Brothers

by L. A. Casey

  “Ado?” I called after her.

  Her sniffles were audible then, and it tore me and, from what I could see, my son apart.

  “I oughtta kick the shit out of you, you selfish little asshole!” I lowly bellowed at Jax when Aideen was out of earshot. “You’ve made her cry.”

  Jax didn’t flinch. “I hate me too right now.”

  “I don’t hate you, and neither does your mom,” I scowled. “We’re just furious with you. What the hell were you thinking?”

  “I was thinkin’ about losin’ me virginity to the hottest girl in school. You or Ma didn’t enter me mind in there, Da.”

  I wanted to throttle him. “You’re my son, but you can’t keep it in your pants like your uncles when they were your age!”

  Jax raised an eyebrow in question. “Which ones?”

  “The twins,” I grunted. “Obviously.”

  Jax looked a little proud, but only for a second before he glanced down the now empty hallway were Aideen retreated.

  “I really hurt ‘er.”

  “Yeah,” I replied, “you did.”

  “And you?” Jax looked at me. “I hurt ye’, too?”

  Like a sucker punch.

  “Yeah.” I nodded. “Me too.”

  Jax looked distraught. “I’m sorry, Da.”

  “I know”—I sighed—”but you understand why we’re upset, right? Firstly, you’re our baby, and you’re doing things you shouldn’t be doing at your age. Secondly, we told you how your mother got pregnant with you. You’re one of five of the best things that have ever happened to us, but you weren’t planned, and we struggled coming to terms with there being an ‘us’ and ‘family’ and we were in our late twenties! Do you think you could handle a surprise baby at sixteen?”

  Jax looked visibly sick. “Jesus. No.”

  “Then think with the head on your shoulders,” I roughly stated, then softened my tone. “Look, I know what’s it’s like, trust me. I’ve been where you are, but you have to be smart about this, Jax. You can’t just go around having sex with different girls no matter how hot they are. Pregnancy isn’t the only worry. There are nasty STIs you can catch, too.”

  “Shite,” Jax groaned. “I’m so sorry. I know all this ... it’s just ... hard. Literally. All the damn time.”

  Any other time, I would laugh and tease him, but not now, not about a situation as serious as this one.

  “You’re grounded for a month,” I stated. “You’ll pick up more chores and extra nights to babysit your brothers and cousins. No phone. No laptop. No iPad. No Xbox or PlayStation. No soccer games or practice. I’ll deal with your coach. Unless it’s for school, you don’t leave this house, do you understand me?”

  Jax looked gutted but took it like a man. “Yes, sir.”

  “And bottom line, no sex in this apartment. Ever.” I raised an eyebrow then. “From now on, I’ll keep a box of condoms stocked in the bottom drawer in the bathroom for you. Put one in your wallet and replace it every single time you take it out for use. This isn’t permission to go out and have sex with every female in sight. It’s a precaution, a safety net so that if you ever get into a situation where you’re going to do something where you know that you’ll need it, make sure you use it. Be smart. Be safe. And for God’s sake, kid, make good decisions. Please. I’ll go old school and beat you bloody if I find out you’re playing girls and breaking hearts. I don’t respect a man who has no respect for women. Do you understand me?”

  “Yes, sir.” Jax straightened. “I understand.”

  “Good,” I said, then gestured Jax closer. “Now give me a hug and go comfort your mama. She works herself into a fretting state because of you and your brothers.”

  Jax moved closer to me and gave me a quick hug before slapping hands with me and bumping fists.

  “Hottest girl in school, huh?”

  Jax’s lips twitched. “You saw ‘er. What d’you think?”

  “I think she forgot about you the moment she walked out of the room. Did you not see how she stared at your old man?”

  “I’m better lookin’.” Jax glared. “I look like you, me Slater uncles, me Collins uncles and me ma. I’m a genetic marvel.”

  I laughed and shook my head.

  “God really didn’t want me to have sex today,” he then said with a sigh. “First Uncle Nico phones me earlier when I was kissin’ Daisy then you and Ma come bustin’ in like the guards on a raid.”

  I snorted but said nothing.

  “Can I go to Uncle Nico’s house? I need to speak to Georgie. It’s important.”

  I mulled it over for a moment, then said, “Go there, talk to her, then get your ass home. I meant it when I say you’re grounded.”

  Jax nodded. “I got it.”

  “Get dressed then.”

  He disappeared into his room, rapidly finished dressing, then went in search of his mother. I leaned against the doorway and looked into my son’s room, glaring at the messed-up bed and shaking my head before I scrubbed my face with my hands. I used to think when my kids were toddlers and kindergarten age that they wore me out, but that was only a taste of the stress that the teenage years brought.

  After I went to the bathroom, I found Aideen in the kitchen. She was cleaning the countertops even though they were already clean. I slanted against wall and folded my arms across my chest. Watching my wife, I knew she was hurting without having to ask her. I was in tune with everything about her. I always had been.

  “Baby doll.”

  Aideen burst into tears, then turned and rushed into my arms. I hugged her body to mine, waiting until she was all cried out to lean down and plant kisses on her face. She clung to me like she needed me to get through this moment.

  “If we didn’t interrupt ‘im, he’d have lost his virginity. I heard ‘im say that.” She sniffled. “He’s too young, Kane.”

  “I know,” I said, smoothing her hair back from her face. “He knows he fucked up.”

  “I couldn’t even look at ‘im when he came to apologise to me,” Aideen cried. “I’m so mad at ‘im. Doesn’t he realise how easy it is to catch a disease? Or to get a woman pregnant? I don’t want his life to be—”

  “Baby, relax,” I said, squeezing her tight. “He knows he messed up, and he’s grounded for it. We can both sit down with him later and discuss it, but please, don’t worry about him. We caught him before anything could happen.”

  Aideen’s shoulders slumped. “He told me he’d tell me when he started likin’ girls. I had it all figured out in me head. You would have a one-on-one talk with ‘im. Not the brief facts of life ye’ gave him a few years ago, but somethin’ proper so he would be aware of the responsibilities that come with havin’ sex.”

  I sighed. “He’s aware of the dangers of sex now, trust me.”

  Aideen used her hands to wipe away her tears. The movements caused my eyes to shift to her arms. The burn scar on her forearm always made my chest hurt whenever I looked at it. It was a constant reminder that I once came close to losing her and Jax, who was in her belly at the time, when she was attacked by Big Phil, a nightmare from my past. But I eventually got revenge by taking his life.

  “The boys are still down in Harley’s apartment,” she said, retaking my focus. “I’ll go get them. It’s almost dinnertime. They probably have me brother’s head melted.”

  My brother-in-law had looked after my sons for close to two hours, so I had no doubt he needed a break from them. He did us a solid, though, taking our kids when he already had two of his own to look after. Game days were always a little crazy because we only had two sons in the same age group, but we somehow made it work. Jax was on the sixteen and under team with Locke who was fifteen. Beckett at eleven was on the under twelve team, Jagger at nine was on the under ten team, and Eli, who was seven, played on the eight and under team.

  They had been like a herd of elephants just after seven in the morning, which baffled me because the first match, Eli’s game, didn’t start until after ten. Once the
y were all dressed in their gear and had their own soccer bags with all the essentials inside, we left our home and met up with my brothers and nephews down at the soccer fields next to the team clubhouse. As usual, Alec wasn’t there because he was banned from attending any of the kid’s games, home or away, for two years.

  Damien and Ryder filled us in on the bullshit he pulled that morning with Alannah, and it started our day off with laughter. An hour later, the older boys won their games, and the younger kids lost theirs, which led to a lot of arguments about who was at fault and many unhappy faces. Our families split up afterwards, and Dominic took his boys out to see a movie and to eat after they showered in the clubhouse.

  After’s Damien’s boys washed the grime and sweat away, they left to go and collect Alannah, who was finishing up her Saturday art class at the community centre. Ryder, the poor fucker, didn’t have time to make sure his kids and Alec’s kids were washed and dressed. Instead, he hustled them in his mini bus and drove home, no doubt dying for some peace and quiet. My three youngest, however, refused to shower because Jax and Locke made them believe the water was tainted with the sweat of dead soccer players who roamed the clubhouse grounds angry with whoever lost a game.

  They stunk to hell and back, so much so that I opened all the windows in my car as I drove them home. After we got home, and they showered, all five of them went down to Harley’s apartment. He was the only remaining Collins brother to live in my building. Not long after the kids went down to his place, Aideen called him to send them back up because we had to go grocery shopping, but Harley was cool with them being in his home, so we went shopping.

  Jax obviously took this opportunity to try to get some with his female friend.

  “Hey?”

  Aideen looked up at me.

  “It’ll be okay, you know?”

  She nodded. “I know, I think I’m just in shock at what we saw if I’m bein’ honest.”

  “It’ll pass,” I said. “We’ll tease him about this when he is older.”

  “A lot older.”

  I chuckled and slapped her ass, making her jump then laugh as she left our apartment to retrieve our tribe. When I was alone, I pre-heated the oven, then got all the food I planned to cook out of the freezer. As I waited, I walked into the living, pausing to look at the many photos on the wall. I looked at my wedding photo, and I could remember that day like it was yesterday. I had worn a black suit, and Aideen had worn a beautiful plain white dress for our courthouse wedding.

  She looked so beautiful; it still took my breath away. My eyes slid to the pictures of our kids, then pictures of me and my laughing brothers. I lingered on my brothers for a moment and felt myself smile. I wasn’t sure if they knew it or not, but they were the reason I had a wife and kids to love and adore. Growing up in a family with loveless parents would have completely ruined me had it not been for my brothers. We had been through the wringer, each of us hurting in our own way, but we came out on top.

  Nothing could keep us down for very long.

  Nothing.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Sixteen years old ...

  * * *

  “I don’t want to go with him, Dad.”

  My dad reached out and smacked me upside my head as soon as the words left my mouth. I hissed, lifting my hands so I could rubbed the painful spot. I lowered my hands after a moment but remained tense. I was angry, so fucking angry, but I knew if I voiced my dislike for my current situation again, then my dad would do far worse than simply smack me.

  I remembered how badly he beat Alec when he was fifteen for having sex with another dude, so I knew my dad would have no issue beating on me if I displeased him just like he did to my brother. He didn’t treat us like a father was supposed to treat his children. He treated us like cattle that he constantly whipped into shape.

  “You’ll do as I say, Kane,” he warned. “Am I understood?”

  I didn’t answer him, so he looked in my direction and leered at me. I set my jaw as I regarded him. I hated, fucking hated, that the eyes that glared at me were the very eyes that I had inherited from him. I looked like my dad, all of my brothers did, but no one more than my eldest brother, Ryder. He was a carbon copy of our dad, but his heart was a world away from the block of ice that sat within my father’s chest.

  “I said,” Dad sneered, “am I understood?”

  Fuck you.

  I reluctantly nodded. This drew a sinister chuckle from my father as he turned forward so he could continue talking to the man who was interested in having me working with him for the day. I felt cheap, lower than the ground I stood on as I listened to my dad talk about me as if I wasn’t standing next to him. Big Phil, a cold-blooded plague who worked for my dad and his business partner, Marco Miles, looked bored as he listened to my father give him instructions, but he paid attention because he knew what being disrespectful to my dad would result in.

  “Mr Slater,” Big Phil said. “I’ll make sure he gets the full experience when he’s with me today. He’ll be aware of his future role within our little family.”

  Dad snorted. “Don’t go easy on him. If he had his way, he’d stay with his brothers all the time and never talk to anyone else.”

  I resisted the urge to curse. My dad was always on my case because I didn’t like being around people I didn’t know, nor did he like my preference to stay in our home rather than hang out with Marco’s nephews. It wasn’t that I was scared or anything. Being around so many people just fucked with my head. I couldn’t explain it, but I simply didn’t like being around people who I didn’t care for. I couldn’t endure the presence of my parents, only my brothers. Everyone else got on my nerves.

  “Like I said”—Big Phil grinned—”he’ll get the full experience. By the end of today, he’ll be a changed boy.”

  Dad laughed, clapped Big Phil on the shoulder, then without a word or even glancing my way, he left the courtyard. I watched him as he walked away, before my attention turned to Big Phil who was staring at me. He looked pleased that I was in front of him, and I didn’t want to know why.

  “How old are you, Kane?”

  “Sixteen.”

  He snorted. “Old enough to learn your role in this business.”

  “What role?” I asked. “What are you talking about?”

  “I’m talking about what is expected of you when you turned eighteen. Everyone has a job around here, even if their last name is Slater.”

  I gritted my teeth. “I thought I could pick my own job?”

  “At your size, Marco and your father think you’ll suit my field perfectly.”

  I froze. “I don’t ... I don’t want to be an enforcer.”

  I knew what Big Phil did, and it was one of the reasons he disgusted me so much. He hurt people, ruined lives, and ripped families apart all because Marco or my father said so. I didn’t want to do that. I didn’t want to hurt anyone for anybody.

  “Tough.” He laughed. “It’s already been decided. You’re sixteen, and you already weigh one-eighty and are nearly six-foot. Marco and your dad have noticed that you’ve bulked up. You’re an intimidating boy, so just imagine how much bigger you’ll be when you’re a man.”

  I felt like I was going to be sick. I had noticed over the past few months that my dad had taken an interest in my exercise and diet plan. I liked to work out—I didn’t do much else—so I gained muscle easily enough. Had I known that my appearance would land me in this trap, I’d have remained skinny.

  “What’s today about?” I asked, shifting from foot to foot. “What’s going to happening?”

  “You going to accompany me on a collection run. Think of it as an unofficial ride along. You’ll get to see how I operate, and you’ll learn what is expected of you through me.”

  I felt like I was going to puke. “Where are we going?”

  Big Phil didn’t answer me. Instead, he walked out of the courtyard, and I had no choice but to follow him like a dog. When we left our compound, I looked around, notici
ng just how alone we were outside the high walls. Marco and my dad owned a lot of the land our compound was built on, and for miles in every direction, there were empty fields. We lived in North County, New York. The city was a few hours south, but it might as well have been a world away.

  “Kane,” Big Phil hollered. “You have shotgun.”

  I turned to him and looked at the black Cadillac he climbed into. I swallowed down bile, and walked towards the car, sliding into the passenger seat. A quick look in the back told me I was on my own with Big Phil, and I hated that. We drove in silence for what felt like an hour, and when we came to a town, Big Phil drove onto a street and stopped in front of a small house.

  “Follow me,” he said. “And don’t speak unless I say otherwise.”

  That suited me fine. I didn’t want to speak anyway.

  “Come on.”

  We left the car, walked up the pathway to the house, and instead of knocking, Big Phil tried the door handle. When it opened, he stepped inside, and shouted, “Kade!”

  There was movement upstairs, then a man wearing just boxers shorts appeared at the top of the stairs. I heard a baby cry, then watched as a woman rushed by behind the man and entered a bedroom, closing the door behind her. I could have sworn I heard a lock click into place, but I wasn’t sure.

  “Big,” Kade said, looking more than a little surprised. “I wasn’t expecting you until the end of the week.”

  “I know.” Big Phil nodded. “Things have changed, though, and Marco needs his payment. Right now.”

  I watched as Kade’s face paled. “I don’t get paid until the end of the week. Marco knows that.”

  “As I said, things have changed.”

  Kade reached the bottom of the stairs, and said, “I don’t know what to tell you, Big. I have fifty bucks until payday.”

  “What about your girl?”

  Kade froze. “She doesn’t work. She stays at home and takes care of the baby.”

  Big Phil rubbed his hand over his face, and said, “This is a sad situation. You know Marco doesn’t like to be left high and dry when he’s expecting money.”