Chapter 4
Reno stretched out his legs and looked up at the sky. Coming here wasn't the best idea he had ever had, he thought to himself as he sat on the park bench, but he felt he needed to for some reason. He looked over to the house that stood opposite him. It was slightly run down, but it was a home after all. It had been his. He looked down at his cell phone when it started ringing again. Elena. He sighed to himself and pressed the cancel button. He looked back over to the house, smiling to himself as he remembered some of happy times he had spent there.
It had been a hot, summer's day in the middle of July. The sun was just setting, so the kids of the neighbourhood were all venturing out to play in the cool evening. Among them were two red-headed children. Brother and sister; inseparable, and everyone knew it.
Reno had been just twelve at the time, and his sister, 10. He was sitting out, relaxing in the evening sun, while he watched his sister out of the corner of his eye, playing. He watched her put her head underneath a nearby bush and then pull it out again.
"Reno!" she suddenly called.
"Yeah?" he replied smiling.
"There's a dead something under here."
"Yeah…?" he laughed.
"Come get it."
"What do I want with a dead animal?"
"You have to! It might not be really dead."
Reno sighed and jumped to his feet, brushing off the dirt. He headed over to the bush that his sister was standing next to. Sighing again he looked under the bush and quickly jumped backwards as he saw a pair of bright green eyes staring at him.
"Reno?"
"Let me ask you something…how many dead things do you see that stare at you with bright green eyes?"
"Umm… I don't know. Sorry." She hung her head sadly. He smiled and patted her on the back. "Hey, don't worry…" He put his hand under the bush to try and grasp whatever it was that was under the hedge. His sister watched with interest as he bit his lip and his eyes began to water. He pulled his hand out, now with a small, black cat attached to it, its claws and teeth sunk deep into his fingers. He shook his hand and the cat let go, running off in the opposite direction.
"That's what I get for caring for the environment…" Reno said to himself as he nursed his bleeding hand. His sister laughed and clung onto his other arm. They both sat down, her head leaning on his shoulder. Reno leant back against the wall and closed his eyes.
"Reno?" he heard a voice behind him. "There you are."
Elena came by and sat down next to him. "You okay? I tried to catch you at home, but you weren't there…obviously."
"I'm fine." He said smiling. "I just came for a walk."
"Oh, okay. It's just…you didn't answer your phone."
"Never heard it." He said casually.
"Oh. Why are you here then?"
"No particular reason." She watched him as he glanced over to the house again.
"Reno… you know, you told me what happened to your family?" he nodded, "Did you ever…cry, after that?"
"No…"
"It's just that, if you keep it to yourself all your life, it will come back out, you know that, don't you?"
He stayed silent, looking ahead.
"It's just that…I dunno, Reno. You've been acting differently since you told me. I was just wondering if maybe, you needed to talk about it some more?"
"I'm ok, really. I've just…not been sleeping well."
"Why?"
"I don't know. If I knew that I would be doing something about it." He snapped.
"Sorry." He added quietly.
"That's ok." She said, getting up, "Just remember, if you ever decide to swallow your pride and admit that you need to, I'll always talk with you." She smiled and walked off in the direction she came from.