Chapter 4: The Empty House
The front door clicked shut, leaving behind a profound, suffocating silence that felt heavier than any noise could ever be. Leo stood alone in the hallway, the harsh overhead light casting long, distorted shadows across the wooden stairs where the broken baby bottles still lay scattered like debris from a small explosion. Buster trotted over from the front door, his heavy tail giving a single, tentative thump against the floorboards before he sat heavily at Leo’s feet, keeping his dark eyes fixed on the remaining human in the room. Derek was sitting on the bottom step, his head buried in his hands, his broad shoulders shaking with a mixture of shock, guilt, and lingering frustration.
Leo did not feel pity for his older brother; he felt a cold, exhausting resolve. For months, Leo had tolerated Derek’s volatile moods, telling himself that the stress of impending fatherhood and financial ruin was to blame. But watching Maya fall down those stairs because Derek had cornered and threatened her changed everything. It crossed a definitive line that could never be uncrossed. "Get your bag," Leo said quietly, breaking the heavy stillness of the room. Derek looked up slowly, his eyes bloodshot and wide with disbelief. "What? Where am I going? This is my house too, Leo. I pay half the—" Derek started to protest, his voice rising in an instinctive defense mechanism.
"You don't pay anything, Derek. Maya’s savings have been paying the rent for the last four months while you blow your paychecks at the bar," Leo interrupted, his voice cutting through Derek’s excuses with surgical precision. "You are not staying here tonight. You are not coming to the hospital. And when Maya comes back, you won't be here." Derek stared at his younger brother, seeing a stranger where a docile sibling used to reside. The power dynamic had permanently shifted. Buster growled softly, rising to his feet as if to punctuate Leo’s ultimatum. Realizing he had lost all leverage, Derek slowly stood up, wiped his palms on his black shorts, and headed toward his bedroom to pack whatever he could salvage before the inevitable end of his life as he knew it.
