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Travis chuckled. That sounded like Veronica. Keeping busy enough so there was little time for a life.
“Veronica told us that you love her and we believe her, and it was obvious she thinks the world of you two. The rest of your family, however, doesn’t know the first damn thing about being a family. They were bullying on her to get her toughen up when they should’ve been defending her, starting with those two sons of bitches, Phil and Gordon. I swear if I ever meet them face-to-face—”
“Eh, they’re both dickheads. We already knew that.”
“Did you know those dickheads backed her into a corner at home on a regular basis, poking at her, teasing her for liking me, for being full-figured, for being creative? They bought into your family’s stupid dynamic and victimized her to the point where she couldn’t defend herself.”
“Damn it! No! See what I mean? Shit, just once I wish she’d called and told us. We’d have been home in a heartbeat dealing with those little shits, all four of them. All we ever heard was their side. Why didn’t she tell us?”
“I don’t know, Jackson. Maybe she was already used to taking it? Maybe she thought she deserved it or that it would only get worse? If you were busy with school, maybe she didn’t want to worry you. She’s pretty strong.”
“I wish she’d said something. But yeah, Mom and Dad had a ‘what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger’ philosophy. I guess it’s clear they went overboard.”
“That’s why she hasn’t gone home any more than necessary. She’s insulated herself from all that ‘tough love.’ Lots of people think introversion is a disorder that needs to be cured. I’ll agree that she needed to learn to defend herself from picking, teasing, and bullying, but from her own family and family friends?”
Jackson breathed slowly on the other end of the phone. “Damn.”
“And that’s not the only bullying she’s had to deal with. Instead of toughening her up, I think your family managed to condition her to take the abuse, to withdraw into her own world.”
“She has a tendency to withdraw. We caught a little dickhead bullying her one day when she was waiting for the school bus. She could hardly even speak when we dealt with the little prick and sent him on his way. We told her she needed to stand up for herself and she nodded but didn’t say anything. We did our best to keep an eye on her after that, but our age difference made it hard. Then we were in college and away from home a lot. I thought she was holding her own better than that. After all, she’s been putting up with Bubba the knuckle-dragger for a couple of years now.”
“Not unless you call him popping her in the face for breaking up with him doing okay.”
There was dead silence on the other end for several seconds. “He hit Veronica?” Cord’s exclamation in the background was loud and clear as Jackson continued. “And you say she broke up with him? When?”
“Yes. Sometime in the days leading up to her arrival here in Texas.”
“We saw her the day before she went to Divine. She didn’t say anything about it.” Another longer pause. “If she had a mark we didn’t notice. Fuck.”
Travis said, “It’d faded completely by the time we met her. I’ll bet I can guess what she’d say. To not worry about it, that it’s in the past and nothing can be done. That motherfucker better hope he never meets me and Hank.”
“He’d better run if Cord and I catch up with him. I’d really like to talk to Veronica. Is she around?” Travis could hear Cord speaking in the background.
“No. She’s sleeping.”
“That’s odd. She’s always awake and working this time of morning. That’s why we called so early.”
“I think she intended to and changed her mind.”
“Well, I’m glad she’s getting her rest, then. So you got ‘the talk’ from Grandma Kate, huh?” Jackson asked, his tone softening somewhat.
“I guess. She encouraged us to spend time with Veronica and we’re both glad she did.”
Jackson let out a sigh. “Ménage?”
