Shantelle
When I was a kid my mother told me that I was a little piece of blue sky that came into this world because she and dad loved me so much. It was only later that I realised that wasn't exactly true. Most babies are coincidences, I mean up in space you got all these souls flying around looking for bodies to live in, then down here on Earth two people have sex or whatever and bam coincidence. Sure you hear all these stories about how everyone plans these families but the truth is that most babies are products of drunken evenings or lack of birth control, they're accidents. Only people who have trouble making babies actually plan for them. I on the other hand am not a coincidence; I was engineered, born for a particular reason, a scientist hooked up my mother's egg and my father's sperm to make a pacific combination of genes. He did it to save my brother's life. Sometimes I have to wonder what would have happened if Jesse had been healthy. I'd probably still be waiting up there in heaven or whatever, waiting to be attached to a body down here on Earth. But coincidence or not, I'm here!

I arrived in town at 4'oClock, after jumping off my school bus I walked into the jewellery shop.
"50 carat gold, hardly ever worn" I told the man as I put the gold necklace with a love heart and a locket.
Within seconds he handed me over the cash so I walked out the door to meet one of my older brother's Heath who was waiting just outside for me.
"Are you sure you want to do this?" Heath asked me as we stopped outside the lawyer's office.
Instead of replying I just nodded and walked inside. After knocking of Mr Campbell's door I walked in too see him sitting at his desk looking at me.
"What is your name?" he asked.
"Shantelle Buckton" I started as I took a seat before rummaging through my bag.
"What can I do for you Shantelle?"
"I want to sure my parents for the rights to my own body" I replied as I hand him a bunch of forms.
"Would you repeat that, please?"
"I want to sure my parents for the rights to my own body. My brother has leukaemia they're trying to force me to give him my body parts"
"You're supposed to give him a kidney?"
"He's been in Reno-failure for months now"
"Well noone can force you to donate if you don't want to, can they?"

"They think they can, im under 18 they're my legal guardians well that's what I want you to tell them, they've been doing it to me for my whole life now" I told him.
"You know what will happen if you don't give him a kidney, don't you?"
"Yea, he'll die, theres a little over $800 here and I know that it's not enough but-"
"Good for you" he replied.

Heath

When we got home, I wondered how much trouble we'd be in. Luckily for us mum was making dinner and dad-well dad's been in jail for well over 7 years now. Mum doesn't like to talk about him so noone mentions him. Darryl has always for some odd reason gets called Brax I guess it's a nickname from our last name Braxton or something like that, that's the only way I can think of him getting called that. Darryl in the lounge room like usual watching TV with our youngest brother Casey. But that's not the point; to be honest I honestly thought that mum would be at the hospital with Jesse.

Casey

We're all sitting around the dining room table eating away at our dinner. It's nice and peaceful at the moment.
"Where's your necklace?" Mum asked Shantelle, I hadn't even noticed that she wasn't wearing it.
I watched as Heath glopped before she looked at him before turning back to mum and replying "Oh I didn't feel like wearing it today"
I walked slowly upstairs to past Shantelle's bedroom, I heard her voice on the phone I stood there for a while but she didn't say anything so I walked away and into my bedroom that I share with my pain in the ass of a brother Heath.

Heath

I walked through the front door trying not to make any noise so that noone would wake up. At shutting the door quietly I turned around to see mum standing there before me.
"Hey buddy, what are you doing up?" She asked "Can't sleep?"
"Can't sleep" I replied.
"Look I'm gonna go to the hospital, spend the night with your brother, wanna come?"
"Alright, yeah"

"I'm gonna make a coffee. Is everything ok?" she asked.
"Yea" I replied although it was a complete lie.

Before long mum walked downstairs with Shantelle in her arms, I reached for the car keys as we walked out the door so mum could put Shantelle in the car. We arrived at the hospital within no time. I don't know what time it was when a lawyer type looking guy walked through the door with an envelope in his hands.
"Mrs Braxton" he said, mum looked up and he continued "You've been served"
"What is that?" Mum asked as she looked at Jesse who was lying in the hospital bed "Pretention for medical-mensperation. Not limit to donating her kidney" I watched as Shantelle got up and stood before her "Shantelle, what is this? Is this from you?"
"Yeah, I got a lawyer" Shantelle explained.
"You're suing me?" Mum asked "Honey what the hell is going on?"
"I don't wanna do it anymore mum"
"You don't want to do it anymore? That's it, you don't want to do it?"
"No" Shantelle explained.
"Well guess what, neither do I and neither does Jesse but it's not like we have a choice in this-"
"But that's the thing, I do, I do have a choice"
"Really is that so?"
"Yeah"
"That's your brother, have you forgotten that?"
"No"
"Do you know whats going to happen to him if you do this?"
"Yeah, believe it or not mum I've actually thought about it"

Jesse
Mum thanks for everything you've done for me, for always fighting my battles. Darryl I'm sorry you and Heath got into a lot of trouble and mum was always yelling at you two because of me. Heath, I'm sorry that I'd make you go agro and lose your temper because of something little or something that was so pathetic or just something dumb that I had said. They barely even knew Casey was struggling at school. I'm sorry Casey, I'm sorry I took all of the attention when you were the one who needed it the most. And to my baby sis who was always so very little, I'm sorry I let them hurt you, I'm sorry I didn't take care of you, it was supposed to be the other way around.

Darryl

Mum's in the court room now with the judge and with Shantelle's lawyer Mr Campbell. I'm out here with Shantelle, Casey and Heath me and Heath like usual are arguing, getting on each other's nerves he can be a total pain in the ass at times but in the end he is my brother and there's nothing that I can do about it.

2 days later

Shantelle
we're in the court room now mum and my lawyer have both talked although I wasn't being attention to anything that either of them had said. The doctors talked for what seemed like forever, they said that Jesse was a miracle, he should have never made it past 5 years old. They talked about the serological benefits of the donation. And how losing my kidney would affect the qualities of my life. They all said that I nothing was their fault ad it was a very complex problem, when put to the test most everyone said I should give Jesse my kidney, but they also said that I was too young to understand the situation fully and none of them said at what age I could understand. All in all they were like me, pretty confused!
"The court calls Shantelle Braxton" The judge said.
I made my way over to take a sit beside the judge.
"Raise your right hand, you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the whole truth?" a guy that worked for the judge said.
"Yep" I replied.
"Please say your name for the record and sit down" he said.
"Shantelle Braxton" I said before sitting down, mum made her way over to me and stood directly in front of me "Hi mum"
"Hi sweetheart, you wanna tell us why we're here? Why you're doing this?" Mum replied.
"For medical mensperation" I replied.
"That's not what I mean; you love your sister, right? You know she's sick, why won't you help you?"
Tears were starting to form in my eyes when I didn't reply I stared directly at my mum.

Heath

After walking out of the court room and outside I ripped up whatever I could find in my pockets that reminded me of Jesse. After punching a brick wall I walked back inside I walked into the court room.
"Looking back at only Shantelle's point of view do you think you might have taken this too far?" Shantelle's lawyer asked mum.
Mum nervously stared into her lap before looking up with tears in her eyes "Looking at only Shantelle's situation yes it is. But I have think about my entire family"
"But Jesse comes first?" the lawyer asked.
"Jesse's the sick one" mum replied.
"So this is a trio situation? Compromising one child's life over the other. So where's the line?"
"For Jesse its life or death"
"Not for Jesse for Shantelle, she's why we're here"
"Yeah but that's a trick question. Because Shantelle isn't the only person in this equation" Mum replied.

Shantelle

"So you're for medical mensperation?" Mum asked me.
"Right" Heath replied from all the way at the back, he's leaning on the back wall with a bottle of alcohol in his hand.
Everyone turned to look at him before I replied "Right"
Mum turned back to me and continued "Is that it? Is that the only reason?" she asked.
"That's the only reason" I added with tears in my eyes.
"Are you sure?" Heath asked.
"Hold please" the judge started as she looked at Heath "Mr Braxton is there something you wanted to say?"
"I don't know, is there?" Heath asked as Brax got up and walked over to him.
"Come on" Brax said.
"Proceed please" the judge continued.
"I just want to be in charge of my own body" I replied.
"No you don't" Heath added.
I watched as Brax sat them both down.
"Want me to do something about this?" one of the security guards at the judge.
"No, leave it, it's kind of interesting" She replied.
"So you want to be in charge?" Mum asked me.
"Yeah, it's my body I want to be able to make my own decisions about what I do with it" I replied.
"No, no I know you Shantelle Braxton, and that's not it" Mum added

I watched as Brax and Heath talked, they both had tears in their eyes especially Heath.
"And it doesn't add up, for a week now you've been avoiding the question. I can't tell you, I'm sorry; I don't wanna talk about it. You've been walking around like nothing's wrong, while your brother rots in that hospital" Mum added.
"I just don't wanna do it anymore, ok?" I asked as tears fell from my eyes.
"I don't believe you, you're hiding something" mum replied as Heath and Brax made their way towards us.
"You are hiding something" Mum continued.
"No im not" I replied.
"People give their kidneys total strangers, you better start talking. Right now little girl" mum replied.
"I am talking" I added.
"Start telling me the truth"
"I am telling you the truth"
"You're not because if you are I don't know you" mum yelled.
"Jesus Christ Shantelle, just tell them" Heath said as he reached us.
"You shut up" I told him.
"Tell them why we're here-" he added.
"You promised me" I yelled over him.
"In court Shantelle" he finished.
"Don't do this" I cried.
"God you people are so stupid" he added.
"You promised" I yelled.
"Jesse wants to die" Heath said.
"Stop it" I replied.
"He's making Shantelle do all this because he knows that he's not going to survive another operation" Heath told the judge.
"That's a lie Heath" Mum replied.
Heath turned to her and replied "No it's not, Jesse's dying and everybody knows it. You just love him so much that you don't want to let him go. But it's time mum. Jesse's ready!"
"That's not true, Jesse would have told me" Mum replied.
"He did tell you" Heath told her.
"He did, he's told you a million times, you didn't want to hear it" Brax added.

Everyone's voices faded as a flashback of me and Jesse become clear. We're sitting on a picnic blanket, just the two of us, just lying there talking.
"It's over, time to go" Jesse said.
"No" I seemed to have said.
"I need you to do me a favour Shantelle"
I cried but replied "What favour?"
"You can release me" she smiled before we both faded.
"So Shantelle-"I was cut from my flashback to be bought back to hearing the judge's voice "For the record did you tell Jesse that you'd stop being a donor so that he could die?"
"Yea" I replied.
"And what did he say?"
With no reply I was automically having another flashback, one of the two of us again just talking but down at the beach now. We're lying on the beach, just talking while watching the water.
"Mum's gonna kill me, what am I supposed to tell her?" I asked.
"Tell her that you're important to. Tell her you want to play soccer, tell her you want to cheerlead" Jesse replied.
"She'll never believe me"
"Yeah she will and you wanna know why? Because it's the truth!"
"Oh boy, you scared?" I asked.
"No, I know I'll be ok"
"What do you think happens? I mean, where you go?"
"I don't know baby"
"Will you wait for me?"
"What?" he asked his voice was sweet and calm?
"If you go anywhere crazy, will you wait? I mean what I will do without you?"
"If you're ever lost or scared, go to Summerbay"
"Summerbay?"
"Yeah, that's where I'll be!"
I was torn from my thoughts once again.
"What did he say Shantelle?" the judge asked me.
"He said thanks"

I went home after the court session, Heath and Casey went straight to their rooms. I haven't spoken to Heath let alone any of them since what happened back there and to be honest I can't stand to talk to them.

My brother died that night I wish I could say that he made some miracle recovery but he didn't. He just stopped breathing. And I wish that I could tell you that something great came out of it, that through Jesse's death we could all go on living. Or even that his life had some special meaning, like they named a park after him or a street or that a spring court changed the law because of him. But none of that happened, he's gone, just a little piece of blue sky now, and we all have to move on. I ran away that night, not because Jesse died but because mum never seemed to pay any attention to me, she never payed any attention to me in the first place because she's always yelling at Brax and Heath for something that they did.

8 years later

Life is different now; a lot has changed in the last few years. Mum went back to work, rebuilt her practice and then made a very nice living but died last year. Dad's still in jail so that hasn't changed. But as for my three older brothers Brax, Heath and Casey, to be honest I haven't seen or heard from any of them for a very long time. I'll never understand why Jesse had to die and we all got to live, there's no reason for it I guess. Death's just death! Nobody understands it. Once upon a time I thought I was put on Earth to save my brother, but in the end I couldn't do it. I realised now that wasn't the point. The point was that I had a brother he was fantastic, and one day I'm sure I'll see him again, but until then our relationship continues.