Chapter 4: The Breaking Point

Brian woke up late again, as usual. Except his brother didn't wake him up this morning. In matter fact, nobody did. He had to get up himself, and reacted quickly when he noticed the clock. Breakfast was almost over, and he had to get to school.

Brian quickly got up and searched through his clothing for some that had already been ironed. He threw them on as quickly as he could and selected his school supplies. As he appeared in the kitchen, Bailey and Barry caught him at the door.

"Sorry," panted Brian.

"I was just coming," said Barry. "Get a doughnut or something. We've got to go."

Brian picked out a muffin instead and followed his older siblings outside the house.

"Where's Langston?" asked Brian after swallowing a good chunk of the muffin.

"That doesn't seem like you to worry about where he is," said Barry with a smile. Bailey went on to answer the question.

"I was up when he was just leaving to go somewhere. He had a black bag in his hand and there were some screws and a screwdriver on the table next to him. He seemed very happy when he was leaving that day."

"Maybe he's quitting," suggested Brian.

"Brian!" complained Bailey.

"I don't like him! And he doesn't like me!"

"I don't see anything wrong with him!"
"I do. He's been after me ever since. And it's all because of the way I look."

Bailey stared at him.

"C'mon, Brian," she started. "It has nothing to do with your looks."

"I heard it myself, Bailey," yelled Brian. "Look. I barely look like you guys. You two look more like Mom than me. I've seen pictures. I barely look like her."

"You do look like her," cut in Barry.

"In what!" said Brian a little less loudly, now that he was calming down.

"Uh……well….You've got her nose."

Brian looked at his brother with a 'not amused' expression on his face. Bailey cut in this time.

"Brian. You may not have much of a resemblance. But I've seen you two together. You have Mom's eyes."

Barry leaned over to Bailey and whispered,

"He does?"

Bailey gave a slight nod and Brian decided to conclude the discussion.

"Listen. All I have to say is that I don't like him. And I don't ever think that my feelings will change about him."

Brian walked on almost leaving his siblings behind. Those last words really got him heated, and he just wanted to get to school and get more sleep in. He went through the school day quietly and was glad to see that the guy he sold drugs to last night didn't show up to class. Brian found it slightly suspicious, but forgot about it quickly after the bell rang. He did his usual of waiting for Barry and Bailey to show up with their friends. After school, instead of going straight to the house, they decided to go by a Burger Shoppe. When they reached there, Barry treated Brian to a burger, which he got from doing some house work at other people's houses. One of the staff was on break and was flirting with Bailey over in the back of the restaurant. Barry sat down in a booth with his younger brother to have a talk. Brian had just swallowed the last bit of his burger.

"Hey, so…You okay?"

Brian looked at him.

"I guess. What do you mean?"

"Well. You were pretty angry this morning. And we've told you about your tempers and that it could get out of hand at one time."

"Get out of hand?" asked Brian with lowered eyes.

"I mean. That you could go crazy. Psycho or something."

"I'm not crazy, Barry."

"I know. But I'm just saying that you should calm down a little. I've noticed Langston being a little unfair to you sometimes. But just ignore it."

"Don't repeat that one year thing."

"I wasn't going to yet," said Barry with a smile. "But if you can stay calm for that long, then we'll all get a great reward."

Brian was silent. He had heard this a million times, but it was different this time. Barry was more serious than ever. Every time he repeated that phrase, 'One More Year', he had a smile on his face. But Barry had a pleading look on his face, which was a first in Brian's eyes.

"Well…" said Barry waiting for an answer.

"I'll try," answered Brian.

"Good," said Barry putting a smile back on his face. "C'mon. Let's get Bailey so we can go."

The brothers retrieved their sister and headed back to avoid missing their weekday curfew. When the three got back to the home, Langston and Ms. Louis were standing in the hallway. Langston had that black bag in his hands, with a slight smirk on his face.

"Brian," started Ms. Louis in a soft voice. "Can we speak to you in our office?"

Brian exchanged looks with his two siblings, receiving a shrug from Barry, and followed the two middle aged adults into a room. Unlike the other rooms, there were no other kids or teenagers in here. It was a room with a large desk and two chairs behind it and two in front of it. On one side of the desk were a computer and the other were papers just lying there. A television and VCR were on the far side of the room.

"Have a seat," said Langston with the smirk starting to grow.

Brian sat down in the seat wondering what they would want and what Langston was so happy about. Ms. Louis started.

"Brian. Mr. Langston installed a camera above the windows of the bedrooms while everyone was at school yesterday."

Then something hit Brian. Could Langston have seen when…?

"I'll take it from here, Carmen," cut in Langston.

Langston picked up the black bag he had been carrying and sat it on the desk. He unzipped the top and pulled out a camera. Brian's stomach tightened as Langston hit a button and the camera opened up, from where Langston pulled out a small tape. Langston then stuck the mini tape into a larger tape with an open top for the small tape. Langston stood up and inserted the tape into the VCR. Brian's hands got sweaty as Langston pushed the play button and snow appeared on the television. Footage quickly showed and showed black and white scenery. The footage showed the bird eye view of Brian sneaking out of the window.

"And ten minutes later," said Langston pushing the Fast Forward button.

The footage moved faster and stopped after the counter hit 9:59. A couple of seconds later, it showed Brian sneaking back into the house. Langston cut off the footage and looked at Brian's nervous face.

"Well…," said Langston trying to hide his pleasure. "Two counts. Sneaking out and breaking curfew. This will surely get you punishment. What were you doing sneaking out so late?"

Brian surely couldn't tell them that he was doing a drug deal. It would surely make things worse. But what could he do? He couldn't think of a reason that quickly.

"None of your business."

Those were the fist words that popped into his head and out of nervousness, he said them. Langston's expression got a little meaner and he started yelling,

"Tell me now!"

Brian wasn't going to take this. He quickly jumped out of the seat and ran out of the room. He could hear Langston yelling and he was sure that the other kids heard him too. He jolted out of the door. He had all of his money in his pocket, and he was going to find his dad and live with him.