Behind Loving Eyes
Prologue
It was well after nine o'clock when he watched his brother pull a bag out from under his bed. From beneath sleep feinting eyes, Huey watched his younger brother slip out of the room with a stealth he had never thought Riley was capable of. Waiting until he was sure Riley wasn't coming back, Huey got out of bed and made his way to the window. There he watched his brother slip out of the garage on his bike and down the block into the black silence of Woodcrest.
It was hours later when Riley came back. Huey, who had been laying on his bed at the time, slipped back in to his fake sleep, keeping his eyes and ears trained on his brother. Riley let the bag drop onto the bed and rummaged through his stuff for his book bag. After locating the object in question, he began transferring things from one bag to another. Huey watched as text books, notebooks, pencils and pens made their way in to Riley's book bag. His brother had been doing homework? Not possible. In the eleven years of his brother's academic career he had never once done his homework without forceful encouragement. What could possibly be going on?
"Damn, it's only 4? I wish I coulda stayed longer."
Huey's ears perked up and he shifted in his 'sleep'. Riley froze, looking over at his brother and then sighing in relief, believing that Huey was still asleep. Sitting down on his bed, he began to slip out of his clothing, tossing them into his mess of a floor. As he took off his shirt, a quick glint of something in the dim light caught Huey's attention. Sliding under the covers, he laid down on his back and Huey watched him reach down and lift up a chain from around his neck. Holding it up as far from himself as he could, his brother examined the chain around his neck. After a moment of staring, Huey could see that there were dog tags at the end of the chain. His brother stared up at the tags for a long time, rubbing the two tags together from time to time, the silence making the scraping sound they made seem to echo throughout the room.
"At least I finally got them."
Riley whispered to no one in particular, and as Huey looked on, his brother's face relaxed and a soft smile made its way onto his face even as his eyes locked on the tags as if nothing else existed in his world.
"'You are never alone in this world. I will always be your guide.' That sounds like some of that gay ass nigga shit Huey would say ta me… But it's ok I guess."
His brother brought the tags down to his lips and kissed them, his eyes screwed shut. Riley clutched the tags and rolled over slowly slipping into a light sleep.
Huey's mind was full of questions, the foremost in his mind being where the hell Riley had gone. It definitely hadn't been Ed's house; he was still in one piece. This was the fifth time in three weeks that Riley had done this. Huey rolled over, letting the building questions fade to background noise. What mattered most was that his little brother was back home and safe. As far as Huey was concerned that's all he had to worry about at the moment and he needed sleep. Settling down Huey allowed himself to slip in to a peaceful slumber.
