Chapter Four.
Phoe
For three days, life had been quiet, and a different atmosphere permeated the Hall.
As much as I hated to admit it, the truth was obvious.
Dante had caused so much friction and tension it was noticeable now he was gone.
Drake and I had explained to the other children what was happening.
We needed to reassure them we weren’t splitting up.
Naturally, they’d been worried, but they’d all heard Dante’s words and been hurt.
Hence, they were far more accepting than I had the right to expect.
“How’s things?” I asked, seeing Drake’s name flash on my phone.
“Either Gunner or Ace might kill Dante, and if they don’t, I will. Christ, Phoe, he’s beyond entitled. Dante is rude, arrogant, and downright nasty. He’s sulky, mean, ill-mannered and not the boy we were raising,” Drake complained.
I kept quiet. Actually, that had been the kid we’d been bringing up, but Drake hadn’t acknowledged that.
What type of mother steps back and says, ‘Enough’?
If her husband won’t listen, then he can deal with the repercussions he’s causing in their son.
Me, that’s who, and I was unsure if that made me a bad mum or not.
“Phoe, I’m sorry,” Drake said quietly, and I sat up straight. Drake rarely apologised, and when he did, it was worth remembering.
“For?”
“For ignoring your opinions and not seeing what I was doing with Dante. Ice and Shutout have been officially named my heirs. Ice threw a tantrum worthy of Dante, and Shutout demanded to know how long for.” Drake chuckled, and I knew where he was coming from.
Neither Tye nor Carmine wanted president.
But they’d accept the role if they had to.
“Okay.” What else could I say?
“Phoe, I fucked up, and this was the cost. You warned me, and I didn’t listen. I’ve ruined our son, but I refuse to believe it’s too late. Dante isn’t beyond redemption, but he’s gonna take a lot of tough love,” Drake continued.
“Which I dealt out, and you constantly overruled. Dante has no respect for me or my opinion. He thinks he can go running and you’ll cave and, Drake, you do. Dante has you firmly where he wants you, and you allowed him to place you there.”
“Don’t mix your words, Phoe,” Drake chuckled.
“If I don’t call you on your bullshit, who will?
It’s about time you learned that how you’ve treated Dante compared to everyone else has serious consequences.
I’m not beating you when you’re down, Drake, but your attitude and behaviour nearly ripped our family apart to the point where I was forced to choose between children.
No mother should ever face that; it’s a predicament I never wish to experience again. That was an untenable situation.”
“Babe, I know, and I’ll make things right. Trust me.”
“That was never an issue, Drake.”
“No. I love you, Phoe,” Drake whispered.
“Back at ya! Now tell me what you’re putting the brat from hell through.”
Drake’s dark chuckle warmed me. “Oh, Dante’s suffering.
He’s constantly being made to clean and recycle everything.
At first, he shoved it all into one trash can, so we forced him to empty it and sort it out.
Dante did it again, and we repeated our actions.
The boy’s a fast learner when he wants to be. ”
I began laughing. Dante would have been furious at that.
“Dante now knows how to recycle properly. Then his clothes stank because, you know, he’d been going through the trash, so I told him to wash them.
He took them to Ace and expected Ace to do it.
Ace laughed his ass off and slapped him on the shoulder, and ordered Dante to get on with it.
Dante melted down. Axel verbally kicked his butt and offered to show Dante how to work the washer and dryer. ”
“There had to be a cost!” I murmured, knowing Axel.
“Yup. Dante had to wash Axel’s stuff, too.
Dante said no, and Axel told him to enjoy being stinky.
It lasted twenty minutes, during which Gunner, Rock, Ace, and Lowrider all sprayed him with shit to make him smell good.
It was as funny as hell. Dante screamed at us to stop spraying him, and Axel stated we would as long as he stank.
“The little fucker decided to use shower gel and wash his clothes as he wore them. Considering he only had four changes, he’s now stomping around in dripping wet clothes.”
“Who gave him the mop to clean up after himself?” I asked, knowing someone would have.
“Gunner. And jeez, Gunner’s getting a kick out of being an asshole. Every time Dante retaliates, he gets extra chores. He’s also on about calling child services as he’s claiming abuse.” Drake laughed louder.
“Yeah, good luck with that. They’d take him away for being an entitled, spoilt bastard.”
Drake went silent. “How’s Eddie and Tony?”
I considered my reply before answering. “Eddie’s quiet but seems more settled.
Tony is his usual self, but more guarded and protective around Eddie.
Dante’s words stabbed deep, and I don’t think Eddie will ever forget them.
The repercussions will be long-term, I fear.
I wish I could hug her and tell her it will all be okay, but Eddie’s no longer a little girl. This has left a significant wound.”
“Shit, I’m so sorry, Phoe. I should have listened,” Drake whispered, and I heard the self-recrimination and guilt in his voice. Should I absolve him? No, because then Drake wouldn’t learn either.
“See you in four days,” I murmured, and Drake made a noise of agreement before cutting the phone.
I gazed out of my tower window and sighed. Perhaps Eddie needed this space more than me? It was a thought.
Eddie
I was on edge when Dad and Dante returned, and it proved I was right to be.
Dante looked contrite, but the moment his eyes landed on me, hatred flared.
Yeah, Dante had no remorse whatsoever. I’d give him forty-eight hours, beside me, Tony stiffened as he caught the emotion in Dante’s gaze.
Dante quickly wiped it, but we’d both seen it.
“Stay alert,” Tony whispered. I nodded.
Not even twenty-four hours had passed before Dante struck.
We had oatmeal today, but it came with a variety of flavours.
I was the only one who loved salted caramel on mine.
Happily, I spooned a generous amount over my oatmeal and sat down.
Dante was only allowed to fetch a plain breakfast and had to eat in the kitchen.
But he could serve himself from this room, so he was present.
Despite Dante being gone for a week, the punishments by Mama Phoe were still in effect.
I perked up as Fanatic entered. Now he lived with Willow and my nephew Danny over in Spearfish; Fanatic rarely joined us for breakfast.
“What we got?”
“Oatmeal, there’s golden syrup, Mama Phoe must have known you were coming,” I replied. Dante scowled in my direction, and Fanatic noticed.
“Get breakfast and go to the kitchen. You’re not meant to be here,” he stated.
Dante frowned and headed to the sideboard where the pots were lined up.
Fanatic got what he wanted, and I scooped up a spoonful of oatmeal as he sat next to me.
I ate it and then froze. There was too much salt, and seconds later, the burning began.
My eyes started streaming as I gasped before gagging.
“Eddie?” Fanatic exclaimed as he patted my back.
“Water!” I croaked out as my hands flew to my throat. Was it closing? I panicked as I struggled to breathe, and all the time Dante stood smugly watching.
“What did you do?” Tony yelled, seeing his expression. Tony shoved Dante against the wall. The enjoyment bled from Dante’s face as Tony shook him and slammed him hard, banging his head.
“Eddie!” Mama Phoe cried as my vision blackened.
My tongue was hanging out as I sobbed real tears.
Scout handed me a glass of milk, and I gulped it down, but it didn’t help.
I couldn’t seem to catch my breath, and panic was making everything worse.
My hands clawed at my throat. Someone shoved a paper bag over my mouth, and I panted into it.
“Call an ambulance, she can’t breathe!” Mama Phoe cried.
“What was in that?” Tony demanded frantically as Dante grinned.
Dad pushed Tony aside and grabbed Dante by the front of his tee. “You little fucker! You thought last week was bad? Kid, you ain’t seen anything yet! What did you do to Eddie?”
“She likes salted caramel; I gave her salt!” Dante yelped.
“The reaction’s more than salt,” Fanatic said as he remained crouched beside me, rubbing my back and holding another glass of milk.
Dante smirked and almost crowed. “I ordered some Pepper X.”
“That’s the hottest pepper in the world!
” Dad exclaimed and gaped. Tony moved quickly and grabbed my bowl.
Before Dad could stop him, he knocked Dante down and shoved a handful of my oatmeal into Dante’s mouth.
Dante started struggling, and Tony clamped his mouth shut.
When he’d swallowed, Tony pushed a second fistful in.
The reaction was instantaneous. Dante shrieked and held his mouth. I knew the agony he was feeling. Scout grabbed the jug of milk, walked over to the window, and poured it out.
“Oops, sorry, there’s none left. I’ll go get some. I’ll be back in a few minutes,” Scout said with sheer dislike.
Dante drummed his heels. I’d had a spoonful. Tony had shoved two fistfuls into Dante’s mouth. He had to be feeling the burn ten times worse than me. Good, because I was done.
“Boarding school,” I croaked at Dad, who looked devastated.
“Not for you, Eddie, but for Dante, yup. He’s gone too far. Military school,” Dad said, and the room fell silent apart from Dante’s agonised cries and my panting.
“Putting a gun in Dante’s hands isn’t wise. He’s a psychopath,” Mama Phoe replied from the doorway.
“All children are,” Fanatic retorted.
Mama Phoe nodded. “Yeah, but Dante worries me. But military school is an option.”