1/2 of this verbose motherfucker's inner musings
While Rodeo had known what to expect from his sister and Sarge, he had no idea how Lita would react to the ice and snarl of his two closest family members. Many don't know how to react-- Rodeo can come off as so warm and sociable to those who know him well that folks are shocked by the standoffish and sometimes even callous nature of his sister and brother. Knowing him first, many people still struggle to see Adelaide for her true nature. Considering his sweet affection for her, most seem to expect a darling girl with a soft heart fitting of such wanton and rabid adoration from her big brother. It still gives him a laugh that so many describe his sister as sweet. The ones who do, Rodeo knows, must not have been very tuned in to their interactions with her. Adelaide can be almost cunning with her slick little digs and sometimes nefariously veiled insults, so much so that the less perceptive often don't even realize the fact that she is taking jabs at them. Only the painfully oblivious would call his sister sweet-- and Lita is no fool. She knows she is being insulted. When Adelaide asks if she's been given a cot with the rest of the volunteers, Lita hears exactly what she's saying-- "You're not welcome here." She is dismissing her like she is downstairs help trespassing upstairs, and Rodeo, no matter how much he loves this wicked side of his baby sister, is more than insulted by such an insinuation. He didn't expect Adelaide to welcome Lita with open arms, but it hurts nonetheless to see how little his sister cares for the matters of his heart. Some sisters, perhaps, would be glad for a brother who found a possible partner, a potential cure for his lifelong lonesome blues. Not Adelaide. She sees his devotion as something finite, his love as having a limit-- as if he hasn't spent his whole life proving to her how boundless, how endless his absolute and all-encompassing love for her is. As if his affection for a woman could rob her of her place first in his heart. In the wake of all she knows of how broken his heart has been since Lita left him, she still seems eager to drive her away. It strikes Rodeo as selfish, as cruel. It makes him feel like his sister views him as a favorite toy she doesn't want to share, makes him feel like a prized possession more than a man. It guts him to see the cold way she looks at him, as if he is rotten for seeking what his heart wants. She withholds her affection to punish him, and standing in the kitchen without an ounce of warmth for her brother showing in her stormcloud eyes, he wants to tell her she looks a damn sight like their Mama right about now.
But he can't find it in himself to be so cruel in return, no matter how hurt he's feeling. Instead he stands beside Lita as she shows her own temper, and watching her mouth off to Sarge, who most find far too forbidding to dare snap at, he feels a bizarre mix of pride and sorrow all at once. As impassive as he remained during Sarge and Adelaide's mistreatment of Lita, he doesn't change his tune when Lita starts laying into them in turn-- he doesn't step up to defend his brother and sister any more than he defended Lita from them. This sharp woman is headstrong enough to not be oblivious to the fact that she is being insulted, and she isn't docile or meek enough to take it either. She stands up for herself without any interference from Rodeo, quick and cutting in her remarks, and if he were in any brighter a mood he might be tempted to hiss out a little whistle at the sight of her all revved up with righteous anger. Then again, he's not surprised-- he wouldn't be as wild about her, as woefully and helplessly infatuated if she was the type of woman to take an insult lying down. Her temper flares up and she returns the attitude she's been given, and by the time she's storming off into his bedroom Rodeo's brows are lifted in a mild show of appreciation. He's aware that's bound to piss his sister off even more, but he's irritated enough with her that he chooses not to edit himself accordingly. He turns to glance down the trailer at Lita as she goes into his room, and when he brings his eyes back to the kitchen his gaze is chilly at best.