AUTHORS NOTE:
Contains some abuse of Casey and Heath in this chapter from Danny.
Thanks for reading and please review :)
Chapter 33: Consequences of a fight
(Casey 5, Heath 12)
Casey sat in the lounge room playing with his toy action figures and he set up a building for them. Heath walked in and slumped on the lounge, knocking over Casey's buildings and toys, as he grabbed the remote for the TV. Casey pouted.
"Heaf!" He yelled. "You ruin it!"
Heath shrugged. "So what squirt?"
"Heaf, it took ages for that!" Casey whined and got up, jumping on Heath.
Heath pushed him off, only to have him lunge back and grab the remote from his hands.
"Give back the remote Casey!"
"No! You ruin my toys. You bad, you not watch TV."
Heath ignored Casey and quickly took one of Casey's action figures, causing Casey's eyes to widen.
"No! I tell Bax on you." He tried to reach for his toy, but Heath held it high out of reach.
"Let me put it this way, you give me back the remote or I'll break your favorite action toy here."
"No!"
Casey was on the verge of tears. Heath of course was only teasing him and never intended to break his toy. Casey violently tossed the remote at Heath, hitting him in the head.
"OW, Casey!" Heath yelled.
Wanting to get back at Casey for hurting him Heath grabbed Casey and held him down. "Say bye, bye to your toy here." He teased further.
Heath let go of Casey and pretended to snap his toy. Casey lunged at him and Heath tossed his toy away, but Casey was too worked up to stop and kept flailing his arms around trying to hit Heath. He kicked and punched out violently.
Hearing the commotion and being woken up from a drunken hangover Danny stormed in.
"What in bloody blue blazers is going on here?"
Too caught up in fighting Casey didn't take notice his father stood behind him while Heath on the other hand saw his angry father and tried to stop Casey.
"Casey stop!" Heath whispered firmly, grabbing his arms, but Casey kept hitting and yelling.
"Casey Braxton you bloody get off ya brother right now!"
Danny grabbed Casey around the waist and yanked him off Heath, giving him a hefty whack to his upper thigh. Casey let out a yelp and it was only then did Casey realize he was being held by his very angry father and froze in fear.
Heath stared up at his father, worried at how he was going to hurt his younger brother. Danny leaned down slightly and released his tight grip on his youngest, causing Casey to fall to the floor but not hard enough to cause any injury, but enough for Casey to cry out.
Heath stared at his younger brother and looked up to his Danny glaring at the mark on his head from the remote. Danny turned his attention back to Casey and stood over him.
"Did you throwing something at your brother?"
Casey stared at his father as tears ran down his face. Danny towered over Casey and lent into his face. "I asked you a question and you better answer it now brat!"
"Dad?" Heath choked out terrified.
Danny turned and glared at Heath. "Shut up! I'll deal with you in a minute!"
Danny turned back to Casey. "I'm waiting brat!"
Casey quietly nodded. "But Daddy, Heaf ruin my building and was gonna break my toy."
Danny scoffed and leaned towards Casey's face again. "What have I bloody told you about your temper tantrums and throwing things? I will not have my kids getting away with temper fights in my house! So I guess I need to teach you a lesson. Get up Casey!"
Casey didn't move so Danny grabbed his arm and pulled him up. "I said get up now!"
Danny shoved Casey against the couch and started hitting him over his upper arms and back. Casey screamed and cried as this went on and Heath, too scared to do anything watched as his baby brother was beaten. He hated seeing Casey get the same treatment he had endured but he felt powerless to stop it.
Finally Heath couldn't take it anymore and yelled. "Dad stop it! Leave him alone!"
Danny who continued to slap Casey, glared at Heath. "What did you say to me boy?"
"It wasn't Casey's fault. I started it. He only went at me because I was teasing him!"
Danny turned back to his youngest with his hand raised and his heavy hand pressing down on him. Danny gave Casey a final shove and smack before storming over towards Heath. Without saying anything he grabbed Heath by his shirt, pulling him up from the couch and punched him hard in the abdomen.
Danny paused briefly before laying several more punches to Heath's upper body and one punch to his face. Once Danny had finished he looked down at the two boys in disgust and left the room. Heath tried to be strong but his face stung like crazy. He walked over to Casey who was crying and crouched on the floor and helped him up.
"Hey Case. You okay?" Casey shook his head and snuggled into his brother. "Let's get you fixed up." Heath spoke.
Heath led Casey into the bedroom and got some ice for his bruised upper body. Heath didn't know quite what to do and wished Brax was there to help him but he had seen Brax do this before when he had to reduce bruising so he hoped he was doing the right thing for his brother.
Heath sat next to Casey on the bed and placed his arm around him. "I'm sorry I teased you Case, I didn't mean for any of this to happen."
"I want Bax." Casey whispered. "I know Case, he'll be home soon I promise."
Brax entered the house from being out shopping for groceries. It was unusual for it to be silent. He saw his mother lazing in the kitchen and his father on the couch drinking. His immediate reaction was to know where Heath and Casey where. He headed down towards the bedrooms and heard voices coming from Heath's bedroom so he slowly opened the door.
"Heath, Case? Are you in here?" Brax opened the door fully and walked in.
The two boys looked up and Casey quickly hopped off the bed and stumbled over to Brax clinging onto him tightly before bursting into tears, Brax held him tightly back.
"Heath what's going on? What happened?" Heath looked away with a few tears running down his face.
"I'm sorry Brax, it's my fault." Heath then turned to look at Brax where Brax then saw his bruised face.
"Heath. What did he do?" Brax demanded becoming angry. "It doesn't matter about me, but Casey."
Brax quickly pulled Casey away from him to examine him for injuries. Brax noticed Heath point to his arms to indicate that's where Casey had been hurt and Brax moved Casey's shirt up to reveal heavy colored bruises over his arms and his eyes widened.
"That's not all" Heath whispered.
"What do you mean?" Brax looked down at Casey who continued to sob.
"Where else does it hurt Casey, tell me." Brax spoke firmly.
Casey slowly pointed to his back and Brax immediately pulled up Casey's shirt and is taken aback by the bruising covering his back also.
"How did this happen?" Brax asked in an angry tone.
Brax picked up Casey and sat him back down on the bed.
"I didn't mean for Dad to hurt him."
"Heath what happened?" Brax demanded.
"I...I was teasing him and the little guy lost his temper and started to hit and kick at me and that's when Dad walked in and..."
Heath trailed off but Brax didn't need to hear any more. He didn't know whether to be madder at the situation or at himself for not being there to protect his brothers. Brax shook his head.
"How could you both be so stupid? Heath I have told you so many times before to leave Casey alone and not tease him and you Casey, how many times do I have to warn you about your temper?" Brax turned away frustrated.
Brax felt Casey tug his shirt. "I sorry Bax."
Brax turned back around to face his brothers. "We're both sorry." Heath added.
"Good." Brax replied and ran his hand over Casey's hair. "He could have broken Casey's ribs Heath. Casey is only a little kid and he can't take Dad's hits as good as us."
"I know. What more do you want me to say. I know it was all my fault. I should have been protecting him." Brax sighed as his brother's desperation. "Heath don't."
"It scared me Brax. I hated seeing Dad beat up on Case." Brax nodded.
"Let's get you both cleaned up."
Brax got some wet cloths to help clean the blood off Heath's face and reduce the swelling then applied fresh ice packs over Casey's back and arms.