I was working late again. The weight room was deserted and quiet and I was finally done with my workout. I was just getting ready to shut off the lights when my sister-in-law, Joselyn, and my niece, Stephanie, came in. I was the football, track and strength and conditioning coach at the local high school to which my niece went. I had seen her earlier at track practice and coached her up a little. She was a sprinter and she long jumped. Everything had seemed fine, and she had hugged me and laughed at one of my corny jokes. She wasn't fine then, and neither was her mother. They had both obviously been crying for a while. The side of Joselyn's face was swollen and red and their eyes were red and puffy.
"God, Jos, what the hell? Are you okay?" I hurried over to hug them. They were both crying so hard they couldn't talk. I led them into my office and shut the door. I sat them down on the loveseat in there and got them a Gatorade. I handed them a box of tissue and rolled my desk chair over in front of them.
"Jos, what happened to your face?" I asked her.
"Ruben hit me," she sobbed.
"Jesus Christ! What happened? Were you arguing?"
"I got a call from the mortgage company today," she cried harder. "They told me we're seven months behind on the mortgage and they are going to foreclose on us. I called the bank and we're broke. Our IRA is gone, our savings is gone and we have two hundred dollars in the bank from my last paycheck. Our credit cards are maxed out and we owe a lot of money. I asked Ruben about it and he told me he's been gambling again. I got mad and started yelling at him. He's lost everything we had! I yelled at him and asked him how he could do this to Steph and me and he hit me. He slapped me so hard I fell down and hit my head on the refrigerator. It kind of knocked me out for a minute and when I woke up he was gone."
"Damn, Jos, what do you want me to do? You want me to beat the shit out of him?"
"No, I know he's your brother, Salinger. I know you love him. This isn't the first time he's hit me."
"I want you to beat the shit out of him," Stephanie spoke for the first time. "I don't care if he's your brother; he's an asshole. He's mean to us all the time. He calls us 'nigger bitches' all the time when no one can hear him."
"Holy Christ," I said. "I had no idea, girls. I can beat the shit out of him, you know."
"Yes, I know how strong you are, Sal," Jos said. "I want you to do something else for us, though."
"You know I'd do anything for you," I told them. "What do you want me to do?"
"I want you to come home with us and stay there while we pack our stuff. I've had enough, Sal. I'm not going to take it anymore. I'm afraid of him. I'm afraid he'll be there. Can we come and stay with you? It will only be for a little while. You know I work hard, and as soon as I get a couple of paychecks we'll look for our own place."
"Yeah, if you can stand to have two nigger bitches stay with you," Steph said bitterly.
I rolled my chair over in front of her and cupped her cheeks in my hands. I made her look at me and her huge green eyes were full of tears.
"I'm not him," I told her. "If I ever hear you talk like that again I'm going to run your ass off in practice. I love you Steph. I've loved you since you were a baby. I've never done anything but love you and I don't deserve that from you."
She sobbed miserably and threw herself on me. My chair almost turned over and I flailed around for a minute. I pulled her onto my lap when I got my balance and held her as she shook with sobs.
"I'm so sorry, Uncle Sal," she sobbed. "I love you, too. I've loved you since I was a baby, too. I'm just so wretched and miserable. I'm so sorry I said that."
"It's okay, baby; I understand. Just remember, I'm not him. He may be my brother, but that doesn't mean I'm like him. I never wanted your mother to marry him. I'd never say anything like that to you. I'd never even think it. I love you because you're my niece and you're who you are. I know being black in an all-white school is hard. I've seen you struggle with that and it breaks my heart. Hell, being a teenager is hard enough." I held her and she slowly calmed down.
"I'm not saying I told you so, Jos," I told her. "I did try to tell you. He always thought you were some kind of trophy he bagged because he got in a black girl's pants. He's a sick fuck. Let's forget about him. Let's go get your stuff. Of course you can stay with me, forever if you want. Let's take my truck and we can get everything you want."
Their car was parked by mine and they got their stuff. Steph had her backpack from school and Jos had her purse. We drove to their house and his car was in the driveway.
"Ignore anything he says to you," I told them. "I'll take care of him. You just get your stuff and put it in the truck. Tell me if you need help with anything."
I went in first. He was sitting on the couch watching TV and drinking some redneck beer. He looked up when he heard me. He was obviously drunk.
"So, the nigger bitches went crying to little brother," he sneered. "Get me another beer, bitch," he said to Jos.
"Shut the fuck up," I told him quietly. "You don't know how bad I want to kick your ass right now. You say one more word to either of them and I'm going to fuck you up."
He got up and bowed up at me. "Yeah, who's going to help you? You think I'm afraid of you? I kicked your ass when we were kids and I still can."
"Go get your stuff, girls," I told them. They didn't move. I could see Jos was very frightened and Steph had an almost eager look on her face.
"Yeah, that's right; these bitches are mine," he sneered. "They do what I say."
"Not anymore," I told him quietly. "I think you should sit down now."
He walked toward me and I could tell he was going to take a swing. He used to be a pretty tough guy, but not anymore. He was just fat and pathetic. He was drunk and slow. I caught his arm easily and punched him in the gut as hard as I could. I bench 360 pounds and I thought I was going to break his backbone. He collapsed to his knees and I bitch slapped him. I grabbed his hair and slapped him three more times.
"You like that?" I yelled in his face. "Who's the bitch now, bitch?" I slapped him four more times and pushed him over on the floor. He puked all over himself and I stepped away from the mess.
"Show's over, girls," I told them. "Go get your stuff."