My Fist, Your Mouth, Her Scars
By: Beccatdemon13
©2010
Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except for Dorothea Lux and Benjamin Liam Mercer as well as anyone you don't immediately recognize. Please don't sue. You'd only be getting a hell of a lot of textbooks. What? Don't look at me like that College isn't a paying gig you know. But god I wish it was. Beccatdemon13 now will go off to fantasize about the lack of tuition payments that being paid would bring. Oh, right, the story! On we go…
Synopsis: Sometimes there are good reasons to do bad things. When a senseless murder rocks a mostly innocent family. Six siblings have to come to terms with the town and the criminal world they left (or tried to leave) behind. They will have to look in their past to avenge the one woman who pulled each and every one of them back from the brink.
Chapter One: Some Things Never Change
Tick…tick…tick. There were sixty seconds in a minute, sixty minutes in an hour. Sometimes time just flew by and then there were other times when sixty minutes could feel like sixty hours, especially when one was stuck in a cell that even terrorists would find cruel. It was the size of a small closest, maybe smaller. What made it worse was the fact that the 'arresting officer' had left the handcuffs on. So, her hands were bound behind her back and there was nothing for her to do except to either count the dots on the ceiling (3,415 so far) or watch the clock. Tick…tick…tick. She swore that the fucking clock was taunting her. Tick...tick…tick…ha…ha…ha. That clock was lucky her hands were tied behind her back otherwise it would've been smashed on the floor by now.
"Well, well, well," An authoritative voice sighed. "Lux Mercer, what a surprise to find you in my precinct."
"Hello, Green," The girl muttered blowing out a frustrated breath that caused a few stubborn strands of long caramel hair hiding her hazel green eyes to move away so that she could glare at the man addressing her.
"Lux, what happened this time?" Green asked not bothering to correct the girl that it was Lieutenant Green. He blamed her brothers for casual dismissal of the fact that she was in jail. After all there had been a Mercer in that cell ever since the oldest Mercer child, Bobby, had turned thirteen.
"I was just walking home," Lux shrugged.
"And you walked right into a fight instead?" Green demanded.
"I'm good at time management, walking and fighting," Lux scoffed. "You mind getting these cuffs off of me?"
"Lux," Green groaned.
"Green, please?" Lux muttered. "They're digging into my wrists."
Green regarded the young girl in front of him. Her caramel brown hair was covering her hazel green eyes as she stared straight at him. He shook his head knowing that for as angelic as Lux Mercer looked the truth painted an entirely different story especially with her rap sheet right in front of him.
"Where's that twin of yours?" Green asked.
"Oh, Ben?" Lux smirked her hazel eyes sparkling with mischief. "I wouldn't know."
"Is that right?" I responded. "Where is he, Lux?"
"Home," Lux guessed with a roll of her eyes. "Son of a bitch runs faster than I do."
"Watch that mouth," Green reprimanded.
Lux shot Lieutenant Green a smirk as she raised an eyebrow. She maneuvered herself from laying on the small cot to leaning back against the wall. She eyed the decorated officer in front of her expectantly.
"I don't understand you, Dorothea," Green sighed ignoring the narrowing of the young girl's eyes at her given name. "You have a rap sheet a mile long and yet you manage to get a 4.0 in all honors classes."
Before Lux could respond a slam reverberated around the precinct seconds before a loud, angry voice demanded, "Where the fuck is my sister?"
Green sighed loudly as he unlocked Lux's cell. He wasn't surprised to see the mask of cool indifference slip as the girl balked at the apparent anger in her eldest brother's voice.
"Looks like Bobby's here," Green announced
"Oh, joy," Lux muttered dryly as the aforementioned mask slid back into place.
"Dorothea Mercer, you're bail has been posted!" The office attendant who ran the front desk shouted down to the holding area.
"It's Lux!" Lux growled.
"Easy," Green soothed as he grabbed the girl by the elbow and led her to the front room. They walked quickly towards the main room and Green was not surprised to see all five Mercer brothers with Bobby at the center. Once again, Lieutenant Green sighed as he unlocked Lux's handcuffs.
The five boys ranged from the age of sixteen, like Lux to twenty-six like Bobby. Bobby was the leader of the Mercer children. He was the first kid that Evelyn Mercer adopted from the system. He had quite the attitude and a pretty big violent streak. He had recently channeled his rage into a hockey career. Jerry Mercer was the second oldest at twenty-four years old. Jerry did honest work with a construction committee but back in the day he was Bobby's right hand man when it came to mischief. Angel Mercer was the Casanova of the family. He also had a temper and wasn't afraid to jump headfirst into a fight. That fact alone made him dangerous. Jack Mercer was Evelyn's youngest boy for a long time. He had been with her for seven years. Jack was at the moment a senior in high school and maintained a near perfect detention record for the year surpassing both Bobby's and Angel's own records. The youngest two were twins Benjamin Isaac and Dorothea Lux Mercer were only adopted by Evelyn three years ago but they were already a lot better behaved than when they had both been in a group home.
Despite the trouble that all six got into with the police and other people of Detroit on a near constant basis Green considered them congressmen compared to how they could've been. The foster system in Detroit was severely lacking so much so that a lot of children slid through the cracks and endured the brutality that people could inflict on one another.
The Mercer brood was no exception each and every one of them had been put through the ringer. They had been in places where no child should ever be put in. For instance, if you looked at Lux carefully enough you can see two horrible scars one down her left eyebrow, stopping right before her eyelid and one really jagged on her collarbone. Her brothers also had a mess of horrible scars. Unfortunately, Evelyn Mercer, one of Detroit's best social workers, wasn't any of the Mercer kids first stops. But, Evelyn took them in giving them the two things each of them needed: unconditional love and each other. Together they were all healing
"Way to leave me high and dry, Ben," Lux grumbled rubbing her wrists.
"Learn to run, brat," Ben responded.
"Hey, you two, shut the fuck up," Bobby ordered. "She has a court date?"
"No," Green said. "We found witnesses who say that Lux was just defending herself. We got the girl she was fighting. She's the one who is facing assault charges."
"Can we take her now?'
"You posted bail," Green shrugged, "she's released into your custody."
Bobby moved quickly grabbing Lux's bicep and twirling the girl around. The older man's glare was vicious as Lux squirmed in his grip.
"Move it, little girl," Bobby snapped. "Ma's waiting for you."
"I didn't do anything!" Lux protested.
"You better watch who you raise your voice to, Dorothea," Bobby growled. "Move it."
"I don't know why all of you had to come and get me," Lux mumbled as her brothers escorted her out of the police precinct.
"Shut up," Bobby snapped. "And get in the fucking car."
Lux huffed and rolled her eyes as she got into Bobby's Oldsmobile. She was sitting on Ben's lap as Jerry sat in the passenger seat. Angel and Jack were in the back and Bobby was driving quickly through the heart of Detroit. It didn't take long to get to the Mercer house, especially with Bobby behind the wheel. All the boys hopped out of the car before spinning around to wait for the youngest.
Lux Mercer glanced up at the house and saw the warm lights of the interior as the front door opened. An older woman with wide blue eyes and white hair looked out in her yard
"Come on, boys, get into the house," Evelyn Mercer ordered the brood. "You and I, young lady, need to talk."
Her hazel eyes looked up to the person who she know proudly called mother. Despite breaking the rules and getting arrested. Evelyn had yet to raise her voice or her fist. Instead she led Lux into the backyard.
"What happened, Dorothea ?" Evelyn asked.
"Ben and I were at a party," Lux began. "We heard the sirens so we began to walk home. We were almost home when this girl tackles me out of nowhere. I defended myself and I got busted."
"Where was Benjamin?" Evelyn questioned.
"I told him to run," Lux sighed. "It didn't make sense for him to get in trouble for something I did."
"I'm glad you defended yourself," Evelyn began. "However, you know I do not condone fighting so you're grounded: one week."
"Yes ma'am," Lux replied.
"Now, let's get some food before the boys eat it all," Evelyn grinned.
Evelyn ushered the young girl into the house and she sat down in between Bobby and Ben.
"Did you boys say grace?" Evelyn asked.
"Yes, ma'am," Bobby answered.
The Mercer's ate in relative silence. It was a comfortable silence of a family enjoying one another's company. There were a lot of dark spots in the Mercer's pasts but together they made a strong unit. Evelyn Mercer, the matriarch of the brood was of the opinion that people just needed family. That was proven when a hot head like Bobby could be tamed by giving him younger siblings to watch over.
In the three years Lux and Ben had been with Mercer's they had flourished remarkably. Their checkered past included abuse of all kinds: sexually, mentally, physically, and emotionally: it was all there. Lux had been in and out of institutions after she had attempted to commit suicide at the young age of eleven. Evelyn Mercer had rescued both of them the minute their folders landed across her desk.
The pictures alone of the two thirteen year olds were horrifying. Their bare torsos were riddled with scars and bruises. The one Lux's collarbone and down her wrists resonated deeply with Evelyn. The scared pools of hazel that Benjamin couldn't hide from the camera sent Evelyn Mercer into a frenzy that wouldn't be soothed until both kids were safe.
"Luxie, come on we have homework to do," Benjamin prodded.
"It's Saturday," Lux retorted.
"You both need to do your homework," Evelyn ordered firmly.
"Yes ma'am," Ben and Lux chorused.
"Do you have homework, Jackie?" Evelyn asked.
"Yeah," Jack grumbled.
"Get to it," Evelyn suggested.
"Yes ma'am," Jack replied.
Evelyn watched as her three youngest spread out their books at the kitchen table and began to work. She smiled at them as she walked to the den where the three oldest were playing video games. Bobby looked up and grinned at her before going right back to his game. Evelyn went up stairs to her room to read before she went to bed.
"Look at the good little students," Bobby teased nearly an hour later.
"Leave it alone, man," Jack growled.
"What's wrong, Jackie-O?" Bobby asked.
"Lay off," Lux grumbled. "Stop provoking people, Bobby."
"You have room to talk, runt," Bobby laughed. "It wasn't me who was locked up for fighting."
Lux glared at Bobby before closing her books. She slid them back into her backpack before standing.
"I'm going to bed," Lux announced moving around Bobby to go up the stairs to the room that she and Benjamin shared.
"Was it something I said?" Bobby asked, seriously.
Jack and Benjamin looked at Bobby before rolling their eyes. Bobby Mercer, the one who had quite the temper could also be a little forceful or neglectful about people's feelings. Most of the time Lux gave as good as she got but being locked up even if it had only been for a couple hours but her in a horrible mood.
Lux's Point of View
"You okay?" Ben asked as he walked into our room dropping his backpack next to his bed.
"Peachy," I replied changing quickly into a long tee shirt and short shorts.
"Bullshit," Ben grumbled. "What's going on?"
"I was locked up for six hours," I shrugged. "I hate being stuck in closed spaces like that. I'll be okay."
"You sure?" Ben questioned.
"Dude," I warned.
Ben held out his hands in a surrendering gesture. As we both got ready for bed. The truth was even with my attitude I was grateful that my brothers had gotten me as fast as they did. And even though I knew Evelyn would never hurt me I was still afraid whenever I got in trouble. It was a natural instinct to want to run after all the abuse I had been exposed to. My old foster parents would hit me for anything and everything that they deemed wrong.
Even if Bobby was a bit too hot headed I knew he would never hurt me or at least not intentionally. Bobby would never hit any of us but he could make you feel like an inch tall if he was lecturing you. He was the one brother I knew would fly to my rescue in an instant and beat the crap out of anyone in his way. The others were just as willing but Bobby had that big-brother protection thing down to a science.