He passed through the hallway and headed up the stairs to her room. The door was open and he gently
knocked. Aunt Celia did not
respond. Darien stuck his head in, and
saw his aunt sleeping peacefully on her bed.
He smiled, and sat down on her couch.
He picked up a magazine and began to flip through the pages. Soon he began to get bored and drowsy. His eyes got heavy, and the next thing he
knew he'd fallen asleep.
Dreams
of Kevin, Uncle Peter, Aunt Celia and himself began floating through his
head. In his dream, Darien was a child
again, about nine or ten years old. He
was running home, having just shoplifted some lollipops from a convenience
store. As he ran, he tripped and
scraped his knees on the sidewalk. He
got up, the skin on his knees stinging and bloody. He tried to hold back the tears.
He saw Kevin coming home from the opposite direction, carrying a heavy
bookbag. Oh great, Darien
thought grimacing. If Kevin sees me
crying, he'll make fun of me for sure.
He trudged home, avoiding Kevin's gaze.
Kevin squinted through his glasses.
"What's
wrong with you?" he asked.
"Nothing,"
Darien retorted, sniffling. Kevin
looked down, and noticed his little brother's bloody knees.
"What
happened?"
"I
was running and I fell."
"Come
on, get inside. Aunt Celia can fix you
up."
"No,"
Darien protested. "I… I don't want her
to know."
"What? Why not?"
"Um,
just because."
"Were
you running from something?"
Kevin waited for a response.
Darien stuck his hand in his pocket and held on tightly to his stolen
goods. "Answer me, Darien!"
"I
stole some candy," Darien finally admitted.
Kevin rolled his eyes.
"What's
wrong with you?" Kevin looked at his
brother's teary eyes; the blood was starting to trickle down his legs. He was angry at Darien's transgression, but
felt bad for him in spite of it all because of the pain he was feeling at that
moment. "Come on. I'll fix you up." He held Darien's hand and led him inside the house. Aunt Celia was in the kitchen cooking,
chatting with a friend on the phone.
Uncle Peter was undoubtedly in the basement, working on a project or
experiment. The two brothers went up
the stairs to the bathroom. Kevin
removed the first aid kit from the medicine cabinet. He removed a towel from the linen closet, wet it with hot water,
and began to wipe Darien's scrapes.
Darien flinched as soon as the hot towel touched his skin.
"That
hurts!" he hissed.
"Well,
I gotta clean it up! Gotta clean off
any bacteria and dirt." Kevin continued
to wipe the scrapes, trying to be as careful and as gentle as possible for
Darien's sake. He removed two large
cotton bandages from the kit, and taped them on with first aid tape. Some blood seeped through the bandage, but
just a little. He smiled at his
brother. "All set, kiddo." Darien looked at his knees.
"Thanks,"
he said quietly. "Are you gonna tell
Aunt Celia about what I did?" Kevin
thought for a moment.
"No,
not this time," Kevin decided. "I think
you got your punishment for what you did."
"Story
of my life," Darien agreed, and suddenly he was no longer a child anymore. He looked up and saw his grown-up brother
Kevin standing in front of him.
"I
always tried to help you, bro," Kevin said.
Darien swallowed.
"I
know," he whispered. "I miss you."
"Kevin! Darien!" Aunt Celia's voice called out. "Come get your dinner while it's still hot." Her voice continued to call Darien's name,
but it was softer. Darien felt someone
nudging his arm. He opened his eyes;
Aunt Celia was smiling at him. He got
up, hugged her, and kissed her on the cheek.
"It's so good to see you! I
haven't seen you in so long. Did you—" She stopped, lowered her eyes, and chuckled
sheepishly.
"What
is it?"
"I…
I was going to ask if you brought Kevin with you," she admitted quietly.
"Oh." They both stood silent for a moment. She smiled again.
"But
I'm so glad you're here," she said cheerfully.
He grinned.
"Well,
you know, I promised I'd come here more often, and now I'm trying to keep my
word. I've missed you, Aunt Celia."
They sat down on the couch together, and began to reminisce. She kept holding on to his hand. Her touch reminded him of what family was
supposed to be: togetherness and unconditional love. Aunt Celia was all he had left, and he was all she had left. He had forgotten what family was. He'd been so wrapped up in avenging Kevin's
murder, that he'd forgotten Kevin himself.
Darien had made a lot of promises to himself and to others that he never
kept, but now he vowed to remember family, to keep a constant relationship with
his aunt. They needed each other. They
needed to keep the memories alive and to keep that familiar love going strong. If not for his own sake, then for Aunt Celia's
sake. Yeah. Kevin and Uncle Peter would've been proud.
