I Miss my Brother

I'm not sure who this man is, the one that lives in my brother's body, but it isn't the Steve that I've known as an adult for the past 20 years or so. This one is much closer to the boy I knew, the teenager that got into constant trouble, the one who was violent & angry all the time. I really wouldn't care if it was only him & his wife that were being affected & hurt by his behavior (and her behavior, too), but there are two girls living in that house that deserve so much better than what they're getting.

Last night, at about 8:30 or so, my phone rang. It was my 10 year old niece, Jaycie. She was crying & she said "Aunt Dyane, you need to come & get me, my mom & dad got into another stupid fight." I asked her where she wanted to go & she said to grandma's or my house, so I told her to wait outside & I went & got her. The poor thing was standing out in the dark, in her PJs, with wet hair. Her dad was too drunk to notice she wasn't home or that I pulled up & got her. Her mom was gone in my parents' truck (which she wasn't supposed to be driving because she isn't on the insurance).

She told me, while we were driving to my house, that her dad started screaming at her sister Allison, about cleaning the bathroom and then started throwing things at her and calling her names. He wouldn't even let her eat dinner. Eventually the SIL got involved & started yelling at him, and finally Allison took off & ran up the street, Jaycie left & ran next door & the SIL took off in the truck. So I brought her to my house, called my folks & told them what was going on.

So, they headed into to town to get their truck & I fed Jaycie some spaghetti & we watched TV & loved on her a bit, then the SIL called & asked if Jaycie was with us and started making excuses, saying she didn't know what was going on but that Steve just "snapped" then she claimed that she was coming over to talk about things & about 15 minutes later Steve showed up, looked at Troy (who was outside with Tiny) and said, "Why's my daughter here, Troy?" and Troy just looked at him & said, "She called Dy & wanted her to pick her up, so she did." there wasn't a lot he could say at that point. So he came in, looked at her & said, "Let's go, girl." and left with her.

About 10 or 15 minutes later, my mom pulled up & honked, so I went out & Jaycie was in the car with her & mom said she was taking her home with them. I asked Jaycie if her dad was screaming at her & she said, "Yep. As soon as I got in the truck." I told her to never let her dad stop her from calling me when she needs to. I think she needs to know that there's someone she can count on 24 hours a day, because she sure can't count on her parents. Anyway.. Steve apparently blames my parents & us for everything. Yeah. I put the beer in his mouth & made him swallow. Jerk.