Damaged In-Law by Colleen Masters

me.
The shock of what ’ s just happened is starting to take hold
of my body.
    “Callie, are you OK?” he asks fiercely, holding me up in his
solid embrace.
    “He didn ’ t...I got him...” I breathe,
unable to wrangle my thoughts into full sentences. “It ’ s
Avery who... Where—?”
    “I ’ m here Callie,” I hear my sister ’ s soft voice say from down the hall.
    I swing my gaze her way. She ’ s
paralyzed in the middle of the foyer, afraid to come any closer to Daryl ’ s prostrate form. It ’ s been a long time
since I ’ ve seen her look so vulnerable. Gathering my
strength, I rip myself away from the safety of Jack ’ s
embrace and go to her. We wrap our arms around each other, holding one another
up even as we ’ re held.
    A wail of pain rings out from down the hall, and our
attention snaps back to the coat room. We watch as Jack pins Daryl Hellman to the
hardwood floor, cocks back his arm, and cracks his fist against the older man ’ s jaw. The second he saw for sure that Avery and I were out of
harm ’ s way, Jack descended on our attacker. He moves with
pure fury, in a rage like nothing I ’ ve ever seen from him,
or anyone.
    And I ’ m not about to stop him, either.
    “What the hell is going on here?” roars a furious voice from
the down the hall.
    Avery and I spin around where we stand rooted in the center of
the foyer. Five stormy, lined faces appear before us, advancing to staunch the
unfolding disturbance before it causes a scene. My father Howard leads the
charge with Jack ’ s dad, Richard, on his heels. They brush
past Avery and I without so much as a passing glance. Bringing up the rear are
my mother Sylvia, Jack ’ s mom Anita, and—much to my horror
and dismay—Daryl Hellman ’ s wife, Beth.
    The older women descend on us, forming a protective pen as
the men go charging toward the coat room. Richard Cole, a silver-haired
advertising executive and the bane of Jack ’ s existence,
rips his son away from the fight, not without a great deal of effort. I feel my
heart stop in its tracks and my father stands over his business partner. But
instead of throttling the man for what he ’ s done, or
coming to his daughters ’ defense at all, he offers his
hand to Daryl Hellman, helping him up off the floor.
    “Is he...Did he just...?” I splutter, looking around at the
stony women surrounding me.
    “ Go upstairs, girls, ” my mother says to
me and Avery. “We ’ ll deal with you two later.”
    “ Deal with us?” I explode, “And how are you going to
deal with the man who just tried to rape your daughters?”
    “Keep your voice down,” my mother hisses, glancing back
toward the party.
    “There ’ s no need to throw that kind of
language around,” Anita clicks her tongue.
    “What has gotten into all of you?” Richard Cole asks,
dragging Jack toward us as my father and Daryl Hellman bring up the rear. “All
of you, apologize to Mr. Hellman at once.”
    “Like hell,” Jack says through gritted teeth, ripping his
arm away from his father, “That scumbag cornered Avery in there, just like he ’ s been doing for the past ten years. And when Callie tried to
stop him—”
    “That ’ s ridiculous,” Beth Hellman says
lightly. “My husband did no such thing.”
    “He ’ s had a couple of drinks, just like
the rest of us,” my father adds. “You girls are just being overly sensitive. We ’ re just of a different time. Isn ’ t that
right, Daryl?”
    “ I don’ t know what to make of this
younger generation,” Daryl grumbles, wiping a splatter of blood from his split
lip.
    “Mom, Dad,” I say urgently, looking back and forth between
their impassive faces, “This man has been abusing Avery since she was—”
    “Stop it Callie,” Avery hisses, clutching my hand, “ I don’ t want to do this now. Not with everyone here—”
    “Since she was eight years old,” I go on, too furious to
hold my tongue. “Not five minutes ago he had me pinned to a wall,