Strugglin'
By: DMICEPRINCE
Chapter One: Memories
It had only been a few weeks since everything had happened. Everyone was going on about their lives like nothing had happened. Everyone, except Riley. It was hard for him to let it go, seeing as it had happened to him. He never talked about it to anyone and no one knew how it happened or who had did it for that matter. All anyone knew was that someone had kidnapped Riley and returned him three weeks later. He looked beat up and was shaken. His whole being had changed. The once thug like boy was timid and unfriendly. He didn't talk much, he only talked to certain people. He wouldn't say a word to his Grandfather.
Although it had happened three weeks ago, the events of those two weeks were fresh in the young childs mind. He thought about them often. Even now as he was sitting, indian style, on his bed the thoughts were coursing through his mind. He gave a light sigh that caught his older brother's attetion. Huey...Huey had been left alone. He had been left to stay with his Granddad and watch tv and all the good stuff that Riley had been accustomed to.
"Yo' you good, bro?" Huey asked in a quiet voice. He stood up from his seat at the computer and made his way over to his own bed. He sat on the edge of it and looked over at Riley. "You wanna talk?"
Riley shook his head. "No, thank you." He muttered.
Riley would always talk to Huey. No matter what trama he went through. This was only because he knew that Huey would always be there for him. Another person he would always talk to was his bestfriend Cindy. She was the last person he was with before the horrible kidnapping. He sighed again, pulling his knees up to his chest. He was glad that they had cut their basketball game short. Had he kept playing with her and had they walked home together Cindy would've been in danger as well. It had seemed that the man would go at any lengths to take Riley with him.
He shivered and tightened his grip around his legs. He burried his face in his arms as he felt his eyes began to spill salty hot tears. He didn't like crying, he never has. The only other time Huey had seen him cry was when he had gotte whoopin's. Huey slid off of his bed and crawled over to Riley's on his knees. He wrapped his arms around the smaller boy.
"It's gonna be ok, Riley." He said softly, holding his brother. "I'm here for you."
Riley sobbed softly before straightening his legs and throwing his arm around his brother. He cried into his brother's shoulder. Something he wouldn't normally do. He closed his eyes tight but it wasn't doing any better than having them open. He tilted his head a little and looked up at his brother.
"Huey.." He said softly, tightening his grip on his brother's shirt.
"Yes?" Huey asked. He looked down at his brother. He had never seen him this way before.
He shook his head and snuggled closer to his brother. He didn't want to talk about it anymore anyway. He slowly closed his eyes and let sleep take over him.
"How's Riley?"
Huey was standing at the sink washing dishes. He looked up and in his side vision was a girl with strawberry-blond hair. Her hair was pulled into two puffballs. she was wearing a white tank top and a black skirt that stopped a few inches above her knees along with a pair of white boots with fur on the top. Her black hoodie was half zipped. She walked over to the table and sat down.
"He's doing fine, Jasmine." Huey said calmly.
When people were around Riley and Huey were never seen together unless they were on their way to do something for their Granddad or they were fighting. It was ever so rarely that they even played the game together. Jasmine looked around the house.
"Where's Riley anway?" She asked raising an eyebrow.
"Doctor's appointment."
He dried off his hands and walked over to the table. He sat down and picked up the book he had been reading. He never told anyone why him and Jasmine had been spending so much time together. During the time of Riley's absence Jasmine had been the only one to see how Huey felt about it. She had comforted the boy while he waited for his brother to return home. During this time they had started dating and it was still being held a secret. Of course, Huey was sure Jasmine's bestfriend, Cindy, already knew.
"Oh..is he sick?" She asked looking up at him. She heard him sigh in annoyance. "Umm..nevermind."
The sound of the front door opening caught Huey's attention and he looked up from his book. He stood up and walked calmly towards the front of the house until he was out of sight of the kitchen before jogging the rest of the way to the living room.
"Aye, Granddad.." Huey said as he entered the living room. He looked at the couch where Riley was laying down, listening to his music. "What's wrong?"
"There's nothing wrong." He said, sliding into his recliner. He looked over towards the younger child. "Riley, why don't you go in the kitchen and get some juice?"
Riley nodded his head. "'Kay, Granddad."
He got up from his seat on the couch and walked out of the room. From the look on his granddad's face and the way he sent Riley out of the room Huey knew that this wasn't going to be good. He leaned against the wall and watched his grandfather closely as he waited for his response.
"Riley.." Granddad started with a sigh. "He's not mentally stable."
"What?" Huey asked standing up straight. "But...Riley was just fine."
"The doctor says he's having a hard time with his emotions." Granddad explained looking down at his hands. "The boy's a bomb. Any minute he can go off and we won't know what to do."
"What do you mean?" Huey asked moving to seat on the couch, he was starting to find standing very hard.
"What I mean is eventually he is going to lose controll and either kill us or himself." Granddad looked up at Huey. "I'm sorry, son."
Huey looked at his Granddad in disbelief as he tried to process this all through his head. His brother was either going to die or kill one of them. Either way, Huey was going to make sure neither happened. When their mother died Huey had promised his brother that he would always be there for him and he had yet to break that promise. Except for that night.
The night Riley had been kidnapped and the night he had returned had both been hard days for Huey. One because he thought he lost one of the only people he cared about and two because he had let his brother down. At some point he had felt like he would never get his brother back. Now that he was back physically he had to get him back emotionally.
"So what are we going to do?" He heard a small voice from behind him.
He closed his eyes, but didn't turn around. He knew it was Jasmine. "What can we do?" He asked with a shakey voice.
"We just can't give up on him!" Jasmine exclaimed. "Huey, you of all people are not gonna give up on your brother...Are you?"
Huey opened his eyes and looked at her. There was so much emotion in his eyes that even his Granddad could tell he was serious.
"Of course not!" He said standing up. "If anything I wanna be here for him. I'm not gonna let him die..I'm not gonna let anyone die."
"I don't wanna die, Huey."
Huey swore under his breath before walking around the couch to where his brother now stood. He wrapped his arms around him and pulled him into a tight hug. He hated seeing his brother so weak. He hadn't seen him like this since their mom had passed.
"Riley..." He said as he stroked the shorter boys hair. "Riley, your not gonna die...I promise."
Riley sniffled slightly and hid his face in his brother's chest. He was scared. He didn't want to lose his family. They were all he had. He wrapped his arms around his brother and held on to him. He didn't want to let him go. He tilted his head a little when he felt something wet on his hair. Was Huey crying?
"Huey.." Jasmine called. "Huey..please don't cr-"
Huey laughed slightly, the tears still evident in his voice. "Jasmine, I'm fine." He said softly as he rubbed his brother's hair. "I'm just fine." He whispered before kissing the top of his brother's head. "I love you, Riley."
"Huey..." They all whispered.
Authors Note: Wow! It's been such a long time since I've written a story. I know this first chapter is kinda short but it's the best I can do as of right now. I know its not the best either but it's been a minute since I've written anything. So I hope you enjoy it and I accept contructive critisim. Ummm..some sense were inspired by songs. Scenes are divided by lines most of the time. umm..let's see..The scene with Riley and Huey at the end was inspired by a song from Wild Arms 5 called "Only because it's important, does it break easily." Soooo when you read that part you should listen to it :) R&R