Chapter 25
Elijah
I arrived at the office and headed toward Kendall’s desk. I greeted her as normal so no one would suspect that anything had been going on between us. Kendall had told me that the staff had quizzed her and she had denied that anything was happening. She said she was just helping with my ailment.
I entered my office and called Kendall in, as there was something I wanted to talk to her about, “Kendall!” I called through the open door.
“Yes, you want me?”
“I want you every minute of every day, but for now I just want to talk to you,” I smiled as Kendall entered the office.
“Close the door please,” I asked.
“So, what did you want to talk to me about,” she asked as I eyed her perfect dress. It sat perfectly on her.
“Peter is coming into the office today,” I explained.
“Ah, so you are going to talk about your flashback?” Kendall asked.
“Yes, I think we need to, there is not much more that I can take without losing my mind, it’s a weird feeling,” I explained.
“It should do you good, and maybe you can both benefit from a good conversation about it,” Kendall said.
“I hope so, I’ve had enough, I’m lucky you are with me to guide me through it,” I said as I smiled at her perfectness.
Someone knocked at the door, and Peter poked his head inside the room.
“I’m back,” he said with a smile.
“It’s nice to see you again,” Kendall said.
“Same here,” I said, glad to see him.
“Well, it’s nice to see you two getting a bit closer,” Peter said. “Have you been up to anything exciting while I was away the last few days?”
“Apart from the fair, not much,” I said as I glanced at Kendall and smiled.
“No, it was really quiet while you have been away,” Kendall said as she blushed slightly.
“Okay, I’ll believe you,” Peter said as he grinned knowingly at us both.
“So, Bro, you up for some lunch?” Peter said.
“Yep, sure, but I think you we should talk about my episode before concentrating on food, don’t you?” I asked.
“There is that, but you know what the food is like on the plane. Besides, I’m starved.” He patted his stomach.
We reached the restaurant and ordered our food, Peter looked exhausted, but he said that this was important for the both of us.
“So, Kendall tells me you had a bad flashback, yes?” Peter asked.
“Bad isn’t the fucking word. Dad was battering you from pillar to post,” I explained. “I just don’t know why or where it was, I just saw him kicking the shit out of you. It was beyond disturbing, something I don’t know if I can ever shake.”
“Well, it all started when Dad became an alcoholic and became highly abusive to all of us, no matter who was at fault or not at fault he used his fists to get his side of the story over to us, a little too often if you ask me,” Peter explained. “On quite a few occasions, Dad used to pick on you because you were the smallest,” he continued to add, “and the only way I could protect you was by provoking him so that he would divert his attention toward me rather than you. While this was going on, you always saw the good side of Dad that everyone else had thought he had lost. So, you always sought his acceptance, which led you to be within arm’s reach when he got into beating mode.” Peter looked at me in seriousness.
“So, we had done nothing wrong then? Fuck, it was all him and his drinking?” I asked.
“It was, apart from the odd occasion when we did do something wrong, but this never seemed as bad as his drunken beatings,” he said as he munched on his burger.
“I never knew that you took the beatings for me, I should be in your debt,” I said feeling horrible about it.
“It's what brothers are supposed to do, they are supposed to watch out for each other in bad times, and especially in situations like this. What sort of brother would I be if I had just stood back and watched?” Peter said as he sipped on soda.
“So, what happened then? Damn, there must have been some outcome from all of this?”
“Yes, the end result was that when Dad kicked the bucket, I was so far off his radar, for obvious reasons, and Mom was well you know, out of the picture, already. So, he had just one option of where to leave his fortune, and this was always you,” Peter explained.
“So, what did you and Mom get out of his death? How much did he leave you in his will?” I asked.
“Hardly anything compared to what you received. Ninety-nine-point-nine percent went to you, and I didn’t even get a simple job at the company.” Peter gazed out the window.
“That’s bullshit. He should never have done that. It should have been a 50-50 split if you ask me,” I said.
“Mom got even less than me, but she did have access to his pension which was enough to keep her going,” he said.
I thought about what Peter just told me, and how it had obviously affected me for quite a number of years. Peter had no idea why Dad became an alcoholic, and he had no idea why he had become abusive either, apart from because of work related stress. I also thought about how much Peter had risked his health and his life by placing himself in front of Dad, so he would leave me alone.
“So, why did I always go to the office with Dad if he got abusive? I mean surely, I would have noticed,” I asked Peter.
“You saw the good in him, it’s as simple as that, when he didn’t drink, he was a good dad, it just started to take over him and over his life, but you still tried so hard to please him,” Peter explained.
“Talking about Mom, why do we have a grudge with each other, do you know?” I asked with a confused look on my face.
“Like I said before, you need to speak to her about it. She would never tell me what went on.”
We continued to chat through lunch, and Peter told me about all the times he could remember when Dad was really abusive and he also used to lock us up in the shed, as well as beating us with his belt, which was more frequent.
“Dad had a severe grudge with Mom too, and I wasn’t sure if this had anything to do with the grudge between you two,” Peter said.
“That is what has puzzled me more ever since you mentioned Mom, I can understand Dad being abusive, but for Mom just not communicating or anything is totally beyond me. I just hope there is something that can be done to put the relationship right unless it’s totally broken beyond repair,” I said.
“Only time will tell, only time will tell,” Peter said as he ordered coffee.
“Well, at the end of it, there is only one thing I can say,” I said.
“What’s that?” Peter asked.
“Apart from you and me, we have one hell of a fucked-up family, and that I do know,” I said trying to make us both feel better.
I thought some more about what had gone on and how Peter tried to protect me, he had been disowned by Dad and had got the shitty end of the stick, both when we were younger and once Dad had died. But he always stood by me way more than he should have.
I was extremely proud at that moment that Peter was my brother, and the way I treated him before was totally unfair. I felt like there had been a major injustice in the way things had panned out. I made a mental pact with myself to put things right.
I raised my coffee to Peter. “A toast,” I said.
“What’s the toast for?” Peter asked.
“To brothers. The best of brothers. Men like you.”
“I’ll drink to that,” Peter said as he raised his cup.
“To brothers,” we said together.
We finished lunch without much talk of my flashbacks and talked about my relationship with Kendall. Peter said he was happy she was helping and that he thought she was doing me a lot of good. I could do anything but agree with his comments.
The lunch extended longer than we expected, so I headed straight home. I sat and thought for a while in the silence. God, what had caused Dad to become an alcoholic? And why would Mom stop communicating with me?
Fuck, were these related or was it more of a coincidence?
It was difficult for me to get my head around it, and I thought I needed someone who I could chat with about it that had no part in the history of it. Peter had played a major part, and from the sound of it, he had played a bigger part in it than any brother or person should have done. He risked his health for me, his little brother.
I came to the conclusion that Kendall was the only option, she made me feel good and had a clear conscience and a good point of view against the whole thing. There was also the fact I had left for the day without letting her know. So, she may have become worried, even though she knew I was out with Peter.
I realized I missed her. I thought it was only right to keep her in the loop and update her on the conversation that I had with Peter at our extended lunch. The second thing was, she could stay the night, and I could hold her body next to mine again, and make a full night of it.
I grabbed my cell phone and dialed Kendall’s number, “Hi, Kendall, guess who this is?” I blurted down the phone.
“Creepy caller?” she replied with a laugh, “I knew who it was, your name came up on the screen, you dope,” she commented in sarcasm.
“Ah, yes, modern technology, how clever it is,” I replied.
“So how was lunch?” she asked.
“There is too much to tell over the phone, but a lot was said, and Peter and I bonded a little more,” I said.
“That’s good to hear since the accident, you have been close, and there is no harm in getting closer to each other.”
“I agree with that, especially after what Peter told me today, he has been a real trooper in all of this,” I added.
“I take it you went straight home after your long lunch seeing as you never returned to the office?” she asked.
“Yeah, we got carried away with all that brotherly bonding stuff, and I learned a few facts today, a real eye opener it was.” Her voice made me feel safe.
“You will have to tell me all about it. It sounds really interesting,” she said.
“Well, that is the reason for me calling, do you want to come over tonight?”
“I would love to, but I’ll need to bring Bo. Otherwise he will be upset if I leave him alone again,” she replied.
“No, problem, bring him along, there is more than enough space for him here to run around, and it would be nice to see him again,” I said, happy about our arrangement for the night.
“Great, I’ll get my stuff together and see you in a while,” Kendall said.
“Bye for now, pretty girl. I’ll see you later,” I replied.