If I Needed Another Reason....

to hate my mother in law and my step father in law I just found it. We started having issues with them after my husband and I had been married a few years. It is a long story that I won't get into right now but I am sure I will get around to it sometime. My Husband had the chance to have a long talk with his older brother this past week and a lot of things came out from his childhood that he didn't really remember. He remembers that his step dad hit his little half-brother (who belongs to the step dad) ALOT when he was little but as the child get bigger the beatings lessen because the child can start to fight back or tell people. Husband remembers when the little brother was about 3 Evil Step Dad (lets call him ESD for short) would hold him by one arm and them "spank" him so hard that he would fly up in the air until his feet were level with his head. He didn't hold back his rage on this little child. He just let him have it. He says he ALWAYS had whelps and bruises on his body. He remembers being thumped in the head and being given the "Vulcan death grip". What he didn't remember were the times that ESD bashed his head into his older brother's head so hard he gave Older Brother (OB) a concussion. OB said that happened as least twice. The most disturbing thing that he heard however was the time that my Husband got in ESD's way when getting out of the car. They had been on a road trip and the boys had done really well in the car (Husband was about 6 at the time). Little husband opened his door as ESD was trying to walk by to get to the trunk. ESD waited for little husband to get out and shut the door then he stepped on the back the back of his shoe and kicked him in the back so his shoe came off and he went flying to the ground. Then ESD picked up little husbands shoe and threw it as far as he could down the hot south Texas black top. OB tried to go get it but ESD screamed at him and made little husband do it himself. Barefoot. In the summer. He got burns and blisters all over the bottom of his baby foot and ESD yelled at him for crying. His mother sat there and said NOTHING. OB tried to help little husband as much as he could for the next few weeks while his foot healed. ESD would yell at little husband for walking funny or being slow. This just makes me SICK. It is beyond abusive and it has effected Husband more than he realizes. OB asked him how many people he trusts. Husband said 3. Maybe 4. Only me. OB and his real dad. Maybe little brother. Ob said OK do you have a best friend? NO? That's because the people who we were supposed to be able to trust hurt us. When people tell you a sob story do you feel sorry for them? NO? That's because Mom complaned ALL the damn time but does nothing but sit back and watch while doing nothing. I knew that he had a rough childhood but I did't realize how rough. Besides the beating they were poor. Really poor. So ESD moved them to a tiny town in south Texas where they were the only white kids around and everyone beat them up and called them names. No wonder he has trust issues.