Dead Right, ep XII
Wenton's face was blank. Dell had no clue how to interpret what was going on in his mind.
"You done?" he said.
"Yeah," Dell said, not sure of his answer.
Wenton punched him. Dell stumbled backward over his own feet and planted on his butt. When he looked up at his brother, rage seething into him he saw Wenton holding out his hand.
"She was my wife, Dell. You should have told me what you were up to."
Dell took his hand and while he was still in a crouch brought a knee up into his brother's groin.
"You sunnuvabitch!" Wenton's eyes went wide as he crumpled to the ground. "I did this for you. You don't think I see the look in your eyes every time I look at you?" He tried to kick him in the ribs, but Wenton latched onto his ankle and yanked him off his feet. In seconds his younger brother was over him.
"All that's left of my wife is inside of that thing." He hammered Dell in the stomach with a meaty hook. "You don't understand what I went through because you don't have an ounce of love in you. She was the love of my life, you jerk."
Dell wasn't afraid of him, but he knew what his brother could do if he wanted. He had to get out from under him quick. His arms were already jittery and he couldn't get a full breath. Dell planted his feet on either side of Wenton and thrust his hips into him, twisting his body at the same time. Wenton fell over to the side, but by the time Dell was on his knees he had a shoulder in his back as Wenton barreled into him.
"You're so full of shit!" Dell said as he dragged himself off the ground again. Wenton must have overshot and was about five feet away, slowly standing up himself. "You don't have the luxury of having a breakdown when you have a kid. Why am I the one speaking rationally here? I've always been the older brother, the responsible one, but I was responsible enough to not get hitched. To not have a kid. You signed that contract. Grow the hell up."
"You don't know anything. You're stupid. You've always skated through life doing the bare minimum. You never took any risks. You don't think my heart breaks every day from what I did to Toddy? Every day I'm trying to make it up to him. I'm trying to fix myself! Why don't you understand when she died that broke me?"
Dell had gained a little of his breath back, but if his brother was coming he was going to get steamrolled. A sliver of moon was high in the sky behind Wenton and he could see part of his face, but couldn't make out if he was readying to charge again. But then his head dropped and his shoulders shuddered. A moment later he could hear Wenton sobbing quietly.
Dammit. Dell never knew what to do when people cried. Maybe because he couldn't relate. He couldn't remember crying since… since… was it really since their parents had died? He really didn't understand that particular emotion, but didn't begrudge people who did it. Dell had broken up with a girl who tried to tell him that crying was 'purifying'. Bullshit.
A few random vemans had started to gather. Probably from all the noise they'd made. He probably should walk over and give him a hug, that he should be the bigger person, but it was like kryptonite to him. The thought of touching his brother right now seemed so… wrong. As if he had something infectious. He bridged the distance between them and stood almost shoulder-to-shoulder with his crying brother.
