cabbitzilla

It's been a day for implosions, explosions, and detonations of every degree. Blessedly, the one that wasn't around to try and help with was handled by another... I've not quite mastered the art of being in four places at once.

5:00 AM. I'd actually managed to completely fall asleep. And the phone went off beside my head like a bomb. I grabbed the handset and fumbled it on, noting that a) it was dark outside, b) it was still dark outside, and c) someone was calling me when it was still dark outside. Yeah, I'm a bit slow coming out of sleep.

Sometime during the night my little sister (she's 30... yes, I'm old, and yes, she'll always be my little sister) was attacked by her husband. He was drunk and ranting obscenites at her. Sometime during the scuffle both kids were woken up, Tina's cell phone was destroyed, and she got smacked around by Mike [her second husband, lovingly referred to as 'Asshole #2' by most of the family]. Dad and Evelyn (my stepmom, Tina's mom) were on their way up to get her and the kids and bring them back to safety... but Mike had disappeared and they wanted someone to watch the house in case he drove down to terrorize more folk.

So I slid into clothes and headed over. Ev's mom Anna (it's her house, don'tchaknow) and I sat in the kitchen drinking coffee and grousing at each other about being left out of the loop. Somewhere around 6:30 AM, dad and Ev got back with Tina and the munchkins in tow, and dad sat down to bring Anna and I up to speed while Ev was finding a steak to put on Tina's eye. It seems that this isn't the first time Mike's gotten drunk and violent... but this time he threatened the kids in his rant and it finally pushed Tina to holler for help.

Dad and I are presently squabbling over which of us gets to be the Great White Beater Of Ass, as his ideas on protecting family are very similar to mine, though mine tend to ge a bit more stark and extreme. It'll probably end in a tie; I need someone to watch for incoming on my knees, and he's got a blind spot on the left side.

A restraining order's been signed off on, which (in theory) keeps him away for a week while attorneys are contracted... but the reality of the situation is that that's just a piece of paper and more than one person has simply shrugged and done it anyway.

Leah's scrambling to try and get daycare locked in for the kids while this is being sorted out, even if they've got to get parked full time at Leah's. It's possible Tina will just want them to stay with Anna, Ev, and dad, in which case I'd be tapped during the day to help Anna not lose her mind.

Tina was coming out of the depression and shifting into seething rage when I left. I know better than to stick around, since my attitude would only feed it.

Only one of the kids are old enough to really grasp what's going on, and it's coming to light that Mike's been nasty to her, as well. Mostly verbal abuse, though there seems to be an overly large amount of smacking about there as well. And it explains why the girl had become so jumpy... she'd always been really laid back, but that'd been fading into an odd skittishness the last six months or so.

Mike's not been seen since he bolted from the apartment after learning Tina'd called for help. I've made a few calls, and did a loop out earlier to drop pics off with some folks I know; I want him located and monitored so that Tina can actually get some sleep.

Tarfo, if you're still reading my journal, I need to hear from you. I need a puker or a crybaby.

*sighs* That's all I have for here. There're still things needing tending.