Shattered Soul

Chapter 11- Brother

He saw me, he could finally see me. I felt almost better; I could finally tell him what I felt. The only bad thing is that when Lenny tried to hug me, his fins went through me; I guess that Angie could only give Lenny the Vision, not the Touch. However, Lenny was still happy to see me, so much he was crying. Angie left the storage room, apparently she knew we would need some time alone.

"Franklin," he called me by my full name, "you're here! I thought you were dead!"

"I'm dead, Len," I replied softly, unable to contain my own tears, "but I've been following you around,"

"Really?"

"I've seen you since you ran away from home. I heard everything you said… even that you missed me,"

Lenny tried to touch my fin, but again, his fin went through mine.

"Don't bother… I can't touch you, neither can you, unfortunately…"

I looked at the ground in sadness

"Len…" I looked up into his green eyes, "…did you really miss me?"

"Frankie…" Lenny sniffed, "why wouldn't I miss you? You're my brother, we're family,"

"But I've been nothing but a jerk and a bully to you… I never thought you would love me despite all of that…"

"It's what brothers and friends do, they forgive each other,"

I sobbed silently and swam closer to Lenny.

"Len… I never told you this, but…" I looked into the depths of his eyes once again, "… I love you… you're my little brother, and I'm sorry… for everything…"

I felt lighthearted after I told my brother how I had been feeling while he could not see me. However, I was a bit worried; would Sonia get angry for this? I hoped she wouldn't… my attention turned back to Lenny's disguise.

"What are you wearing? Why are you dressed like that?" I asked him a little annoyed, although I tried not to show my annoyance.

Lenny's smile faded away and he looked at the ground, sadness notable in his features.

"… See… I don't know if you saw it, but a few hours earlier Oscar…"

"The fish who claimed to have killed me, you mean," I growled softly, still repulsed at the thought.

"Yeah, well, he and I faked a fight because Pop had sent his boys here to ice him… you know what it means, don't you?"

"Of course I know what 'ice' means, I've done it so myself a few times…" I laughed slightly

"Long story short, we faked my death and-"

That caught me off guard.

"You WHAT?" I yelled in shock, "Lenny, why did you do such a thing?"

"Would you let me finish?" Lenny locked his eyes on me, a bit angry.

I managed to calm down to hear the rest of his story

"I couldn't go back home to face Pop, Frankie…" my brother looked at the ground once again, "I simply can't go and tell him I'm a vegetarian, it would disappoint him. That's why I faked my death, so I could start a new life,"

"Are you out of your mind? Do you know how hard it will be for Pop to have lost 'both' his sons with barely a week in between? It's going to kill him!" I snapped, "and what about Mom? Did you even think on what she would feel?"

Lenny seemed to understand what I meant. I could not bear that thought; Mom and Pop would be crushed completely, if they haven't already. Pop was strong, surely he could eventually overcome it, but Mom… she was not as strong as Pop was, she would never overcome it, I was sure… Lenny looked at the ground, ashamed.

"I didn't think about THAT detail, Frankie…"

"Len, what do you think would be better? Let them think you are dead and break their hearts completely, or tell them the truth and save them the pain? I know Pop is not a… easy-going father… but he will accept you're a vegetarian after some time."

"That's easy for you to say!" Lenny turned to see me, his sadness turned to hurt, "you were always his favorite, the apple in his eye! It was always 'Frankie, Frankie, Frankie' I ever heard around the house. For him, you were his perfect son, you 'did what you were supposed to!'"

Hearing those words coming from Lenny severely broke my heart… again. I never thought he had felt that way; this made me wish I had known better and cared more for his feelings. I knew he was having an emotional rant, so I decided not to interrupt him.

"And YOU were no better!" Lenny cried, tears visibly in his eyes, "you also labeled me as a disgrace, a disappointment and an embarrassment to the family! You were more open on the subject than Pop, but it still hurt! I NEVER FELT HAPPY OR SAFE AROUND YOU TWO WHEN YOU STARTED TO ABUSE ME EMOTIONALLY!""

That was the last straw; my heart shattered to pieces when I heard his final sentence. I felt tears rolling down my cheeks once again, but these were tears or pure pain; especially because I was aware that everything Lenny was saying was true… I swam closer to him, when he had started to cry openly.

"Len… I'm truly sorry, I never thought of how you were feeling when I did everything I did to you…"

Len's eyes had softened up. I heard a noise and looked towards the door to see Angie floating there, Hurley was trying to peek inside but was having such luck.

"Angie, what's happening in there?" he inquired

"A family reunion," Angie replied softly.

"I think I'm going to cry," a new voice joined in, a voice I recognized too well.

"Sonia? Where are you?" I looked around in search for her, and saw her floating a few inches over my head.

But there was something wrong with her, there was some kind of… regret in her face.

"Is something wrong?" I swam up to her, Lenny watching from beneath.

"Frankie…" she spoke softly, and looked down at Lenny, "I see you and Angie gave him the Vision as well…"

"Are you mad?"

"No, no… it's just that…"

Sonia turned away, still looking at the ground.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry…." I heard her whisper

"Hey, Frankie, who is that?" Lenny spoke up

"This is Sonia, she is the Keeper of the Death, I'll explain you later," I turned my attention back to Sonia, "Is something wrong, Sonia? Where have you been all this time?"

Sonia finally turned to face me, the look in her eyes sent chills running down my spine.

"… sorry about my absence, but I had to go pick up another soul…"

"Whose soul?" my curiosity got the better of me.

Sonia, however, looked at the ground once again, she apparently didn't want to answer.

"I don't know how you would take it…"

"What do you mean?" Lenny swam up to where we were, his curiosity getting the better of him as well.

"Frankie, Lenny…" Sonia turned to face us both, her face showing lots of regret…

"Whose soul did you take?" I inquired once again.

"… Your mother's…"