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“Indiana is Mexican? She doesn’t look Mexican,” my father asks, looking more confused than ever.
“For fuck’s sake.” I shake my head. “No, she is not fucking Mexican, and this has nothing to do with her.” I can see from his expression that I’ve just confused him even more.
“Then what the hell is going on here? Someone needs to explain to me right now what this is all about!” he snaps angrily.
“Yeah, Liam.” I snort. “Tell him.”
Liam's eyes dart around the room as though he is looking for a way out. He doesn’t speak though. I bend down to his level, staring him in the eyes.
“Go on, you piece of shit, tell him exactly what this is about.”
Still, he says nothing and turns his head away from me.
“You fucking coward, you look at me.” I force his head back to mine.
“Get away from your brother now! I mean it, Roman.” My father chastises me.
“I told you before, he is no longer my brother.” I know I’m the one who is going to have to tell my father. Liam is too weak. He knows that by confession, what he’s done will be the end. The end of any absolution. The end of any chances of ever taking over the company, and the end of his place in this family. “He severed that tie when he contracted a hit on me.” Liam coils into himself as if to protect him from what is coming.
The room is quiet. Eerily quiet. I expected Liam to grovel. I expected him to deny it. I expected anything other than his silence.
“You must be mistaken, Roman,” my father exclaims, yet his expression does not mirror his words. He knows the answer. Liam's silence confesses everything. A confession that is too dark, too implausible that it dissolves on his tongue bitterly before he can speak of it.
“Liam?” he pleas. “Liam? Tell him. Tell your brother he is wrong.”
Liam hugs his legs tighter, his eyes refusing to look at either of us.
“Liam?” This time my father's tone is demanding yet full of so much despair.
“It wasn’t a hit to kill,” Liam finally divulges.
I mock a laugh. “Oh, that makes it okay then, does it? No, it fucking doesn’t. That’s fucking worse, Liam! You contracted out a man to incapacitate me. Make me suffer, cause me enough permanent damage I would live in pain for the rest of my life. You contracted a fate for me far worse than death. What you have done is unforgivable.”
“Liam?” my father calls out to him again, disbelief dripping from it. “How could you? How could you do this to your own brother? To your own family?”
Liam stands, wiping the blood from his nose with his sleeve, smearing red across the white cotton. “You don’t know what it is like to be the second son,” he confesses, but bitterness falls heavy with it. “You don’t know what it’s like living in his shadow every goddamn day. I’ve worked so hard to be good enough for you, to prove to you it should be me in charge, but no, all you see is him. All you see is Roman.”
“You’re pathetic.” I shake my head.
“You don’t deserve the company. You don’t even want it. You have not made the sacrifices I have. You have not earned it.”
I laugh. “This is you earning it? By trying to get me killed. No, Liam, this is you lying and cheating your way through like you always have. You’re a gutless, jealous sorry excuse for a man.”
“That’s enough,” my father interrupts. “That’s enough from the pair of you.” He sighs, placing his head in his hands like his whole world had just blown up, and in a way, I guess it just did.
“Liam, I am utterly disgusted by your actions. You have not only disgraced yourself but everything I’ve taught you and hoped for you. I don’t even know who you are anymore.” He starts to pace. “What you have done could get you killed. If this gets out to our clients, to our competition, our enemies, our family will NEVER be trusted again. You show them cracks; they will bring us all down to dust. You stupid, childish fool. This could ruin us all.”
Liam begins to sob. It’s like a hammer, drumming into my ears. It’s fucking woeful.
“Get out!” my father yells directly to Liam without contrite. “I can’t look at you right now. Get out of my house.”
Liam looks up at him abruptly, shock and horror in his eyes. I think I’m just as shocked. I can see my father's hands shaking. The disappointment, the shame, and the absolute affliction are all there, all in his face. He is on the edge of brokenness.
“Leave now, before I let Roman finish what he started,” he threatens.
Liam slowly walks away, his shoulders deflated, his face a bruised bloody mess. As he reaches the door, he turns back, opening his mouth to say something, but then closes it, turns, and walks out.
I look at my father, who is taking a seat on the sofa looking defeated. I’m speechless. I take a seat next to him, and for a long while, we both sit silent. I know what Liam has done is serious and indefensible, but I was not anticipating this kind of reaction from my father. Sure, I knew he wouldn’t be happy about it, but in all honesty, I expected he would make excuses for Liam. Defend him somewhat and play down the situation like he always has when Liam has fucked up. This time, he defended me.
