Lavender

The Past

TRIGGER WARNING FOR CHILD ABUSE. READ WITH CAUTION. TLDR AT THE BOTTOM.

Leo comes downstairs the following day while we're eating lunch. "Excuse me, my loves." I say as I leave the table and meet him by the stairs.

"You wanna talk about it?" I ask, referring to the horrible nightmare he had the night before.

He nods, and we sit down on an empty couch. "Dad got worse after you left. It's not at all your fault, it's his. But he got stressed. Kids started showing up at our door asking for weed. It was stressful without you. So, Dad got worse. Percy did, too. Percy kept me high, and I still don't know if it was punishment or a mercy. He always said I was better high, more manageable. Everyone else stayed the same amount of mean. But the nightmares come from Dad."

"I get them sometimes too. But not like you. Not...violently."

"That's 'cause you were never violent. I always have been. You get sad, I get angry. Every time you wake up crying, I wake up seeing red."

That made sense. I'm lucky the Lavenders are deep sleepers. The crying has lessened, but it still happens occasionally. "Did you hurt him?" I ask, referring to Casper.

"I almost did. Could have been worse. He has good instincts. Kicked me right back." He pointed to a red mark on his face.

"That sounds healthy."

He rolls his eyes. "Listen, I'm only telling you this because Casper says I have to talk to someone. And you're the only one who gets it."

I nod. "I get that. I ran from my past and ended up here. I've tried to forget about it. No one here knows I sold drugs. I'd like to keep it that way."

"Of course. I'd never share that. Anyway, you think this is enough talking?"

"Not even close. How is Dad worse?"

"Apparently, he always beats the youngest. And he's been getting more violent. No one stops him when he beats me. No one stops the punching, or the kicking, or the scratching. They all just... watch."

"I'm sorry it's every man for themselves over there. I wish the brothers banded together, even a little bit."

"It's always been that way. I mean, except when Mom was around."

"Still sucks."

"Yeah."

We sit in silence for a bit. "Okay, Leo, I'll let you go."

He smiles and stands up. "I'm going back to my soulmate now."

"Isn't it exciting?" I ask.

"Having a soulmate? There's nothing better." He smiles as he walks away.

I fall back into routine with the loves of my life. Luther heals slowly, and I make sure everyone is supporting him the whole time. Adam and Max are still touchy with me, which I don't mind.

After a few weeks pass, Casper comes up to us at breakfast. He taps me on the shoulder. "Link, I need your help."

"Where's Leo? I'll sort him out." I sigh and stand up.

Casper looks at me, afraid. "He went back. I wanna say he went home, but I don't think it's really a home."

Luther looks at me. I remember our promise. No going back. Don't let them win. I drag Casper out of earshot. "He went back? You let him go back? What the hell happened?"

"Doesn't matter. I need to know what he went back to. You need to tell me how he got those bruises and those nightmares. I'm sorry, I don't want to make you relive anything, but I need to know."

Shit. I make him swear to secrecy. If I tell him, I can't have any of this going back to the other Lavenders. He looks at me, and I can tell this is as bad as Luther going back to Marissa. I decide to tell him. "Leo and I had the low-level jobs. I did the deals to high school kids, nicotine and weed. Leo was the alibi. He kept track of who was where doing what, and if cops showed up he would come up with a lie of where we were and how we spent most of the day together. We all had alibi locations to corroborate his lies. Jack was our marketer. He'd give out a dose of shit and tell people that it came from us. Kellen bought the shit across the country and, in some cases, even Mexico or Canada and smuggled it back. Mario dealt the party drugs. Percy and Dad dealt the harder shit and... defended the family when needed."

Casper's eyes get wider as I tell him everything. "That's a whole-ass operation."

I continued, mostly thinking out loud. "And then I left, spreading them a little thin. But Leo leaving? That's an actual man down. Probably hurt Dad's ego, too. Can't imagine he's gonna be happy seeing Leo again. And a pissed off Dad is the worst kind."

Casper shifts on his feet. "How does he... hurt his kids?"

I can feel disassociation in the back of my skull, but I fight it back. "He beats the youngest, or so I've been told. I thought it was a me thing until Leo got here. We talked about it a little bit, enough to know that Dad's been escalating over the years. For me, it was just a belt, throwing shit, and the occasional bad beating. Dad doesn't know when to stop when he punches. Leo always pulled him off of me eventually, or I'd have to wait for Dad to tire out. Percy also threw shit and would kick me in the ribs, but he was mostly fond of verbal abuse. It was worse for Leo. No one pulled Dad off of him."

Casper looks like everything finally clicked into place. "Percy? Your brother is named Percy?"

"Yeah." I answer, confused.

"Shit. I know what triggered him. Tell me more, if you can."

TLDR: Leo and Link talk about nightmares, PTSD, and their abusive father and brothers. Link asks Leo to keep their past a secret, including the fact that Link used to sell drugs. A few weeks later, Casper asks Link to tell him about their past. Link does, spilling the details of the family's drug operation and abuse.