "What all is he being charged with?"

Krist cracked the soda open, took a long gulp, and sat down, "Everything, like legit everything. There was a bunch of little misdemeanor shit and then a ton of felony DV crap. I think it was like assault two, assault three, and then there was a DV strangulation charge."

Linda's eyes bulged, "He strangled her?"

Krist sucked the inside of his cheek, deciding on how much to tell his mom and how much to leave out. "Sure the fuck did. Atira's over there right now and said Brooke looks bad. Like she got in a car wreck or something."

Linda fell silent, staring down at her phone. She regretted not leaving Marcus as soon as she'd discovered she was pregnant with Krist, feeling that the things the boys had been exposed to as small children had shaped them into the men they'd become.

Marcus had also been violent when under the influence of drugs or alcohol. He, like the boys, had a problem with crank in his late teens/early twenties.

Marcus was a moody guy even on his good, sober days, but if he'd been drinking or on a long crank run, that's when the problems would start. He often accused Linda of cheating when it was he who was sleeping around.

The physical abuse had started not long after Krist's birth while Linda was still recovering from her c-section. Krist was barely two weeks old and colicky.

Marcus, being Marcus, was overwhelmed by the screaming newborn and drank to "calm his nerves" that night as Linda paced the living room. The pacing was the only thing that would quiet the crying baby.