I can't remember the last time when the whole Thatcher family went out together. We used to get together on Sundays for family dinner but those have stopped ever since I got out of Mary Hill. It was nice but stressful at the same time, being around everyone at the same time.
I never felt like I could speak around my father without saying the wrong thing and getting scolded for it. I didn't too much care for the man, but I cared for Killian, Sawyer, and Archer and I knew when I and my sperm donor argued they were caught in the crossfire. So I sat back in my chair and ignored his smart little remarks the best I could.
"I get to move in now, right?" Archer chimes in directing his question at me and I can't help but chuckle, he looked, almost, too excited about the idea.
"You know I don't c-" I was instantly cut off by my grumbling father.
"Absolutely not." Everyone's attention was drawn to my fathers, all of us were confused by his words. It had been known knowledge that Archer would move in with me as soon as he got all of his ducks in a row with college and his job. His move was delayed when Angelina died and I was sent to Mary Hill, so I didn't figure it would come as a surprise that Archer was coming with me.
"Honey, you knew that he was going to follow August..." He cut my mother off too and I had to bite my tongue. He could disrespect me but I'll be damned if he gets to treat her however he wants to treat her.
"Follow him right into trouble is what he's not going to do." There were so many things that I wanted to say to that hateful old man at this very moment but I couldn't. I couldn't or else I would ruin everyone's night.
"Let's talk about this at a different time." Killian offered giving both of us a stern look, Killian was always the well-composed Thatcher boy. He always had this look on his face that made him seem indifferent to everything including our father's bullshit. He kept up this facade so good I forgot that he was a person sometimes. I forget that he's not just that indifferent face standing on the sidelines as our father beats me black and blue with his words and fist occasionally.
"This team has made it further into the season than any that I have had previously," Sawyer says around a mouthful of food, helping Killian change the subject to prevent an all-out war. They could feel the tension between me and our father like a live wire just waiting to electrocute someone.
"What do you coach?" Mays's soft voice startles everyone including me. She hadn't talked in front of them yet, I had told all of them that she was mute, so none of them questioned her further about it.
"She speaks!" My mother claps happily.
Sawyer coughs softly before answering her, "Softball."
"I used to play when I was in middle school." She offers that information with a soft smile.
I realize that she's taken my attention off of my father. "Why did you stop?" Sawyer carried on all of them seeming to like her voice. She was mesmerizing, a siren on land.
"Broke my wrist, I couldn't ever pitch right after." She says with a soft shrug, rolling said wrist around absently.
This small fact about my shadow makes me realize I still have so much more to learn about her and I wanted to know it all. I knew her, I knew her for her but I wanted to know what led her to become who she is today.
"Ahh, I hate to hear that," Sawyer says through a whence I knew he was thinking about his own injuries that led him to coaching instead of playing for the big leagues.
"It wasn't a big deal, at least it happened before I got more invested in the sport." She says flashing her show-stopping smile, causing my gaze to be stuck on her for a moment longer than appropriate.
"Did you graduate?" My father asked her as he sipped his drink. I tensed once more in my seat, it wasn't a rude question but it was asked with the wrong intent.
"Yes, I did." She answers with a quick nod of her head, causing my father to huff, almost like he wanted there to be something for him to disapprove of, or perhaps it was just me reading too much into the situation because of my distaste for the man sitting across from me.
"So, are you living with August?" I suck in a greedy breath of air through my nose and let my eyes roll into the back of my head. So help me, God, if he says something to May.
"Yes, she does," I answer for her seeing as how May jammed up for a moment. I would rather deal with my father than let her any day of the week. He was a hard man to face off with. Just the thought of my bulky father chastising May in front of my whole family makes my body go ridged.
"Ohh, so freeloader it is." He said behind a napkin that he was dapping the corner of his lips with.
"Dad!" Archer says with a voice a lot firmer than I'm used to coming from him.
"That was -" He once again cuts off my mother causing me to push my chair back as slowly as possible. I smile down at the judgmental asshole, aware that everyone was watching me closely, waiting to see what I was going to do next. I dust off my shoulder, where there was absolutely nothing there, and nod towards May to stand up.
I still my voice to be as level as I could make it, with the rage that was burning me from the inside out. "No more of a freeloader than you were when I was a kid, or do you forget about the first seven years of my life?"
I reach into my pocket grab out more money than I need and toss it onto the table with a flick of my fingers. "Leave the waitress the change."
I grabbed ahold of May's elbow firmly and began tugging her out of the restaurant with me. She followed silently but I could tell she wanted to say something.
I could tell she wanted to calm me down but I wasn't sure she could with how hot I was at this moment. It wasn't until we were in the parking lot that I let her go, but it was only because someone grabbed ahold of my shoulder and spun me around.
In the next moment, a fist connected with my jaw, blood spewing from my mouth instantly, all of it landing on May's peach-colored dress. I was in so much shock I couldn't do anything but stare at her, stare at her as she stepped away from my fuming father with fear in her eyes. She looked absolutely terrified.
There was no reason she should ever be that scared, not when I was right beside her. So I didn't turn to the man, that would forever be a thorn in my side and split his shit open.
Instead, I looked at him and laughed right in his face, just as the rest of my family made it to us. Blood was pouring down my chin like a river without a damn.
"What did you do?" My mother was covering her mouth with her hand and tears gathered in the corners of her eyes. "You promised!!" She shrieks. "You promised never again!"
"What are you talking about?" Killian questions as he comes in between my father and me, stopping any further blows from happening. He still looks just as unfazed as ever, but I knew that was going to change. When he knew the truth, Killian's facade would break.
"What's going on?" Sawyer asks as he comes up to me with a handkerchief in his hand. He wiped the blood from my mouth, most of it still pooled on my tongue, the metallic taste so strong it made my stomach curdle.
"She's not talking about anything." My father grumbled under his breath but I was not letting it all get swept under the rug anymore.
"Your father was an alcoholic," I say the words calmly even though my brain was screaming at me. "Back before Sawyer was born, you were too little to remember any of it." I eye Killian carefully.
"I made sure you didn't see anything that would stick with you ..." Killian's eyebrows furrowed, the first sign that he was slowly grasping what I was getting at.
"Shut up, you bastard! You don't know what you are talking about!" Archer keeps my father from rushing me once more. He was trying desperately to prevent me from spilling his dirty secrets.
"Is that right?" I ask coldly already knowing what I was about to do before I did it.
I strip my shirt off and turn to my brothers. May gasped, my mother cried, my father yelled profanities, and my brothers were all shocked, but I was numb to it all.
As the cold air hit my damaged, scared flesh I didn't feel anything but relief. This was one less secret on my soul, one less thing weighing me down. It was refreshing, in a therapeutic kind of way.
The goal here wasn't to get my brothers to hate our father just as much as I did, but it was instead a way for me to move on from it as well as all of his toxic advice growing up.
"Your perfect father liked to see me bleed."
~.~.~.~.~
I hope this explains a little bit of their family dynamic. Why it's so hard for Auguts to express his emotions.
Thoughts about the chapter?