Broken
Chapter 21
Luther was at work, waiting for the wonderful, caring new worker he had. Max was just mean, but this girl was amazing
"What did you bring me today?" He asked, sitting up when the door opened. It was her, but someone was with her.
"Hi, Luther," she said, smiling at him.
"Hey," he said, frowning at Bone. "What are you doing here? And with her?"
"Naomi need roommate," Bone said, nodding at the woman. "I need room."
"What?" Luther wasn't at all thrilled to see his long lost friend.
Naomi laughed, shoving Bone a little. "I told him no, Luther. I'm looking for a girl roommate, not a guy."
He settled down again. "Oh. Welcome back, Bone. Have you seen-"
"Max," he said, walking off to the back. "I've seen Max."
"Wait, he works here?" Naomi asked, setting down a bowl of food in front of Luther.
"He did," Luther said as he pulled the foil off the bowl. "What is this?"
"Miso soup."
He frowned. "What's it made of?"
She shrugged. "My grandmother made it for me."
"You and your grandmother need a roommate?"
"Huh? No, she doesn't live with me," she said, smiling at him. "My mother, father, and grandmother live in this town too. I moved out, but go over there everyday."
"That's cool," he said, looking at the soup with interest. "So you're Chinese, right?"
"No. I'm Japanese."
"Even better," he said. "So, I was thinking. Me and you have been hanging out for awhile now, right?"
"We work together," she said, grabbing a clipboard off the counter. "Have you sent in the orders yet?"
"No, but I'm talking about something more important right now," he said. "We should date."
"I'm more concerned with this right now," she said, walking off to the back. "Monday, Luther."
"Huh?"
"We will go out on Monday," she said, closing the storage room door behind her.
"Mommy, is Iron Man your ex-boyfriend? Because if he is, Daddy's fine with you leaving to be with him. Huh Daddy?"
Fang sighed. "Bone is not Iron Man, Jason."
Neo smiled. "I think he is."
"Yeah," Jason agreed. "I want my dad to be Iron Man."
"Jason," I said, frowning at him. "Don't say things like that."
Fang shook his head, shifting Lance in his arms. Bone had left half an hour ago, but they were still worked up about it.
"Guys, chill, alright?" He looked at Lance. "You want down now?"
He shook his head, holding onto Fang stronger. "What if he comes and hurts me?"
"Why do you think that he'll hurt you?" I asked Lance.
"He's scary."
"Why?"
He just moaned, cuddling closer to Fang. Chris looked up at him before at me. "I'mma go potty."
"Okay, go."
Giggling, he ran off. Boys are so weird.
"Where's Bone gonna live?" Lucas asked. "He can share my bed, if he needs it."
"No," Fang said, walking out of the house, taking Lance with him.
"Where are you going?" I asked him, but I got on answer.
"Iron Man wouldn't do that to you," Jason mumbled, to which Neo nodded.
"Shut up, alright?"
Damien was on the couch, napping, when there was a knock at the door.
"I got it, Dad," Sam said. She had been sitting on the floor, playing a video game.
"Great," he mumbled sleepily.
"Hello," she answered. "Ooh, you're cute."
Bone just stared at the little girl. "Samantha."
"And you know my name," she said with a smile. "Are you here to take me away? Like…are you gonna be my husband?"
He shook his head.
"You should be. We're in love, you know."
Still just staring, he shook his head.
"Yes, we are. Now, what's your name?" She asked. "I have to tell everyone that I'm marrying you, so I need to know your name."
"None."
"You don't have a name?"
He shook his head. "Not anymore."
"That's sad," she said. "You know what?"
"What?"
"You can be Eric and I'll be Sam! Okay?"
"…Uh…"
"You know, like Eric and Sam on 16 and Pregnant? Only I don't know how to get pregnant. Daddy doesn't either so-"
"Sam, who's at the door? Cameron asked as she walked down the stairs. She glanced at the couch and found Damien passed out. Good thing…
"Eric," she said, grabbing her new crush's hand and pulling him into the house. "He's my husband."
Cameron's eyes widened. "Bone?"
"Eric," he said, glancing down at Samantha. "Eric."
"What?" Damien sat up. Then he almost crapped himself. "B-Bone. You're back."
"It's Eric, Daddy," Samantha said. "And I'm gonna need a second bed in my room."
"Why?"
"For Eric."
"If you were married, you would share," Cameron said, walking over to the chair and sitting down.
"Married?" Damien almost crapped himself again.
"Yes," Samantha said. "Huh, Eric?"
"Yes," he agreed. Eric…sure beats the hell out of Artemis.
"Bone, what are you doing here?" Cameron asked, now done with playing games. "And, Samantha, turn off the game thingy. My show's on."
"I was down here first."
"Well, I was alive first. I win."
"No," she said. "Everyone lived with God before they were born."
"Everyone lived with God before they were born," Cameron mocked in a high pitched voice.
"Dad, she's being mean to me!"
He just stared at Bone. "Why are you holding Samantha's hand?"
He shrugged. "Bubba?"
"Huh?"
"Dog. Bubba? Where?"
"Oh, uh, him…" Damien looked around for an excuse, but found none. "He, kind of, got old and, uh, died."
Bone dropped Samantha's hand and ran over to her father. "He what? You killed my dog?"
"Please don't hit me."
"Me hitting you isn't the worst of your problems, you little-"
"Eric, let Daddy go," Samantha yelled. "No wonder no one ever gave you a name. And if you hit him, the marriage is off."
Now, Bone didn't really plan to marry the girl. He's not sick like his father or anything like that, but he was finally getting the chance at what he always wanted. Slowly, he let Damien go, setting him back down on the couch.
"Good boy," she said. "Now, apologize."
Cameron was starting to enjoy her daughter, if only a little. "Shut up, Samantha, and take this stupid game off the screen so that I can watch my show."
"After Eric says sorry. You have to say sorry when you do something bad. Huh, Dad?"
Damien took in the fact that he could very easily have to be mopped up off the floor by his wife before answering. "No, no. It's fine, just this once."
Bone turned to Samantha and smiled. "Bye."
"You're leaving?"
He nodded. "Max."
"What?"
"He's going to be with Max," Cameron said. "Now take the stupid thing off my-"
"Max! Over me?"
"Max is my sister."
She gasped. "Really?"
"No," Cameron said, rolling her eyes.
"Yes," Bone, now Eric, said. "Really."
"Then me and Jason could be related! I'd be his ant."
"The word is aunt, Samantha," Cameron said. "God, you've spent too much time around Trinity's family."
"Whoa," Damien said. "That was very racist."
"Was not," Cameron said. "It was true."
"No, it's not."
"And I didn't mean it like that. God, you'd think you were black or something, Damien."
"Why are you always so-"
"I meant it like...they're underclass, not that they're black. Stop trying to look for reasons to make me look bad."
"I'm not looking, it's just obvious."
"I have plenty of black friends."
"For one, that's a very racist thing to say. Two, name one. The only person in the world that can stand you and be friends with you is Max."
"Excuse me, I am not a racist."
Bone shook his head. This was why he couldn't stand to be around the two of them. Damien was too sensitive and Cameron was too abrasive.
"Bye," he said to Samantha.
"Goodbye, Eric. I love you," she said, not even caring that he left without saying it back. All those little fourth graders were now suddenly less important. Eric was now her husband and she would be faithful to him…sort of.
"And another thing, Cameron, it is pronounced ant. The u is silent," Damien went on.
"Why would they put a letter there that is silent?"
"I don't know. Why don't you ask the word xylophone?"
She groaned. "I was just telling her how to talk. It's not even a racial thing. Stupid southern people say it that way, and I don't want her to sound stupid."
"You made it racial by saying that she was getting it from my mom's family."
"Your mother's family speaks incorrectly, Damien. I never said it's because they're black."
"You might as well have."
She looked at the ceiling. "Do you think that I'm racist?"
"No, Luther, of course not."
"Do not even compare me to that stupid idiot, Damien," she said. "Besides, would you marry me if you thought that I was a racist?"
"My mom married my dad!"
"Well, your mom is stupid."
He jumped up. "You take that back, right now!"
"Excuse me?"
He was afraid of Bone, but Cameron was down right horrific. "Please?"
Groaning, she stood up and started up the stairs. "I can't even watch my freaking show without you or your daughter causing issues. Why do I even leave my room in the house that I bought? That I had before I even thought that I would take in trash like you or give birth to someone that falls for every guy older than her? Just…God!"
It was silent for a few minutes before Samantha spoke again.
"So are you ready to give me away on my wedding day?"
The tattoo artist just sat down and put his head into his hands. Why did his life always have to be hell?
"Thank you," Lance told Fang, cuddling his stuffed dog to him. "I'm gonna name him...Wang."
"Because Wog's already taken, right?"
Lance giggled, grabbing Fang's hand as they left the store. "Chris is gonna be jealous."
"Eh, he can get over it," Fang said, smiling down at him. "You know, Lance, if you want, I can make it to where you never have to see Bone again. If you want, I mean."
"Max likes him."
"How do you know that?"
"She hugged him. You only hug people that you like," he said. "Right? Don't hug strangers. That means they're bad. Don't take their candy either, huh?"
"That's right," Fang sighed.
"Wang wants to know what type of dog he is."
"He's a pitbull."
"Rawr! They bite hard," Lance said, making a motion with his mouth. "If Bone tries to hurt me, I'll have Wang bite him."
"Yeah," Fang sighed as they made it back to the car. "Get in, Lance."
He got into his car seat, setting Wang in his own seat. "Buckle in Wang too."
"Of course," Fang said. The dog was in the middle seat, so it wasn't hard. "There, happy?"
"Yes. I love you, Fang."
He leaned over and gave him a kiss. "I love you too."
"-he's the coolest cat, with the heart of steel. But Iron Man-"
"Jason, chill," I told him, sighing. "I hate that theme song."
"I love it," he said, staring at Bone. "And I love you, Iron Man. I used to like Warpath from X-Force, but now that I know the real Iron Man, you're my favorite. That's just Marvel though. If we add in others, it'd be Captain Carrot, hands down. Though, I do like-"
"Bone doesn't care about that, Jason." What the hell is Captain Carrot? Thank God Fang doesn't let them read DC.
"Not Bone, Max, Eric," he said, looking around.
"What?"
"Well…fine, Bone. But Eric replaces Artemis now."
Yeah, because Eric is so much better. "Whatever, I'm still calling you Bone."
"Fine. Just don't call me Artemis."
"Why not?"
"That's only reserved for…well, you can, but no one else."
I sighed, sitting down on the couch. "I wasn't planning on call you that anyways…Bone."
He smiled. "Thank you."
"I'm calling you Iron Man," Jason said. "Or should I say Anthony Stark?"
Neo giggled. "We watch you all the time, on your cartoon. Fang has all of them on video. I would ask you to watch them, but you probably don't wanna. You see enough of yourself, huh?"
He just blinked. "Which one are you?"
"Neo."
"Right."
Neo smiled. "You can sleep in my room, Iron Man."
He cocked his head to the side. "I do need a room."
"Mine," Lucas said suddenly. He had been in the kitchen, playing with Fox, but had now returned. "You can sleep in Tyler's bed. I don't like him anyways."
Bone blinked. "Tabitha?"
"She's at her boyfriend's house."
He looked as if he were in thought for a second, before nodding and sitting down next to me. Chris climbed into my lap while studying him.
"Hi," he said.
"Hi."
Then he smiled. "I use the toilet and eat with a fork."
"Me too…sometimes."
He giggled more. "Bone…Here."
Chris pointed to his arm and Bone nodded. "Yeah."
"So are you staying in my room?" Lucas asked Bone. "Huh?"
He shrugged, getting up. "Leaving."
"Where?" I asked. "You just got here."
He nodded. "Nina."
"Are you coming back tonight?"
He shook his head. "Love."
"I love you too," I mumbled, slightly saddened. I know that he had been to my house twice in the few hours he had been back in town, but still. I expected him to be with me for the rest of the day. We were brother and sister, you know. Were...
"Bye, Iron Man!" Jason yelled.
"We'll miss you, Anthony," Neo called after him.
"You haven't even seen my bugs," Lucas said, frowning as Bone closed the door behind him. "I thought he was my uncle."
"He was your uncle," I said. Was…
"You know, I didn't want to come home yet," Tabitha started as Fang pulled away from Adeem's house. "We were having a very important-"
"Bone's back," Fang said, not caring to know about what they were talking about.
She was silent for a second. "Oh."
"Yeah."
"I bet Max is happy," she said, an undertone of bitter in her voice.
"Yeah, I bet she is too," Fang said, frowning. "Wouldn't you want her to be happy?"
"Wouldn't you?"
"What at you trying to ask?"
"I want her to be happy," Lance told them.
"I just mean, you don't like Bone, right?" Tabitha looked at her father.
"I don't care for him, no, but I don't hate him."
"Well, I do. I hate him and Luther! You can't just come back and act like nothing ever happened. They left us and now they have to pay."
He glanced at her before back at the road. "Pay?"
"Yeah," she said. "Pay."
"How?"
"I don't know. At the least, they have to fix what they broke."
"Like what?"
"Like…James. Luther doesn't even talk to him. Maybe if he left me alone and focused on him, Adeem's dad wouldn't think that I come from a family of freaks! And he doesn't even know Tyler to think that. Only Luther."
"Tyler is not a freak."
She snorted. "Anyways, I don't like Luther."
"We were talking about Bone."
"Him too. I don't like him neither."
"You mean either?"
She stared at the road too, if only to keep from looking at him. "At least I'm going to college, unlike you. Trying to correct me and you didn't even go to grade school!"
He had to watch his tone as his next words came out. "College? People who leave at 15 don't go to college."
Eyes widening, she was for once taken by surprise by her father. The only time she had spoke that thought aloud was... "Y-You heard that? All of that?"
"You guys think that you're the only ones up in the middle of the night," he said, snorting. "And when did you think that you could use the f-word freely?"
She sat up a little straighter, trying to regain her composer. "It's not right to eavesdrop."
"Yeah? It's not right to hurt your brother like you do."
"Maybe I don't care about right and wrong. You can't make me!"
"No, I can't. But I can ground you."
"Might as well," she said. "I'm leaving soon anyways."
He snorted. "You'll be running back home, crying a day after you do."
"That's what you think! You don't know anything. That's why we all hate you," she spat. "Maybe I am glad that Bone's back. Hopefully Max will get with him and finally leave you."
"Either way you're stuck with me. You're my daughter, not hers."
"No, I'm Lydia's daughter."
"Last time I fucking checked Lydia didn't want you!"
"Last time I checked, I don't fucking want you!"
Lance started crying and that was the only thing heard the whole way home, if you could call it that. Is it really a home when no one wants to really be there?
When Fang got home, he was extremely pissed. I was starting to actually be glad that Bone wasn't there, so that we didn't have a murder on our hands.
"What's wrong?" I asked, but he just pushed past me and down the hall, the slamming of our bedroom door soon following. I looked outside and saw Tabitha getting Lance out, who was crying loudly, holding a new stuffed animal in his hands.
"Here," I said, going out there and getting him. "I got-"
"Don't talk to me," she said, letting me take him and walking off.
I am so done with Tabitha, Tyler, and Fang. I try and be nice and they all act like I'm an outsider. Like I didn't wipe Tyler and Tabitha's asses and let Fang treat me like trash in the past. I'm just as much a part of their lives as anyone and they had better learn that and quick.
"What's wrong, baby?" I asked Lance, carrying him and the new toy into the house. "Huh?"
"They started yelling and…Max!" He wrapped his arms tightly around my neck.
"Shhh," I soothed, carrying him to his bedroom. Chris jumped off the couch and followed.
"What's wrong?" He asked Lance as I laid him down on his bed. "Where'd you get that?"
Lance sniffled, holding it out to him. "It's Wang. He's a pitbull. Rawr."
If this were Jason and Neo, there would be a huge fight over the fact that one of them got something and the other didn't. Chris just giggled. Lance smiled weakly, rubbing the stuffed toy against his best friend's face. Then they both started giggling, taking turns shoving the dog in the other's face. I smiled a little, getting up and leaving them to play.
The rest of them can complain about this world all they want. If they just stopped and played like Chris and Lance for a second, maybe they'd back away from the edge and realize how good they all really have it. Turn off the HIM for just one second and listen to some Weird Al, people, and death won't seem all that great. God.
Bone walked into his old apartment building, feeling nostalgia take over him. Then he realized it was just that he hadn't had a beer in a day and shook it off. Up to his old floor and then to the apartment across from his. Knocking on the door was hard. What if she didn't want him to take Nina back? And where would he take her? These questions were quickly solved, however, when the door wasn't answered.
"What do you want?" Came a shrill voice from the other side. "To rob a little old lady like me? No, I don't think so. I have a gun, you know, you little crooks. With your pants down below your waist."
Oh, Cameron would just love this woman. If only he were a joking kind of man he might ask her how she said the word aunt. He wasn't though, so he didn't.
"I'm looking for the Jones's. I'm guessing they don't live here anymore."
"You're guessing right, low life."
Why are old people so mean?
"Do you know where they moved to?"
"Oh, I know this trick. Get me to open my door and then rape me."
Who rapes old people? That's just nasty. Bone sighed, walking away. It was no use. He went downstairs to the management office.
"I used to live here, and-" he began, but was stopped.
"Lost and found's down the hall. Though you should know that the new tenants are welcome to whatever they find."
"No, no," he said, shaking his head. "See, I was looking for someone that lived across the hall from me. They moved and have my dog and-"
"What do you want me to do about that? I'm a busy man. Get to the point."
Bone looked at the guy in front of him. In his late fifties, over weight, and bald. Normal landlord type.
"I want to know if they left a forwarding address."
"Now you know I can't give that kind of thing out," he said, finally looking up at him. "Liability and such…of course, that could all go away for-"
"Hundred. Here."
The man stared at it before turning and going over to a file cabinet. "Name?"
"Jones. Apartment-"
"Shut up, here they are. No address. Sorry, kid."
He looked at the hundred that the guy was pocketing. He thought about trying to get it back, but decided against it. He had stolen it anyways.
Walking back out of his old apartment building, Bone decided that he was stupid to ever even come looking. It had been years. It was stupid to think that things would still be the same. Bubba was dead, Nina was gone, and he had nowhere to stay. Of course, Lucas and Neo had both offered their rooms, but he didn't want to go back to Max's. Sure, it was great to see her and the kids again, but it wasn't the same. Nothing was. Nothing about this town was what he was expecting. It was just…memories. And, honestly, he drank to forget those, so why go somewhere that they stayed beer or not?
"What is your problem?"
Fang didn't look at me. I didn't care. I was mad at him.
"You come home, slamming doors, making all the boys upset-"
He mumbled something under his breath.
"What? If you're going to talk-"
"I said to shut up! God, just fuck off, alright?" He finally looked at me and I realized that I did care. I wanted him to look at me. "Your little boyfriend's back in town, go bother him instead of me."
"He is not my boy-"
"Sorry, brother. What? Pro incest, are we?"
"You are walking on thin water, Fang."
"I'm not God, Max."
We stared at each other for a second, but I broke first.
"Then I guess you're going to have to drown."
"Guess so."
"What are you doing here?" Luther asked.
"Work here."
"Not anymore, you don't," he said, frowning at Bone. "We close in ten minutes."
"What?"
"Yeah. After we left, Max and Fang changed closing time to midnight."
"Change back," he said, sitting down. Luther thought about this for a second before shrugging. He had nothing better to do.
"So how have you been?" He asked, trying to find something to talk about.
Bone laughed at him. "Good one."
"What? I'm serious," he said, looking around. "Don't read too much into this, but…I missed you."
It was silent in the store for a few minutes. Then the clock on the wall behind them that Lucas had give Fang for father's day a year ago made twelve cricket noises. It was midnight.
"I missed you too," Bone said, staring straight ahead. Luther smiled a little, his dry lips cracking slightly.
"When we leave again," he began, already knowing that they would, "we have to agree to meet up before our death. You're one of the best friends that I've ever had."
Bone looked at him out of the corners of his eyes. "Alright."
"Sober," Luther went on. "We have to meet each other sober. Then get completely wasted one last time."
"How do you know before you die?" Bone asked.
"Oh, you know. People just don't realize it. You get a feeling that they don't understand. Even people who die of something like tripping and accidentally falling off a building. They know it, they just don't realize," he explained. "We'll know the feeling though."
"We will?"
"Of course," Luther said. "Me and you, we know the secret. We know that life isn't the event. It's the sucky opening band. Death is what you pay for and afterlife is the encore that you didn't expect, but are blown away by."
Bone cocked his head to the side. "You don't think that we're going to Hell?"
"Bone, I don't know if Hell is real or not, but if it is, as long as we're together, we'll be alright."
He laughed. "Yeah, we will, won't we?"
"Yep. Bone and Luther. We belong together. I mean, if we were gay-"
"You're going too far."
"…Sorry."
"It's okay."
"Why do they all fight so much?"
Chris laid his pillow down. "I no know."
Lance laid his next to Chris's. "Gonna thunder all night, you think?"
He nodded. "Yes."
Lance left the room for a second, returning with a blanket. Chris left and came back with Mr. Tiger. Wat, and Wang. Giggling, the two boys laid down, comforted by the sound of their older sister breathing.
"Think Tabs will mind?" Lance whispered.
"No," Chris said, shaking his head.
They liked the lightening from storms, but the thunder scared them. Max had cried the whole night and was in her room while Fang was up in the attic. They didn't want either of them, nah-ah. They wanted someone that they knew what they were getting. Max and Fang always threw curve balls. Tabitha scolded them no matter what.
"I love you, Chris," Lance whispered, cuddling his two stuffed toys against him.
"Love you too," Chris said back, chewing on Mr. Tiger's tail. About ten minutes later, the rain that Lance had predicted came. Yawning as she woke up, Tabitha stood up to go let Tank in. She was walking to her door when she stumbled over something, more like someone.
"What are you two doing?" She asked, turning on her light.
"We're scared of the thunder," Lance said.
"Then go find Max or Dad!"
"Max is crying and Fang is mean," Lance said. "Please let us stay."
She sighed. "Just get up into my bed. Why did you get on the floor?"
"We didn't wanna wake you," he said as he and Chris jumped up, bringing their stuffed animal, blanket, and pillows with them to her bed. She groaned, walking out of the room. When she got to the kitchen, there was Tyler, at the table, in the dark, writing.
Saying nothing to him, she went to the backdoor and opened it. Tank ran in, licking her hand thankfully before going to get under the table. He didn't like thunderstorms either.
"You could have let him in, you know," Tabitha said.
"He's your dog."
"I feed Snickers most nights."
"I never ask you too."
She almost said something just as rude back to him, but stopped herself. Was it not her that said she would be gone soon? Did she really hate him that much, to spend her last years with him in a bitter battle? One that neither was ever going to win?
As she was walking towards the living room, she said, "One day, Tyler, before I'm gone, I want you to tell me what you write about at the dead of night."
After he had already heard her bedroom door close, he added a wish of his own. "And one day I want you to tell me what I ever did to make you hate me so much."
I actually went to work the next day. I couldn't stay at home with Fang, after all. When I got there, Bone was there, but Luther wasn't.
"What time did you get here?" I asked, sitting down next to him. I didn't have any of the kids with me.
"Yesterday."
"You worked the whole night? We close now."
He just stared at me. "Still sleep?"
"At work? Yeah. All the time."
"How?"
"Huh?"
He pointed to the wall behind me. "Kept me up."
"Lucas's bug clock?" I smiled a little. "You get used to it after awhile."
"Guess."
Laughing a little, I said, "I can tell that you're not happy to be back."
He neither confirmed nor denied this.
"Either way though, I'm glad that you're back," I told him. "I just think that you need to know that. It doesn't seem like anyone's told you that."
He blinked, not looking at me. "Sam has."
"Huh?"
"Bubba died. Can't find Nina. Jamisha moved."
"Oh," I said, trying to connect this to the six year old.
"Sam named me Eric," he said, smiling a little. "Sam's not Luther's."
I shook my head. "Neither is Tabitha, right now."
He shrugged. "Sam's mine."
"Sam's Damien's."
"Tabitha's Fang's. Luther still got her."
"She's not Fang's right now," I sighed. "Why do people always have to fight?"
"Nature."
"No. That's an excuse that stupid scientists always use when they realize that they can't figure something out. Why do killers kill? Nature. Why do some animals not like meat? Nature. No, that's just a lie."
"That's what God is, right? Why do people die? God. Why did my whole family get taken from me? God."
I shook my head. "I'm just so tired of Fang."
Bone looked at me. "Shut up."
"W-what?"
"At least Fang's alive. At least he loves you," he said, frowning at me. "There you go again, pretending like you know pain."
"And there you go again, pretending like you're the only one in this world that can hurt," I said. "I thought that leaving would change you, but no. You're just a selfish jerk."
It was silent for a minute and I thought of me telling Bone to leave. Even though it hurt me, I thought that it would be better for him. Instead, it just hurt the two of us and didn't help anything. Now I didn't even have him as a brother. Just a friend. It's like a cut. When it leaves you with a scar, it might not hurt, but you still hate it just as much.
"Have you ever listened to Weird Al?" I asked him.
Bone blinked. "Yes."
"Do you like him?"
"Better than what Luther listens to."
I laughed a little. Brother or not, I still loved him, if only as a friend. "Well, even Hannah Montana is better than that."
"Don't take this too far," he said, giving me one of his rare smiles. I smiled back.
"Did you miss me, Bone?"
"Yes," he said. "I told you that before."
"Yeah, but that was before. This is now. Now that we've fought, did you still miss me?"
He frowned, a weird look coming over his face. "You know, the last time I talked to Victoria, we were joking around."
I was silent, knowing that wasn't all he had to say.
"I didn't want her to leave. It was raining," he told me, turning to look at me. "The last thing she said to me was I love you."
"That's good," I whispered.
"No, Max, it's not," he yelled, as if I had said the wrong thing. "I want to go back and fight with her. I want to go back and yell at her. I want to go back and make something memorable happen, something that I won't forget. Because I've already forgotten what the last thing I said to her was. Did I say I love you? Did I just grunt as she left? Was I still complaining about the rain? If I had yelled it, I would know. I know the last thing I said to you, to my father, to Carrie. God, Carrie."
He looked away for a moment. "We were in the car, arguing before she died. I remember telling her that I shouldn't have to always take out the trash. It's not in a code of conduct, I said. My father, I called him an asshole. You, 'you'd leave too, right?' Remember? I do."
"I remember," I mumbled.
"Then why can't I remember, Max? Why?" He was crying now. Not sobbing, no. Tears were just coming down his face. I don't even think that he noticed.
I let him cry for a moment before speaking. "Knowing you like I do, and knowing the last thing she said to you, there's only one word you could have said."
"What?" He asked, staring at me liked Lance did when he wanted to know why there was a baby in the sun on Teletubbies.
"Love," I told him.
"Love."
"That's what you said," I told him.
He turned back around, sniffling. "…Thank you."
I laid my head down on the counter, trying to think of the last thing I had ever said to everyone I knew. I came up blank. "Your welcome."