"Ran, please. Just eat your peas, sweetheart." She's tired; wisps of hair are falling out of a messy bun pinned up at the back of her neck. Her face is worn; bags under her eyes from where she's not been sleeping well, crying herself to sleep most nights.
"But Derrick doesn't even eat any of his food. Why do I have to eat my peas?" Randy whines back to his mom.
Derrick scowls at him for a moment then goes back to his Gameboy, choosing to block everything else out.
"I know sweetie," She says, crouching down next to the chair. "But can you do it for mommy? I need you to grow up and be strong, okay? But you can't do that without eating all your greens. Do it for mommy, please?" She pleads, squeezing his arm gently.
"Okay." He says, giving her a smile. "So I can be like daddy."
Her eyes shimmer a little, but she nods her head returning the smile. She doesn't say anything as she stands up but swallows the lump in her throat anyway. She moves over to come and stand by Derrick leaning over the table a little so she can make eye contact with the silent pre-teen.
"Derrick?" She asks, when he still doesn't look up. "Hey come on." She says, being careful as she puts her hand on his shoulder.
He looks up at her with eyes that state he just want's to be left alone. She sighs a little like she's going to say something but decides against it.
"At least eat your chicken, alright?" She compromises. She does that a lot with Derrick anymore.
She waits for his nod and stands back up again, making sure to land a small kiss in his dark hair.
The back door bangs open and she knows her eldest is home.
"Hey mom," Pete says, dropping his backpack on the kitchen island. "Sorry, practice ran late tonight. Coach didn't want us to leave 'til everyone got to bat at least once. He want's everyone to be ready for the big game this Saturday." He explains the reason for being kept late. It's unusual for him to be late; he's so perfect that way.
Randy finishes eating all his peas in record time while Pete washes his hands and Mom dips him up a plate of food. When Pete sits down, Randy runs from the table and over to his backpack he left on the couch.
There is a moment of silence as Pete goes to take a bite of rice and notices Derrick's full plate.
"Derrick, why aren't you eating?" Pete asks. His voice is suddenly agitated as if he's about to pick a fight.
Derrick rolls his eyes, pointedly ignoring his older brother.
Randy is the water put on the flickering coals. "Pete, can you please, please, please, please, please help me with my homework?" Randy asks, jumping up and down with every 'please'.
"Yeah, sure." Pete says, voice returning to normal as he helps pull out a chair for his littlest brother.
Randy smiles so bright; happy that Pete said yes, even though Pete's usually always the one helping him with homework.
When he asked Derrick they'd always end up watching old Loony Tune reruns or going to the park. Well that was when Derrick actually was participating in the family. Randy mostly stays out of his way anymore and talks to him only a little every now and then. And even then it's mostly Randy going on and on about some new thing he's found in the backyard or something that happened at school, Derrick doesn't respond as he flips through another page of his book.
"Can we start with my Science project, please?" Randy begs, swinging his legs.
"Uh, how about we start with Math first, okay? Save the best for last." Pete's still eating as he makes room for the textbook.
"Okay. I hate Math though. I guess I can do it as long as you're helping me." Randy says, ever faithful in the hero-worshipping of his eldest brother.
Derrick at this point has pulled out his pair of headphones and put them on, but no matter how loud he turned up his game he could still hear his brothers. He shuts the game off, sticking the headphones instead into his Walkman.
He gets up from the table as their Mom comes back into the room, wearing her nurse uniform. He walks up the stairs as she comes over to where he had been siting, seeing the plate of food. Nothing but the chicken had been touched and even then only a few bites are gone.
Pete catches her worried eyes, and she shrugs helplessly. Pete can only glare at where his little brother had been a few moments before. He makes a mental note to have another conversation with Derrick, even though experience tells him that it isn't going to work.
She picks up the plate, carefully wraps it in plastic wrap and puts it in the fridge next to the one from the night previous. She still holds out the hope that maybe if he's hungry enough he'll eat the rest of it, but it's always one of the other two who eats it up.
"Alright, I gotta go to work." She says coming over to kiss Randy and hug Pete. "I love you both, okay?"
The choruses of 'love you, too' and 'see you tomorrow' are echoed missing a number.
000BROTHERS000
"He's a smart kid. He really is. But unless he picks back up his grades, he's gonna drop out. I'm sorry." Principle Hendricks says, and his voice is truly filled with remorse.
"Drop out?" She asks. She knows her middle child has been struggling but she didn't know it was this bad. She mentally scolds herself for not checking in on this more.
"Look, if it wasn't this bad, you wouldn't even be here right now. I know it's a lot to deal with, and I know he just lost his dad…" He doesn't finish, even after all these years it's still hard dealing with these situations.
"I know, I know." She answers quickly. "But I've tried everything with him. He doesn't want to do anything. He dropped out of Baseball and won't go to chess club. I've tried therapy and new activities. I know healing takes time and everyone moves at their own pace, but I'm worried that he's just shutting down instead. I'm so worried about him." She takes a breath. "I don't know how to help him. He just doesn't want anything." She concludes.
There is a moment of silence as she tries to stay calm and not cry in the principles office.
"You know, in all my years of being at this school I've seen a lot of cases like this. You would think that I would be better qualified to deal with it, but I'm not. I still don't know what to say, 'cause I don't think there is anything you can say." He finishes with an awkward smile.
"I don't need you to say anything, but if you could just understand." She says with a watery smile of her own. "Just give me some time. I'll make sure those grades go back up."
"Yeah, yeah." He says, waving a hand as if to dismiss it.
She gets up, grabbing her purse.
"And Mrs. Hill?" Principle Hendricks stops her from going out the door, "For what it's worth, I think you're doing a great job."
His opinion doesn't really matter but it was nice to hear anyway. She smiles again and goes out quickly to hide the tears threatening to spill.
The hall is deserted but she waste no time. She brushes a few tears away and walks for the exit doors before one of her sons can catch her here.
"Mom?" Pete voice calls to her from down the hall.
She stops, her escape is lost. He jogs down over to her. "What is it? Why are you here? Is something wrong?" His questions are fast, and he can't hide that he's worried.
"No, don't worry about it, sweetie. Everything's fine." She doesn't mean to lie, but she doesn't want him to know about Derrick.
"It's Derrick, isn't it?" He asks, seeing right through her facade.
She sighs dropping her mask. "Yeah."
"I knew it. He's about to drop out, isn't he?" Pete says without really expecting an answer.
"Wait, how do you know that?" She asks, taking a step closer.
Pete shrugs lamely, "A few weeks ago we got Report Cards and I saw his. His grades are bad." Pete says and then rethinks what he just said.
His mother face is full of regret. "I should have known." She sighs again. "Peter, why didn't you tell me when you first saw the Report Card?" She asks, getting stressed.
"I was going to. But then Derrick said he was going to fix it and get his grades back up." Pete says, remembering what had happen. As soon as he had seen the Report Card they'd gotten into a fight about it. In the end Pete was on top of Derrick with his arm-twisted into his back, and Derrick squirming beneath him. Maybe a promise made out of duress isn't a good way to make one?
He didn't tell his Mom any of this though. He's a little too mad at Derrick for making Mom upset again. He's had it with his little brother so when he parts with his Mom he has every intention of picking a fight with Derrick next time he see him.
000BROTHER000
"See you later, Derrick." A friend calls, jogging back across the field. He has a class that takes place right after lunch and the break is almost over.
Derrick just nods a little at the retreating form and puts the unfinished PB+J in his backpack. He's about to get up when a shadow falls over him and he looks up to see his older brother looming above him.
A look of contempt crosses his face. "What do you want, Pete?" He asks rising to his feet.
Pete's arms are crossed in annoyance. "You told me you were going to get your grades back up." The words are spoken coldly, but true.
Derrick freezes in mid-bend to pick up his backpack. He straightens back up as he says, "Yeah, well I don't usually keep promises made when I'm about to get my arm broken." He utters back.
"You lied to me." Pete says, dropping his arms as he takes a step closer.
"Yeah, well you were going to break my arm." Derrick says taking a step closer too, slowly shutting in the space between them.
"Well maybe if you'd just been more of a man in the first place and kept them up I would have to hound down on you." Pete takes a jab, physically pushing his brother back a little.
"Whatever. I don't have to listen to you." Derrick scowls at him, pushing Pete's shoulder back harder.
"Yes, you do. Because I'm the oldest and until you're ready to start acting more mature you'll listen to what I'll tell you." Pete's says, coming close again.
"I may listen but that doesn't mean I have to do what you tell me!" Derrick says, getting up in Pete's face. "You're not Dad!" He shrieks.
Pete's eyes flash and he grabs Derrick forcefully, trying to push him down to the ground. Derrick is having none of it and starts shoving back, but when he cocks his fist back and it collides with Pete's face, they end up on the ground; rolling around to get the upper hand. Grunts of pain are the only sound as bruises are made with every hard punch and rude kick.
Something clicks inside of Derrick and he's the first one to pull away, shimmering eyes starting to get very hot. He gets up and backs away from his brother.
"Damn it, Derrick. You think you've got it so hard." Pete says, panting a little. He's still on the ground, sitting back on his haunches.
Derrick is breathing very heavily and not only out of the physical exertion. His vision is very bleary and he's trying not to cry.
"But what about us? What about Mom? You don't see or I don't know- care about what you're doing to her, do you? She's so worried about you." Pete says, shaking his head a little. "And then there's me and Randy. You think you're the only one hurting but you're not. I'm not alright, either, but you're so wrapped up in yourself that you can't see anything else, can you?" Pete accuses, finally letting out what he's bottled up without realizing.
"You're hurting, I get it. But I know the pain you're carrying." The tears have spilled over much to the chagrin of Derrick as he stares at the ground.
Pete continues, the irritation starting to fade out of his voice. "You don't have to feel so alone, you know." He says, sighing.
He gets up and takes a step towards Derrick who takes a step away from him.
He closes his eyes, feeling his chest constrict with the aggravation. But he moves more quickly next time, catching Derrick by the shoulders as the younger boy hides his face behind his hands.
It's obvious that his little brother is uncomfortable and Pete tries to get him to focus on him instead.
Hugs have never really been a thing between the brothers so Pete just brings up his left hand and places it on Derrick's head in the old display of affection that they've done since they were kids and rests his forehead against his little brother's.
"Derrick, look at me." It comes out a little more like a request than a demand but Derrick won't, taking a shaky breath.
With his free hand Pete slowly unglues Derrick's hands from his face, reveling red eyes.
He still can't catch the younger boy's eyes but at least he can see them now. "You're acting like you don't need us. But we're all each other has." Pete says, waiting for the nod from Derrick.
They might fight, and prank and call each other names, get into the worse sorts of trouble because of each other, bicker and hurt each other's pride; but they're still brothers and all of that comes with the territory.
The school bell rings from the other sides of the field they're standing on.
"Come on." Pete says, allowing the embrace to drop as he pulls away. He starts to walk back towards the building thinking Derrick was right behind him. When he turns slightly he doesn't see his brother there and as he twists around it's just in time to see his brother make a quick get a way over the fence. Pete sighs, annoyed again as he throws his hands up in the air.
000BROTHER000
"Hey Mom, we're home!" Pete calls as he and Randy walk through the front door.
Their Mom comes into the room, relief on her face soon to be replaced with worry. "Where's Derrick?" She asks, voice filling with concern.
"He's not here?" Pete asks, suddenly getting tense. It's 6 already and since Derrick quit all extracurricular activities he's usually the first to get home as Pete and Randy have sports practice most nights.
"No." She says, starting to fidget with the side of her apron. She drops it as Randy comes over to her.
"Mom, did Derrick runaway?" Randy asks, looking up at her with big, sad eyes.
"No, baby. Why would you ask that?" She asks, getting on eye level with him.
"He just…" Randy doesn't finish, looking down at his feet.
"What is it sweetie? Do you know where he is?" She takes his small hands in her delicate ones, stroking them with her thumbs.
"He's just been so sad anymore. I thought that he was going to leave and now…" Randy's eyes start to water.
"Oh sweetheart." She says, pulling her youngest in for a gentle hug.
Pete's heart is starting to race hard as scenario's of the trouble, real trouble his little brother could be getting in to. He mentally scolds himself for not running off after Derrick when he saw him jump the fence.
"How-" Pete's voice is tight as his chest constricts with understandable anxiety and rage. "What makes you think that he's not just running late?" Pete doesn't even know why he's asks this question.
"Well, actually I got a call around four. Principle Hendricks said that he'd not been in any of his classes since lunch and with how he's been acting he thought it'd be best that I know. He knows that some kids play hooky after… but he'd just thought that, just in case, I should know anyways." Their Mom says as she gets up and pulls Randy over to the dinning room table where cookies are waiting.
Randy is almost immediately distracted and their Mom goes over to get a glass of milk for her youngest.
"Mom, we have to do something." Peter whispers urgently, coming over to stand by her. He casts a quick glance over his shoulder to make sure Randy is still distracted. He doesn't want to make his little brother cry again worrying about Derrick.
Irritation rises again at the thought of his brother running off -which is what he is sure of at this point.
"Like what sweetie?" She asks. She's still worried a little and Pete can tell, but something seems to be holding her from panicking. Pete wonders at this for a moment, curious if maybe his Mom knows something, but tucks it away as thoughts of Derrick being out there, alone somewhere. What if something happened, that could change him-
No. Pete shutters at all thoughts of his baby brother getting himself into real trouble without him being there, shaking them free of his mind for the moment.
Take care of your brothers.
His father's last words.
He's always taken them very seriously; difficult as it can be at times, now is not any different.
Except he doesn't know the first place to start looking for Derrick and he's starting to get very nervous.
"Mom, you have to call the police." Pete says, trying to keep his tone even. He feels very hot and angry and worried all at the same time.
She stops what she's doing and looks up at him very seriously.
"Mom, please. He could be hurt somewhere or worse… Mom, please." Pete repeats. He's eyes hold nothing but desperation for her answer to be yes. He still feels guilty about not running after Derrick back at school and now he just want's to know that his brother is safe.
"…Okay." She agrees. "But look after Randy for now, alright? I don't want him getting upset again."
Pete nods, distractedly. She moves over to the phone as Pete walks over to Randy; sitting down next to him.
As she dials the police Pete moves Randy over to the couch putting on Cartoon Network. When Randy is settled Pete moves back over to his Mom.
"Yes, thank you." He hears her say before hanging up the phone. She turns to look at him, an unreadable look on her tired face.
"Officer Simms will be over in a quick moment to get a recent photo of Derrick." She says quietly. Her eyes suddenly get very wet and Pete moves over to get his mother a hug.
"I'm sure he just running late is all." Pete tries to reassure his Mom, not believing it himself one bit. She takes a shuddering breath, but looks up as Randy laughs lightly from the couch.
Pete lets the embrace drop, moving instead over to the kitchen island for a cookie, trying to distract himself from all the thoughts going through his head. He chews idly, watching his Mom over by Randy, stroking his hair softly and holding him close.
He takes a breath and continues to ignore the thoughts off what could be happening and the guilt he feels about it all. But he can't help the jump when the door bell rings, and a loud knock follows.
He looks over to his Mom and their eyes lock for a moment.
Randy is the one who jumps up, thinking maybe its Derrick. He runs over before they can stop him and he pulls open the door. He looks up, his little heart sinking, into the face of a young officer.
"Mom?" Randy asks nervously, looking over to the to where his Mom is walking up to him. When she reaches the doorway, Randy ducks behind her leg.
"Miss Hill?" The officer asks.
"Yes, that's me. Officer Simms?" She asks, trying to move to grab a picture, but having Randy securely glued to her left leg was a problem.
"Yes," he replies seriously.
"Come on in then," She says, managing to move out of the way even with Randy clinging to her side.
Simms comes into the house. His present is quiet and serious as if he's been through something like this before.
"I just need to asks a few questions and then I'll be out of your hair." He says, pulling his notepad out.
"Go ahead." She answers, completely given up on Randy not hearing any of this.
"When was the last time you saw him?" Simms asks, looking up at her.
Pete stays quiet.
"Well, last time I saw him was last night before going to work. But I got a call from the River Wells School, staying he hadn't been seen since lunch. I'm guessing that's when he ran off."
Simms nods writing things down. "And what would make him run off?"
The question throws her off a little, but she steadies her emotions as she rests her hand on Randy's back. "He, uh, lost his father a few months ago. And um, he hasn't been doing well."
The officer nods, liking something clicking inside of him and he relaxes a little.
"Do you have a recent picture of… Derrick? Is that right?" He asks.
"Uh. Yes to both." She answers, finally detaching herself from her youngest.
She gets a picture quickly, one sitting on the mantle-piece. She hands it over to the young man.
"One more question. Do you have any idea where he'd go off to?" Officer Simms asks, handling the picture carefully as he glances down at it.
"Uh. No." She answers truthfully.
He nods, as he closes his notepad and puts it away in his back pocket. "Well, this is how a case like this works. Because he's not been missing for a full 24 hours, we don't start a statewide search yet. It would be different if their was evidence of kidnapping, but as of right now, it sounds like he's just run off to blow off some steam. Now for your peace of mind and in case, the post will be on alert and his picture will be circulated so that if anyone see's him, he'll be brought in for you to come pick up." He lets that sink in for a moment.
"Okay." She says, taking a deep breath.
"You know to call if you see or hear anything." He nods, moving to go back out the door.
He closes the door and the silence in the house is only drowned out by the sound of the TV.
She takes a breath and claps her hands in front of her to try and shake herself out of the sinking feeling that's crawling into the pit of her stomach.
"Mom?" Randy asks very shakily.
"It's okay, sweetie." She says, placing a hand on his shoulder.
"No. No it's not. Mommy, where's Derrick?" His eyes are big as he stares up at her, but before she can respond Pete's had enough and he has to do something.
"Mom, I'm gonna go out and look for him. I know his hangouts, I'll bring him back." Pete says, trying to sound impassive as he moves over to the door to the garage.
"Peter." His Mom protests, giving him a pause.
"Mom, don't worry about it. I'll be back soon." Pete tries to sound confident.
000sorry000
11:37
…
11:38
…
11:39
She sighs, lifting up from the place where she laid her head on the table. Both of her sons are still gone and she feels useless just sitting here. She tell herself why she can't go look for them, she's got Randy to take care of and what if one or both of them return?
The loud sound of a lighting strike makes her shiver and wonder if she should go and check on her youngest. She gets up, grabbing her mug as she goes over to the stove to refill it.
With the cup hot and the liquid steaming she turns around to nearly drop it.
A form illuminated by the lighting flashes is standing by the back door.
"Derrick!" She whisper-shouts, realizing whom it is. She quickly turns on a light to see him better.
He is soaking wet from the hard rain outside and standing there with an empty expression on his face.
"Oh sweetie," she says, moving over to him.
She grabs his face as she pushes his dripping bangs off his forehead. She tilts his chin up to look at her. His black eye makes her heart squeeze and she doesn't even care that he's soaked as she wraps her arms around him, hugging him tightly.
"I was so worried about you, Derrick. Where were you?" She asks, a healthy mix of mad and relief now her middle child is back.
After a moment off him not saying anything, she pulls away from him.
Touching his face gently, she asks, "Hungry?"
He shakes his head in yes.
"Okay. Look, I'm not gonna yell at you, but you have to promise me something." She states, and continues, "Don't do this again, alright?"
She pulls back and waits for his answer. It takes a moment but he nods.
She runs her hand through his hair one more time and takes a step back to grab a bath towel from the table where she'd folded all the laundry a few hours before. She wraps it around his shoulders lovingly, and then leads him to the couch to sit down.
There were no words to be spoken between mother and son. She warms up the leftovers from the night's supper and makes him eat a few bites before sending him off to bed.
It won't be long til her oldest is home, now.
With that thought she hears the back door open again as she finishes washing up Derrick's used plate.
"Hey mom," Pete begins, looking defeated.
"He came home, Pete." She says.
His eyes flash to hers, his anger flaring as his target's location becomes known to him.
She gives him a pointed look, however, stopping him in his tracks.
"I want you to leave him alone, Pete. I've already spoken to him and I don't need you to be another parent. Be his brother right now, Pete. You all need each other more than ever. We... We all need each other right now." She says, controlling her emotions with some difficulty.
Pete says nothing, just simply nods. He comes over to hug his mom.
She wipes her face, "Now off to bed, go." She shoos him away, lovingly.
She watches him go, and somehow, she doesn't know how, or when, but she knows they're all going to be okay now.
After all, they're in this together.
The End