A Touch of Luke

8

"Hey," Mario whispered, quietly closing the door behind him and walking into the living room where I was watching Gossip Girl.

"Hi," I smiled. "How was it?"

"Pretty chill," he walked further into the living room. "Kids asleep?"

"Yup," I nodded.

"Here," he handed me a smoothie before sitting down beside me.

"What's this?" I quirked an eyebrow. Since when does my brother have the decency to bring his sister a smoothie? Don't get me wrong, I love this kid but the thought of doing that would never cross his mind.

Mario chuckled, thinking the same thing as me. "It's not from me, don't worry. It was Luke, said you couldn't make it so he bought it and told me to bring it back for you."

I narrowed my eyes, "And you happened to tell him my order?"

"Nope," Mario spoke, popping the 'p'. "That was all him. He remembered you having it the other day at school."

I exhaled deeply, feeling conflicted as I leaned back into the couch.

"He's a good guy, Mar."

"I know."

"So, why are you not dating him?" Mario quirked an eyebrow.

I gave Mario a dull look, not amused. What was with everyone always asking me about Luke? We really were just friends. I hardly even knew him.

"What?" Mario retorted. "He's... swooning over you and clearly you like having him around."

"Swooning over me?"

Mario rolled his eyes. "Come on, sis. It's not that hard to see. He's always wanting you around, he's always happy when you're around, he always comes over to you, nobody else, he beat a guy to pulp today without knowing the story or what was even going on, he cares about you, a lot. Must I go on?"

"We're friends," I mumbled sheepishly. "That's what you do for friends."

"Really?" Mario scoffed, giving me a look of disbelief. "If you want to keep being in-denial then by all means, go for it but everyone else knows it."

I opened my mouth the continue protesting but was cut off before I could start. The front door was pushed open and moment later, a tall man stumbled his way into the house.

The tall and distressed looking man happened to be our dad.

Mario looked at me, panic taking over his features.

I shook my head at him, with my eyes saying 'don't get up' and then proceeded to get up and walk over to my father myself.

"Dad..."

"Marie Ana," my father's words slurred together as he took in my appearance. Sometimes I wasn't sure if he even recognized me because he was around so little fo the time, I wouldn't be surprised if he forgot what any of his kids looked like.

"Dad," I gave him a cold look, keeping my tone blank and levelled. "Should we get you some water?"

I tried to lead him into the kitchen but he could hardly stand straight so he kept stumbling and falling into the wall.

He laughed deeply as he struggled to take a seat on the island stool.

It wasn't often we would see him but when we did, it was usually like this and it was usually this late at night so thankfully Monty and especially Macy didn't have to see him like this.

Most nights he wouldn't come home. He would end up falling asleep in his office, the one job he can't get fired from because he started the company or he would crash in the nearest motel since he was too out of his mind to drive home.

He also hated being home anyways because it reminded him too much of mom and everything he lost - though he still has his house and family, he feels like he lost everything.

"Here," I handed my dad a glass of water. He took a sip before his eyes went cold.

"This is not a drink, Marie Ana." Without a second to spare, he picked up the glass and chucked it across the room, the glass hitting the wall and breaking to pieces all over the floor, the water spilling with it.

I winced, sucking in a deep breath. It took me a moment to open my eyes but when I did, Mario was standing in the entrance of the kitchen with a panicked look on his face.

I knew how my father got so I shook my head firmly, making sure Mario didn't come any closer. My first priority was to keep all my siblings clear of my father and his rage that was brought on from the drugs and alcohol.

'Macy', I mouthed and with that, Mario rushed upstairs to make sure Macy and Monty were okay and not woken up from the noise my father was causing.

"Why are you just standing there?" His voice was harsh and angry. "I need a drink, a real one."

I inhaled deeply, clenching my fists to keep my calm. "There is no alcohol in the house." I spoke calmly, hoping he wouldn't get more frustrated.

My dad stumbled as he got off the stool and started rummaging through the cabinets to find any source of liquor. He wouldn't find any. I was not going to keep alcohol in the house when there were kids here. I knew my brothers weren't stupid enough to drink. The reason I made sure we didn't have any liquor was because I knew there were rare nights like these where my father would come looking.

"Dad," my voice was becoming more vulnerable. "Please stop. You won't find any because we don't have any." I was pleading but he didn't care, he continued throwing things out of the cabinets.

"I had a stash," he grumbled. "I had alcohol."

I shook my head, "That was a long time ago, it's all gone now."

My father turned to look at me, his eyes ice cold and unrecognizable. This was not the man who raised me the first eight years of my life.

He clenched his jaw, "You're not being very much help, Marie Ana."

"I don't know how to help you anymore." My voice was quiet because I was too afraid to be any stronger.

There was fire burning behind his eyes as he took a step closer to me. "You need to learn how to respect your elders, Marie Ana. We raised you better than this. What would your mother say, huh?"

I sucked in a shaky breath, holding my ground. If I got weak, he would relish in it. "I have no respect for you. You barely raised us, any of us and mom isn't here right now but I sure do know what she would say if she were."

My father exhaled deeply through his nose - not a good sign because his anger was only growing.

Within a split second, he grabbed the back of my neck and slammed my head down onto the counter, the piercing feeling of glass cutting through my skin causing my eyes to tear up.

I let out a small yelp.

I needed this to stop before Mario came back down and witnessed any more.

Mario wasn't strong enough to see this. He was broken. As much as he hid it, as careless and goofy as he would be, he was a frightened and very worried kid who hid away all his pain. He couldn't deal with this anymore than he already has. It would break him.

Which is why I had to be strong for the sake of all of us.

"Don't you speak to me like that."

I sucked in a breath, my eyes pooling up. I didn't have the courage or energy to say anymore.

Please just stop.

I felt like I was choking on the amount of sobs that were threatening to come out.

He gripped onto the back of my neck so tight, I was sure it might snap. He held on for a second longer, his breathing heavy with fury.

He harshly let go and shook his head as he started to stumble away, "Disgrace, all of you." He muttered some more curses under his breath before walking away.

A few seconds later I heard the front door slam shut.

I gasped, catching my breath as I stood up straight. My vision was blurry with tears as I started coughing while looking around at the mess the kitchen had become.

"Mar?"

My neck snapped over to see Mario standing at the kitchen entrance again, a terrified look on his face. His eyes were glossy and voice was hoarse as he tried to stop himself from sobbing.

"Macy," I choked out. "Monty. Are they fine?"

"Asleep." He told me vaguely.

I nodded before turning to look at the broken glass all over the place.

"Mar," Mario slowly walked over to me. He placed a hand under my chin and turned my head towards him. "You're bleeding," his voice was in a whisper.

I exhaled a shaky deep breath. "I'm okay, Rio."

He shook his head, "We can't... I - let me help you, please."

I obliged, seeing him look and feel so helpless only made me feel more sick to my stomach. I hated that man and what he has turned us into.

Mario sat me down at the table and cleaned up the cut before looking at me with his sad, sad eyes. "What just happened?"

I shrugged, shaking my head in disbelief. "I don't know."

"I should have stopped him sooner."

"Hey," I shook my head and took his hands into mine so he would look at me. "Don't do that. This is not on you nor could you have done anything to stop him because it's who he is, he cannot be stopped. The only thing that would have happened was you getting hurt."

"It's better than you getting hurt," he retorted.

I smiled sadly, "I'm the older sister, I take the heat."

Mario chuckled softly, shaking his head. "Older by a few minutes."

"Come on," I stood up. "We got to clean this place up."

"Hey Mar," Mario stopped me. I turned to give him a questioning look. "I love you."

"I love you too, bro."