Gaia
Darkness. It is what I grew up in and what filled me since. There was beauty in darkness though, power in mastering it, because once you did, nothing scared you anymore. I’d watched men get shot in front of me. I’d ventured into the bowels of the house Gabe and I were prohibited from, and I’d seen things I will never be able to unsee. Our father had some sick addictions, and he’d sated them down there. Woman and men were sold to the highest bidders, like cattle, collared, and made to walk around like animals.
I’d watched a girl try to fight off a man once, her disobedience something I could not ignore. She had been tied to a chair, and what they did to her made my stomach turn. But I’d stayed to watch, remembering all those monster’s faces and swearing that I would end them one day. I feared nothing, except when it came to my brother.
“Gabriel, where are you?” I shouted as I entered the rundown house in West Lake Forest, the sight of the shabby interior, making me shudder and rub my hands down my jeans. The place stank of old alcohol and decay.
Women who were high on God knows what lounged on a sofa, their clothing in various degrees of disarray. They stared up at me, dazed, offering me a smile I didn’t return. My brother knew how to get himself into trouble, that is one thing I could guarantee, and he did not know how to get himself out. No matter how hard I tried, he ended up just like my parents. Drugs, sex, and crime in no particular order were a typical day in the Russo household.
I could not blame him for the way he turned out, that was all he knew growing up, but I’d be damned if I was going to let him throw his life away in this hell hole. If I hadn’t put a tracker on his phone, I would have never known where he was. I knew it was a shady move, but I had no choice. If I didn’t keep an eye on him, nobody would.
I walked toward the couch, earning myself a wink and flash of tongue from one of the girls.
“Have you seen Gabriel?” I asked, exasperated.
“Ten dollars, a flash of those tits, and I might have.” She grinned. I stuck my hands in my pocket and pulled out a twenty, throwing it at her. I lifted my top, and she licked her lips. It beat scrambling through this shit hole, trying to find him.
Pointing to the staircase she slurred, “He’s up there.”
I took the stairs two at a time, and they creaked beneath my feet. How could a boy who grew up in the lap of luxury find comfort in a dump like this? Then I reminded myself that he was so far gone, he would not know the difference. I knew the demons he was fighting better than anyone, I was just better at keeping them away.
I threw open the first door and what I saw almost brought up the contents of my stomach. The room looked like the inside of a public toilet. People were lying in their own vomit, and the smell was retched. I shut the door as quickly as I had opened it, covering my mouth with one hand, making my way further down the hall while shouting out my brother's name.
He eventually staggered out of a room on the far end, wearing only his jeans. His dark hair hung over his eyes, eyes that matched my own, green like moss. I rushed over to him.
“Are you okay?” I searched his face and body for injuries.
“Yeah, fine,” he slurred. His eyes were unfocused. “What’re doing here, Gai?”
“I’ve come to take you home, Gabe. What the hell is this? This is bullshit.”
“I’m not ready to leave,” he mumbled, his words dragging into each other as he leaned against the doorframe for support. His knuckles looked severely busted. I looked inside the room and spotted a naked woman lying on the bed. She gazed at me through hooded eyes, her blonde hair piled at the top of her head in a bun. She offered me a sly grin that had my stomach lurching.
“Join us,” she shouted, earning a laugh from Gabe.
I gripped him by his bicep and started marching him toward the landing. He tried to struggle, but he was too high to overpower me. He chuckled again then began to follow me. I pulled him down the stairs and managed, with great difficulty, to get him into my car, buckling him in. I did not give a fuck if he was shirtless, shoeless, and whatever the fuck else. He laid his head against the headrest and passed out before I hit the freeway. I looked over at him, and tears filled my eyes. Where was the brother who used to beat up kids on the playground for me? Gabe and I had always been close. He was the only friend I had. The only one who understood the things others never would.
“Why are you doing this, Gabe?” I asked, barely above a whisper. I loved my brother so much, and he was truly all I had. “It was supposed to be us against the world.”
My mother was never interested in us, not like a mother should be. She only did as our father said.
Our father, Charles Russo, was the devil, and it was only a matter of time before he killed my brother. He’d lost the title “father” years ago. My father got Gabe hooked on drugs and alcohol. I knew why Charles had done this, and he would pay if it was the last thing I ever did. My brother had so many hopes and dreams for his life, despite everything going on at home. We had promised each other that when we were able to, we’d leave our parents’ house. Then suddenly none of that mattered anymore and Gabe started working for Charles. I didn’t know the extent of what he did for him, but I knew that whatever it was, it was underhanded and gave Gabe access to drugs and whores.
Gabe was wasted when our father was around, and whenever that bastard wasn’t around, Gabriel ended up worse, so high he didn’t even know where he was or what the hell was going on around him. I could not understand how a father could destroy his children like this, but then again, Charles was no father. He was a hound, a filthy hound.
I looked over at Gabe and ran one hand through his hair. “I am not giving up on you.”
I drove my car into the garage and walked around to get him out. I tried to swing his arm over my shoulder, struggling to get him out, but he was a head taller than me and two times my size.
“Gabe, snap out of it,” I smacked his face a few times, and he opened his eyes.
“Hey sis,” he mumbled.
“Let’s get inside.” He climbed out unsteadily and wrapped an arm around my shoulders as we staggered to the front door. I rang the bell, and Eduardo, our butler, opened up.
“Gaia, oh,” he exclaimed, taking Gabe from me. Gabe fought against him, but he was weak and eventually let himself be led away. I had no idea how I’d managed to support his big ass this far. I bent and placed my hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath.
The things we do for love. I would do just about anything for Gabe. I sucked in a breath and walked up to my room, plopping down on the plush cushions. I wondered if my mother would even care if something happened to her son. If he was found dead in that shit hole would she mourn his death?
