Title: Memory Box

Author: Britani Gael

Rating: PG

Summary: Just a one-shot story, about the relation ship between Joey and his younger sister, Serenity.

* * *

"That boy, when I get a hold of him …"

"Don't you touch him!"

"Or what? What are you going to do about it?" A door slammed.

Joey flinched. He had gone outside, to the sand box, maybe they wouldn't find him. They were fighting about him, always about him, all his fault –

"Joey, what's gonna happen?" Serenity was sitting beside him, looked as miserable as he felt.

Joey looked away from her, at the ground. "I dunno," he said.

"—Maybe if you weren't always teaching him to be just like you!"

"Maybe if you didn't spoil the little brat rotten!"

He could not, would not cry. Crying was for babies, that's what his father said, and he wasn't a baby. All the neighbors had gone inside their houses. Didn't they know that everyone outside could hear them?

"This isn't about him!"

"You're the one that keeps bringing him up."

Serenity sniffed. Joey looked down at her. If he started crying, who would be there for Serenity? He put his arm around her shoulders, she turned and started to cry into his chest.

"You want to spoil someone? Spoil the girl, but you are not going to ruin my –"

"You know what? You're a real son of a bitch."

The slap that followed was loud enough to be heard a block away. It seemed to end the argument, because they didn't say anything after that.

* * *

"You flick your thumb, like this." Joey crouched down, squinting in concentration. He flicked his thumb, sending the marble shooting across the hastily drawn chalk circle. It collided with another marble, and both skidded outside the ring.

Serenity nodded solemnly. She crouched down next to him, mimicking his every move. She tried to flick her thumb, like he had, but instead the shooter dropped out of her hand and rolled a few inches, before it came to a full stop.

Joey shook his head. "Nope." He retrieved his shooter and demonstrated again, making another perfect shot.

Serenity tried again, with the same results as before.

"You have to spin it, Serenity, or else it won't work," Joey said, matter-of-factly.

"I can't," she said. She crossed her arms across her chest. "I tried and I tried. I can't do it."

"You're not gonna try again?"

She shook her head.

Joey's expression turned pleading. "C'mon."

No answer.

"Just try it once more. For me?"

She looked up at him. He winked.

She reached for her shooter, then crouched down again. She positioned the marble in her small, chubby fingers, then shot it.

It spun into the circle, and ran into one marble, and then bounced off onto another one. All three rolled out of the ring. Serenity looked up at her big brother.

Joey grinned. "Nice shot."

* * *

"Serenity?"

Joey looked around. He didn't understand.

He had just come home from school, and he found the kitchen a mess. It was full of boxes, some full, some not. He had looked in some of the cupboards, but they were empty.

Then he had run up to Serenity's room, to ask her what was up, but he had found it as bare as the cupboards. Her bed and dresser were there, but the sheets were gone, and so were the pictures she had taped to the walls. Her closet was open and empty, and the floor was completely clean, not even a strange marble lay on it.

A car started out front.

Of course. He had come in the back, like he always did. They must have been doing something in the front. Maybe a yard sale or something.

He ran down the stairs, and across the living room. The front door was locked, it took him a second to get it open. Then he raced into the front yard.

The car pulled out as he got there. It was Mom's car, the back pilled to the top with boxes. As it backed into the street, Joey got a glimpse of Serenity's face pressed up against the window.

He took off running.

"Serenity!" he shouted.

They made eye contact, and she yelled something, but he could hear it. She looked like she was crying.

The car sped up.

Joey tried to keep up, but it was far too fast. He tripped on his own feet, falling face first onto the street. When he looked up, the car turned a corner. It was gone.

Serenity was gone. And she wasn't coming back.

Joey picked himself up. His lip was bleeding, but he could barely feel it. He walked back to his house, and sat on the steps to his home, remaining completely silent.

Could not, would not, cry …

He looked down the now empty street. He was alone now, and that scared him more than anything.

He didn't care what his father thought of him. He cried.

* * *

Serenity smiled as she closed her memory box. Her vision may have been fading, but she could always remember.

The memory box was something she had been putting together for years. It had drawings, pictures, even a marble or two. Anything that she wanted to save.

Her favorite pictures were the ones Joey had sent her over the years. Pictures front when they were kids, pictures of Joey with his friends, pictures of Joey with his goofy grin.

Her mother rarely talked about him, and when she did, she called him Joseph, never Joey. If Serenity even asked why her mother had left her father, she just got a lecture about what an awful human being her father was.

They how could you leave Joey there? It was what Serenity always wanted to ask, but she never did.

Letters from Joey came sporadically, but she couldn't blame him for that. She hadn't seen him in six years. Half a lifetime ago. They didn't even know each other anymore, but he looked so happy in the pictures. She wished they did.

She had already worn the corners and creases down on his latest letter, from opening it and looking at it so often. Maybe it was because she knew she wouldn't be able to look at it for much longer.

Now it was sealed inside the memory box. Like everything else, she could keep it, and remember it, forever.

* * *

Hey, Serenity.

It's your brother, remember me? Just thought I'd drop you a line.

How're your classes going? You always got really good grades in school, even when you were little. Guess you're the smart one, huh?

Here's some pictures to add to your collection. Tristan took them before school a few days ago. The other kid, that's our friend Yugi.

How're your eyes? They're not getting worse, are they? Thought I heard Dad say something 'bout it. But you know him, he don't talk too much. Serenity, you need help with anything, you just ask, okay?

I love ya, sis.

Joey

* * *