It was an unspoken rule of the Janson household that they didn't talk about Kargir's drinking or his violent outbursts, which were becoming more frequent. If they had close neighbours, they would know something was up from the noise, but the nearest neighbours were about a standard Imperial click away. To the Pendeth community, the Janson family was happy, after all, why would two boys who acted like Falren and Wes did, be unhappy?
The simple answer to that was that they used their personalities as shield, mainly from their father, but the few times that they had come under fire at school had also proved their shields' abilities.
In fact, outside of the family, only two people knew about what really happened, why there were days where neither Wes or Falren looked like they'd had any sleep, or why they sometimes seemed to be limping. That would be Falren's best friend, Deirean, and his mother, Imiary.
Time spent at Deirean's was seen as respite by both of the Janson boys, as Falren usually bought Wes with him, unwilling to leave him at home. Not that Deirean's mother ever minded.
They had found out by accident about six months ago, when Falren had taken the brunt of a particularly nasty beating, he had welts all the way up his back. Wes hadn't escaped that one either and could barely walk due to the bruising on his upper thighs and backside. To boot, the tube of bacta paste that the pair saved to buy every now and then ran dry after Falren had rubbed a couple of dollops on Wes' bruises. Kargir had still been in a fowl mood in the morning, and their mother had fled the house to the markets. Neither of the boys had wanted to stay home, so they somehow managed to go over to Deirean's place.
It was a hot day, Deirean suggested they go and muck around in the small pool that he and his mother had on their land. Warily, Falren accepted the spare clothes that Deirean said he and Wes could use to go swimming. Falren was sure not to present his back to Dierean while changing his top, but his friend still caught a glimpse of one of the welts that had started to come around to his front.
"Fal, what did you do to yourself there?" he asked worriedly as his friend hurriedly pulled the top down.
"Nothing, just grazed myself," Falren responded vaguely as he bit back a wince from his bruises. Deirean raised an eyebrow at him, worry creasing his forehead.
"Oh, what on?" he asked.
Falren was struggling to come up with an answer when he was saved, in a way, by Wes. The younger boy, also trying to hide his injuries, had taken the opportunity to change his shorts when Deirean started quizzing Falren, only for Wes to knock the worst of the bruises on his legs. The yelp Wes let out as fire burned through the bruise made Deirean turn around. A look of shock fell across his face when he saw the bruises on Wes' legs.
"What the in all nine Corellian hells happened to you two?" he whispered shakily. The brothers' only answer was a tense silence.
"Please tell me," Deirean pleaded.
Falren had backed up to the wall of the room, and in doing so accidentally bumping the welts spanning his back. Seeing the wince, Deirean's frown intensified.
"Fal?" he asked almost warily, "What's wrong with your back, what happened to you two?"
Falren sighed resignedly and gingerly pulled up the back of the top and turned around. He was rewarded by gasp of shock and disbelief from his friend. He didn't need to see him to know that those two expressions were warring on his face.
"Sithspawn," Deirean whispered. "Wait a minute, I'll get my mum to find some stuff for the two of you," he said as he headed out the room. Falren's eyes widened at this.
"But 'Irea-" he started to protest, but he was already gone. Falren looked at Wes who had since finished getting changed and was sitting miserably on the bed. They just looked at each other, at a loss for anything to say.
It was Wes who broke the silence. "Fal, what are we going to say?" he asked quietly.Falren didn't answer straight away. Eventually, he let out a sigh. "I guess we'll tell the truth, Wes, as long as father doesn't know we've said anything, we'll be okay." He wasn't sure who he was reassuring more, his little brother, or himself.
While waiting for Deirean to return with his mother, Falren hadn't pulled his top back down entirely, and while talking to Wes had turned his back to the doorway. He realised his mistake when he heard a sharp intake of breath from behind him and twisted around to see Imiary's face pale with a mixture of shock, disgust, and pity. Deirean was standing next to her.
"Falren," she asked shakily, "who did this to you? 'Irea told me that you mentioned that it was accident, but I know the difference between accidental and inflicted injuries," she told him.
Neither boy wanted to be the first to speak up.
Looking between the two downcast faces, one on the bed and one in the middle of the room, Imiary took a guess, "Was it your father?" Falren bit his lip and nodded.
"What!" A look of horror crossed Deirean's face. "Your father did that to you?"
"He doesn't act nice at home like he does in town," Wes piped up.
"But…" Deirean still couldn't get his head around it.
The skin around Imiary's mouth tightened with the admission. "I'm going to give that man a piece of my mind…" she muttered.
"NO!" Falren and Wes cried out. Imiary raised an eyebrow. "He'll twist it his way," Falren explained. "He'll make look like were lying, say we're pulling a prank on him, like some of the pranks that we've done in school, and after everyone's gone, then we'll really be in for it, especially after he hits the drink."
Imiary's look softened. "Falren, it's not right, you know that. Those marks on your back are proof," she sighed. "Besides, I'll back you up," she reassured him.
Falren sent her a wry smile. "Thanks for the vote of confidence, Mrs. Lomblyn, but that wouldn't work. When he's not stinking drunk, he's very cunning. He'll say Wes and I were fighting, or were chasing Roba when we shouldn't have been, and were trying to shirk our responsibilities.
"Also, he'd discount your words, cause, well, he knows that you don't like the Empire much…" he trailed off, embarrassed by his father's views. Thankfully, Imiary saved him from finishing.
"And because I'm a widow who's running a grain farm on her own?" she asked. Blushing, Falren nodded. She sighed heavily. "Okay. I don't like it, but I do see your point." She reluctantly admitted. "But you need to talk, get it out of your system. So, feel free to talk to me, but now let's see to these wounds."
Imiary moved towards Falren, but he moved away. "Look at Wes first," he told her.
Wes had, for the most part, watched everything silently, but now sent a small smile to Imiary. "Nah, I got the last of the bacta paste last night, Fal needs it more than I do."
"But yours makes it harder for you to walk, Wes," Falren pointed out. Wes shrugged.
"Yours still looks worse."
Imiary interrupted. "I've got plenty of bacta paste here, so there's enough to go round, and yours does look terrible, Falren, so you're first," she gestured to the bed, "lie on your stomach."
As Imiary gently rubbed the paste over the wounds, Falren explained the situation a bit more. "So he beats both of you after he'd been drinking?" she asked, disgust tainting her voice. Then Wes piped up.
"Mum too, but Falren gets it the worst. He tries to stop him. Father doesn't hit me as much 'cause Falren gets in the way."
Falren grinned weakly, "If I didn't, I wouldn't have a little medic to patch me up afterwards, would I?"
Imiary sighed. "What are we going to do with you two?"
"The only thing you can, keep quiet. One of these days, he'll drink himself into his grave." Falren said seriously.
Deirean spoke up again, "If you want I could teach you some fighting tricks to help you when your father lays into you. Just some of the stuff that dad taught me before he died".
Falren smiled. "I'd like that, and I could also use it in the pranks too…"
Deirean shot his friend a calculating look. "This is why you and Wes always act so… humorous."
Falren's eyes closed again. "Our sense of humour is a shield he can't break unless we let him break it," he explained tiredly.
Imiary had finished with the paste on his back, but he stayed there and eventually drifted off to sleep...
Please Review! (Big Kudos to my one and only reveiwer for the first chapter :hugs:)
Misha