Chapter Text
As a kid, Solo always cried whenever Roman beat his brothers up. Ever since he could comprehend that screaming and punching meant pain, he would be wailing from the floor, a toy gripped in his little hand. And he would always do that, scream and cry until they stopped. Until Roman let go of Jey for fear of their mother or father telling him off. That was, until one day when Roman yelled at Solo to shut up, who was by then old enough to understand the words that were said to him, and grabbed him by the shirt. Solo hadn’t been necessarily afraid of his older cousin until that point, but after that, every time Solo thought about crying out loud he would think of Roman’s terrifying voice shouting at him, and his powerful hands shaking him. So he stopped crying out loud.
Even now, as the Tribal Chief had Jey’s shirt balled in his fist and punched him with the other, Solo silently cried. He was looking down at his bare, wrapped feet, and tears streamed down his face. His sniffle was barely audible, especially under the protests of Jimmy, his oldest brother. Jimmy was being bold- he decided to try to separate the two, but Roman shoved him away and sent him crashing into the nearby clothesline. Solo was helpless. Even as a pro-wrestler. He could do nothing but stand there and cry, barely visible. It didn’t matter, anyway- it had been like this his whole life, seeing as he was born well after the twins were. He had never stood up to Roman in his life to defend his brothers, so naturally they expected nothing from him. He was pathetic and useless.
As a kid, Solo always watched how his brothers’ mouths got them in trouble with Roman. When Jimmy or Jey would speak up about something they didn’t like, Roman would hit them. Yell at them that what he says goes. Knock some respect into them. He watched as Roman, taller and stronger than Jimmy, wrapped his hands around his throat and choked him until Jey was begging at his feet for him to let go, until Jimmy was frantically tapping at Roman’s forearms. Solo only sat there and watched, hugging a pillow to make himself as unnoticeable as possible. Solo didn’t want to get hit, especially not by Roman, who he wanted to impress and make proud. He didn’t want to say the wrong thing, so he decided to say nothing at all.
Even now, as the Tribal Chief had Jimmy shoved against the wall and pinned with a hand around his throat, Solo was silent. He stole glances every few seconds, but his eyes were glued to his bare, wrapped feet. He listened to Jimmy let out these pained noises that made him want to curl up and cover his ears. Jey suddenly shoved Roamn off his brother’s windpipe, with a look on his face that said he knew he was going to die. “You gon’ kill him, Uce, stop!” But instead of reason, he was met with a harsh backhand to the face, like he was some disobedient housewife bitch. Solo watched, bile rising to the back of his throat. He felt sick, but as always, he could do nothing but stand there and set his jaw.
As a kid, Solo always managed to get caught in arguments between Roman and his brothers. He would feel as if his parents were arguing and he was the reason. The twins would retaliate against Roman, and he would beat Jey up. Then Jimmy would grab Roman’s shirt and point to Solo accusingly, screaming at their older cousin. “How can you do this in front of Solo?!” But Roman would drop him with a thud to the floor and step on his chest while Jey was down. Yell at them that it wasn’t their business, and it was his job to worry about what was right and what was wrong, and do you even know how much stress and responsibility you three put on me?! Solo would curl up in the corner, tears streaming down his face with his hands covering his ears. And he rocked himself back and forth slowly. He wished he didn’t exist.
Even now, while the Tribal Chief pushed Solo to mental breakdwon, he disappeared into the corner of the room, where he sat and hugged his legs. Whimpered softly as he began to cry. Covered his ears and rocked back and forth slowly. Roman had threatened Solo in the Usos’ names- he probably didn’t mean it, but it terrified the poor boy.
Roman had never actually directly hurt Solo in the same way that he hurt the twins when they were younger. The closest it ever came to that was when Jey’s nose was running red and Jimmy was winded and curled up on the floor. Solo ran over and clung onto Roman’s arm, some ten-plus years younger and yet the teenager granted him attention. Roman asked him what the hell he was doing, his brothers were panicking, and Solo was grabbed by his shirt. He had never seen Roman so angry and ready to hit him. The boy froze in fear, barely even flinching when Roman raised his hand. Roman must have seen this lack of response and felt… some kind of sympathy, anything. Felt bad for him, maybe. So he let him go with a small shove. “Go lock yourself in the bathroom until I say so.” he ordered, and Solo went.
“Where’s Solo?” the present-day Roman snarled, his chest rising and falling as he took a break from beating Jey into the carpet.
Solo’s heart skipped a beat. He cowered into the corner and shook his head his older cousin drew nearer.
“What are you doing?” He sneered, nudging Solo with his foot. “You look pathetic right now. Why are you scared?” He pulled Solo up by the arm, watching him hide away from him. “You’re being selfish and dramatic, Solo. Why are you the one crying when your brothers are the ones who are hurt? You’re not a baby anymore. Stop crying or imma give you something to cry about.” Roman had him pressed against the wall now, threat as clear as the tears streaming down his face. He was getting pissed. "Have I ever laid my hands on you? Huh?!" At the shake of Solo's head, he pushed him into the wall again. "I have never hurt you like that, Solo. Stop making me out to be some kind of monster, you hear me?!"
Solo froze now too, controlling his already silent crying and keeping his mouth shut. If he didn’t move, he couldn’t piss Roman off. If he didn’t speak, he couldn’t say the wrong thing. They both stared at eachother for what felt like hours to Solo, who was clearly distraught.
“Don’t hurt him Roman, please.” Jimmy groaned, clutching at his stomach. “I’ll- I’ll do anything, just don’t hurt Solo, Uce.”
Solo kept his eyes on Roman’s, still and calming down. “Tribal Chief…” he began in almost a whisper.
Roman cocked his head as if to urge him on.
“I’m sorry.” Long pause. Whenever Solo spoke, it seemed like it was agony. “I’ll be better.”
Those words were like magic. They seemed to suddenly flick a switch in Roman’s mind, and the older cousin patted the top of Solo’s head. “Good.” He even smiled. “You just keep making me proud, Solo, everything’ll be just fine.”
But it won’t. It never is.
He didn’t even glance at his brothers, regrouping on the floor. Jimmy using his own sleeve to soak up the blood streaming from his twin’s nose. Jey hugging his brother’s arm.
“I love you. Remember that.” Roman gave the youngest a rub on the shoulder before he walked off and picked up a box of tissues, which he tossed at the twins. “I love all of you. And no one will ever love you more than I do.” Roman asserted, addressing the three of them. “No one. I make you better, stronger, give you somebody to look up to and love, and in return you’re all loyal to me. That’s all I have ever expected of you. Loyalty and obedience. Isn’t it fair?”
The twins were cleaning up the spilled blood. Solo was in his own world, staring at Roman’s feet absently.
“Isn’t that fair?” The Tribal Chief repeated, this time more forcefully with his top lip threatening to curl into a scowl.
“Yeah, Tribal Chief." Jey spoke up, too afraid of being forced to endure more pain at his hand to speak against him.
Roman looked down at the bloodstains on the carpet with distain. “You’re so lucky to have me. And that I’m not making you clean that.”
The older twin beckoned Solo over quickly as soon as Roman turned towards the window on the phone. Solo was just staring out into space. Jimmy frowned: the youngest of them had learned dissociation in place of dealing with all the trauma Roman burdened him with, and they’d known him to do this from a terribly young age. Jimmy stood up and gently placed a hand on his baby brother’s shoulder. “Uce?” he whispered.
Solo looked at Jimmy slowly, showing him that he was listening.
“C’mere.” Taking him by the hand, Jimmy led Solo to the couch where he held the younger protectively. Jey shuffled on the floor to sit between Jimmy’s legs, tissue pressed to his nose.
“Don’t question me, Paul. That’s not your job. Do as I say, get me what I asked you to and don’t let those damn officials get all up in my business.”
Solo felt empty as Jimmy held him and stroked his arm, his eyes trained on nothing in particular on the opposite wall. He barely listened to Roman speaking to Heyman over the phone even though it was the only sound in the room save for Jey’s occasional sniffles. He saw Jimmy’s hand reach over to play with the curls between his knees. Jey leaned his head on one of them with a sigh.
Solo knew that Jimmy felt like he had a responsibility to look after his little brothers, and right now, Jimmy felt like he was fulfilling that. The thought of escaping Roman together didn’t even occur to him, honestly. Having his brothers right here was all he needed. And Solo, well, he can’t remember ever really feeling content or particularly pleased with anything: his whole life had just been following what Roman laid out for him, no arguments, do this, do that.
He didn’t know any better. But he knew that Roman terrified him enough that he never even thought about stepping out of line.