Stacy picked up the white laptop, whose screen had moments before been alight. Opening the door to the small flat that she shared with her husband of less than a year and his brother, she stomped into the hall and stood at the top of the stairs. Slowly she raised the small box above her blonde head. Before she could actually throw the offensive object to the landing below, she felt strong hands wrapped about her tiny wrists.
'Woe, girl. You want to get us both killed?' The dark brown eyes of her brother-in-law held her gaze.
Although Darren had nothing, as far as she knew, to do with his brother's betrayal; the fact that he looked almost exactly like his twin brother was enough to send her into over-drive. 'I'll kill the cheating bastard myself,' she spat with vitriol.
Darren just nodded his dark braids as he looked at the trembling form of his very pregnant sister-in-law. He wished he could say he was shocked by his 'little' brother's actions, but in truth he had found out about the affair a couple of months ago. He had warned Darius not to let his pregnant wife find out that he was seeing an old girlfriend; at least not until the baby was born. Stacy was usually a complete sweetie, but he knew her hormones were playing havoc for the past few months.
He had been more than a tad jealous of his brother's marriage to such a gorgeous, smart and domesticated goddess. He would never forget the first morning he woke up to the smells of a traditional English breakfast filling the run-down flat he shared with his musician brother. He had walked naked into the tiny shared kitchen-reception to find the most beautiful blonde he had ever seen wearing nothing but what he recognised as a shirt his brother had borrowed from him. Since she was so small, it hung almost to her knees. His cock had half hardened when he heard her purr in a rich Scottish brogue, 'Breakfast will be ready in a minute. We have to keep your energy up...after last night.'
It had been an embarrassing moment, especially when his equally naked twin drug his half-asleep black ass down the hall to join them. His only comment had been, 'Sorry, lovey, but dat's me brover, Darren.' Both of them tended to slip into the thick West Indian accent of their parents when hung-over or sleepy of which his brother was both at that moment. Six months later, he had stood as best man for their small wedding at the registrar's office.
As he watched those expressive green eyes fill with tears, he could have kicked his brother's black ass all over the flat at that moment. He had always known that a player like his brother did not deserve such a sweet-heart, but what could he have done? He could not exactly tell the girl about his brother's proclivities. He had tried to speak with Darius, but his warnings about the responsibilities of marriage had fallen on deaf ears. So when asked, 'does anyone here know just cause,' he had simply remained quiet and sent a silent prayer towards heaven.
The first couple of months had been fine too as Stacy moved into the two-bedroom flat the brothers had shared since their parents had retired home to Barbados. But when she became pregnant, the realities of being a husband and soon-to-be father had begun to sink into his brother's thick skull. Rather than meet the demands of those roles like a man, his brother had returned to old habits of drugs, sex and rock-n-roll as the saying went. His job as DJ at a local club offered him more than ample opportunity at all three.
He had chosen to remain quiet about the whole thing; because he hoped that the arrival of his baby niece would change his brother. And also because he knew that Stacy really had no where else to go. She had dropped out of fashion school when she found out she was pregnant and her family were all hundreds of miles away in northern Scotland. He had hoped that she would never discover the truth, because he for one did not want to lose either her or his unborn niece, who was the only blood relative other than his twin that he had left in England.
So he tried to smooth things over, 'Stacy, hand me his computer.' Darren knew that if she destroyed his precious IMac with all his original music tracks on it not even her pregnant belly would sway his hot-headed brother from losing his temper. Darren would make damned sure of course that he did not raise a hand to her physically, but he knew from more than one argument with his twin that words could hurt almost more than fists.
Stacy looked up into the face that was so like her husband's and wondered for about the millionth time in the past six months since her marriage began to crumble why did she have to end up with the 'bad' twin. Darren, who was equally as stunning physically as her wayward lover, was everything that his younger brother was not: stable, kind and committed. Since he worked as a freelance writer-blogger and part-time lecturer at the local college, Darren usually spent more time at the flat with her than her own husband, who was always out somewhere with friends.
It was her respect for Darren that convinced her to release the too-expensive equipment into his dark hands. She watched as he smiled broadly as he placed the offensive machine safely behind his back. 'Let's go back inside,' he pleaded before their nosey neighbours overheard the intimate details of his family's fucked up lives.
Stacy simply nodded her head. Suddenly she was just too tired to fight. The baby was due in two weeks and her marriage was over. She had dropped out of school. She had no job. She had no money to call her own. And her family were so far away, even more so emotionally, than physically. She knew that she could not return to Scotland...ever. She really had no where else to turn than this man, who she believed was as much her friend as her brother-in-law. Reluctantly, she took the hand that he stretched out towards her.
Darren tried to think of some words to say as he drew her back into the confines of their shared-flat. But his usual mastery of the English language came up blank. What words could he say? His brother was an ass, but they both knew that.
So instead of empty words, he tossed the computer onto the futon and opened his strong arms. It was a gesture that he had done more than once in the past few months when tears seemed to come so freely from his otherwise optimistic sister-in-law.
Stacy collapsed into what had become her rock. The tears of disappointment and despair poured from her eyes until her rounded figure shook with their force. Her tiny nose smattered with light brown freckles ran in great gobs of snot. Her normally spell-binding green eyes were swollen and red to the point of almost closing. And still she cried. Darren simply held her through it all...and cursed his twin for every kind of bastard.
Neither knew exactly how long they remained like that locked in a comforting embrace just behind the closed doors of their flat. Slowly the all-consuming sobs abated; replaced with the occasional hiccup. But still neither moved.
