Two spent bulbs reside darkly beside a third, dimly illuminating the marital bed. Go deep, vapid man. Clouds rage between two souls in thunderous silence. Attend, inconsequential man.
Brother slips on his black cotton pyjamas and glares down at his wife. He measures the years by the Christmases they have spent together. This one sees more lines about her eyes – lines of worry about how she plans to leave him for his younger brother.
“Why don’t you just go fuck him if you think he’s that much more of a man than I am?” brother spits.
She admits nothing, backing up from where she sits. Brother knows he is right.
He sees again as father stalks past mother to upend the kitchen table laden with hours of preparation. He beholds again as his sibling protects the children from the glass on the floor, protects their mother, protects his own wife while he looks on, paralysed.
“Chase him around the country like one of his groupie whores why don’t you?” brother continues as he administers the first pinch to her thigh. He sees the blood red and sickly green that this Christmas has become.
“Say it!” brother seethes. He crawls up her body, forcing her down. “SAY IT!”
“You should never have let him grow up,” his wife whimpers.
Brother rewards her with his love.
For part thirteen, click here.
Linda G. Hill 
I feel I’ve missed something. I think I read five or something. This is a bizarre way to tell a story, though. Not bad bizarre. Might I ask: why tell it through these pronouns?
With a limited number of characters there is no way to get them mixed up… I don’t know. I suppose abuse is such a sadly common story that it could be told of many families. Who this family is, wasn’t something I wanted to reveal at first, though I’m thinking about telling the actual story as I heard it when this go-round is over.
I hope you’ll get caught up and read the entire series. None of the posts are long – the taxing part isn’t the time it takes to read it, but rather the content.
You should read “Everyman.” Does a great job of this. And I wasn’t having issues with getting people mixed up. Simply proving to find out why you picked that.
I will at some point get caught up. Unfortunately, though not as busy, still unspeakably behind in basically everything 😦
Yep, I hear ya. No rush though. It’ll be here. 🙂
Excuse me for a moment. . . *YAK* . . . Now where were we?
Wow, I’ve never had a *YAK* before. Good thing I like yaks. 😉