Family Business

Addressing

Lexie's pov

Leaving my clueless half-brother alone to come to terms with his emotions, I trotted upstairs to speak to our niece. I'm truly mortified she saw EJ slap me. She has no idea that wasn't the first time, nor is she aware her father and grandfather have slapped me before as well. At least I hope she has no idea. In all fairness, I've slapped my half-brothers too on more than one occasion.

What the Hell is wrong with this family? I'm pretty confident all this domestic violence is not the normal dynamic in most households. I'm honestly not sure how I'm going to explain this to my niece when I can't even rationalize the behavior myself. Hopefully, I'll have a better idea of what Claire's state of mind is after we have this conversation.

I knocked softly on her door.

"Claire, it's me, Aunt Lexie. Can I come in?"

She threw open the door, immediately wrapping her arms around me in a bone crushing hug as she burst into tears.

"Oh, baby, it's okay. Don't cry, sweetheart, I'm alright. Everything's fine," I said soothingly, as l gently stroked her hair, swaying her rhythmically in my arms. "I'm so sorry you had to see that, Claire, your uncle and I arguing and him slapping me. I'm sorry, baby."

Pulling just far enough away to see my face, my sweet niece asked, "Why are you sorry, Aunt Lexie? Uncle EJ's the one who hit you. He's the one who should be sorry. He should apologize to you." She wiped the tears from her eyes as she sniffled.

Handing her some tissues from atop her nightstand, I sat down patting the spot next to me on her bed.

"I want to address what you saw happen between your uncle and I downstairs. Come and have a seat, baby, so we may talk. Ok?"

When Claire obediently sat down next to me, I held her hands in mine as I turned to face her. Now that I'm looking at her, I'm finding having this conversation to be much more difficult than I originally anticipated. This is so awkward and embarrassing. I'm humiliated that she saw her uncle hit me. There's no taking that back. I can't erase the image of EJ slapping my face from her mind, no matter how badly I want to.

"First, baby, I want to make sure you're okay. Tell me what you're thinking about right now and how you're feeling after having witnessed your uncle and I fighting like that." I waited patiently for my beautiful, innocent niece to put her thoughts and emotions into words as I looked her in the eye and squeezed her hands gently in an encouraging gesture.

"I'm okay, Aunt Lexie, I just feel bad for you." Claire lowered her head as if she was ashamed. "I know how much it hurts when Uncle EJ slaps you," she softly whispered, intentionally averting my gaze, most likely afraid of my reaction. "Did you swear at him too?" she questioned at an almost imperceptible volume, barely even at a whisper.

"He's slapped you, Claire?" I asked in shock. I cannot believe my brute of a half-brother would hit this sweet little girl in the face.

She nodded sadly, still avoiding looking me in the eye.

Gently lifting her chin, I quietly ordered, "Tell me what happened, Sweetheart." I don't want her to think I'm mad at her but I need to know why EJ would hit her, aside from the obvious reason that he learned this behavior from our brutish father. I hope Tony's never slapped this poor girl.

Shaking her head, Claire replied, "I don't want to. You'll be mad at me, Aunt Lexie."

"Claire," I said firmly, but not angrily. "Look at me." When she complied, I continued, "Honey, I need you to tell me what happened."

"But..." Claire started to interrupt, so I held my hand up to stop her.

"I might be disappointed in your actions and the choices you made when you tell me what prompted your uncle to slap your face but..." I gently guided her chin back towards me, "but I promise I won't be mad at you or punish you for telling me. Ok?" Claire nodded, so I waited.

"I told Uncle EJ I wanted to go home to California to stay with you for a couple weeks to visit but he said no, so then at dinner I asked Grandfather. He said no too and then he told me not to talk about going to California anymore and then he said we needed to talk about getting me enrolled in school here. I got really mad at the thought of that, so I ran up to my room and slammed the door then Uncle EJ came up and took my phone and said I was grounded. I said that was fucking dumb and when Uncle EJ told me to watch my mouth, I said no, fuck you, you're not my dad and I don't have to listen to you. Then he slapped me." Claire bit her bottom lip as she nervously fiddled with her hands in her lap, presumably afraid of my reaction to her confession.

I have to admit, I'm a bit shocked she spoke to my brother that way and even more surprised she lived to tell the tale. As her aunt, I'm officially appalled by her behavior of course but as a woman, I'm proud of her for standing up to her overbearing, misogynist uncle and grandfather.

Misinterpreting my silence as anger, she asked, "Why aren't you saying anything, Aunt Lexie?" Without waiting for me to respond, she accused, "I knew you'd be mad at me if I told you, that's not fair."

"Claire, calm down, I'm not mad." I patted her arm reassuringly. "I have to admit, I'm a bit shocked and disappointed you would speak to your uncle that way. Your father taught you better than that. Didn't he?"

"Yes ma'am," she replied respectfully, as she started to tear-up hearing me mention her father.

Hugging her close to me, I shushed her as I tried to comfort her, "Shhh, baby, don't cry. I didn't mean to upset you. I know you're sorry for what you said to your uncle and all is forgiven."

Wiping her tears, still sniffling, she looked at me and asked so innocently, "Did you say fuck you to Uncle EJ too, Aunt Lexie? Is that why he slapped you?"

Suppressing a smile, I said, "No, baby, I didn't swear at your uncle but I did say something that really offended and upset him and that's why he slapped me."

"Are you mad at him for doing that?" Claire asked, looking at me expectantly. "Cuz I was really mad when he slapped me, even though I guess I kinda deserved it for what I said to him."

Sighing, I had to think for a minute how I was going to respond to my niece's question. I don't want to say the wrong thing, or give her the wrong impression. I'm not happy my conceited, power-driven half-brother hit me but at the same time, I'm glad he feels so passionately about ensuring Claire's safety. How do I explain to an impressionable eleven-year-old girl how our dysfunctional family dynamic works, where adult siblings are allowed to hit each other and their father regularly slaps his adult children to keep them in line? We're not exactly the Brady Bunch now, are we?

Looking my sweet niece in the eye as I held her hands, I tried to explain something I couldn't fully comprehend myself.

"Claire, while I'm not happy your uncle slapped me, I'm not entirely blameless either. I don't want you to think it's okay to hit people when they say something you don't want to hear, but by the same token, words can be a very powerful weapon, meaning they can hurt someone just as much if not more so than a slap in the face. Does that make sense?" I asked, unsure if my ramblings were in any way, shape, or form coherent to someone her age.

Claire wrinkled her brow as she tried to form her response in her head before vocalizing it to me.

"I think so," she replied, somewhat hesitantly.

"Can you tell me in your own words what you think I meant, Sweetheart?" I need to make sure this girl doesn't think it's okay for the men in her life to use physical force to control or abuse her.

"I think you mean it's not okay to hit someone just because you're angry, but sometimes there might be a pretty good reason to smack some sense into someone that you really care about as long as you're doing it for the right reason, cuz you want to help them, not hurt them."

I smiled and hugged her to my side.

Rubbing her back, I replied, "I think you've got it, Claire. You summed it up better than I ever could have." Wrapping my arms around her, I kissed the top of her head as I held her tight. "I love you so much and your uncle, grandfather, and father do too. We all just want what's best for you. Don't ever forget that. Okay, bambina (baby girl)?"

"Aunt Lexie, I won't forget, I promise. I love you all too," Claire replied quietly, as she returned my warm embrace.

EJ's pov

Sitting in the gazebo for the past hour, reflecting on the day's events, I've come to a realization. After everything that's happened recently with Claire, Sofia, my father and now Lexie, I think I'm finally ready to admit I need help.