Hey guys. Sorry bout the wait.
I used to be the type of kid that would always think the sky was falling...
Eminem (legacy)
...
Ari
"Maxie?"
The skinny five year old boy glanced up at his big sister, tugging gently on her sleeve.
"Mmm?" She was distracted; she stared at her phone agitatedly and her pencil scribbled rapidly over her notebook. All Ari saw were numbers- lots and lots of big numbers. To him, it was unimportant. To Max, it seemed like her life was dependant on those symbols.
"Can we go to the park?" She glanced up then, and Ari put on his best hopeful expression.
"Maybe later."
He twisted his shirt with thin, pale fingers, dropping his gaze.
"But... It's just, we haven't gone to the park in ages." Ari knew he was whining, but he couldn't help it. Nobody seemed to want to have anything to do with him lately. It seemed so unfair. He hadn't done anything wrong.
Max dropped her pencil and gave him a tired smile, running a hand through her hair.
"I'm sorry, sweetie, I know things have been hard lately. I just need to finish up a few things now. Maybe Iggy can take you?"
Ari tried to smile, he really did.
"Ok."
Max kissed him quickly on the head and rubbed his shoulder.
"That's my little soldier."
Ari wondered why Max always called him a soldier as he wandered numbly away. He hadn't done anything particularly outstanding, yet she always seemed to think he was better than any other five year old boy.
I'm not that special, he thought. I'm not even that smart, like Iggy, or strong, like Maxie.
Ari set about finding Iggy. Going to the park with Iggy wasn't as good as going to the park with Max, but it was still the park, his favourite place ever. He peeked into Iggy's room- they had been staying with him ever since Max was sad and wouldn't get out of bed- but Iggy wasn't there. Ari wandered to the kitchen- where else could he be?
"Hey Ari."
He glanced up to see Ella. The kind teenager was practically a stranger to the boy, but he knew that she smelled nice- like roses- so she couldn't be too bad.
"Hi, Ella." Ari smiled, showing his missing front tooth. "Do you know where Iggy is? I wanna go to the park with him."
"Um, I'm not sure where Iggy is, but if you don't mind, I could go to the park with you."
Ari blinked up at the girl. Her long, wavy hair framed her heart-shaped face, and her eyes were a warm hazel.
He smiled again.
"Ok, but I need to ask Maxie first."
The two went to the kitchen together, where Max sat with her notebook.
"Maxie, can Ella-"
"Max!" A loud voice slurred, and Ari's head snapped to the doorway. "Where the hell were you last night? We had this freakin' awesome party, and I got totally smashed-"
The owner of the obnoxious voice stumbled in, and Ari jumped back.
"Dylan, you're drunk again." Max's voice remained calm, despite this scary stranger swaying in the doorway. "I can't deal with this right now."
The tall man smelled sour.
Ari tugged on Ella's hand nervously.
"I don't like him," he whispered. "Let's go."
"Max," Ella said, her voice an octave higher than usual. "Me and Ari are gonna go to the park. Call me if you need anything." Max glanced at them, ignoring the rambling Dylan.
"Ok," she said. "Be back in time for dinner."
As the two exited the house and onto the street, Ari winced as he heard Max's voice- "How dare you come here and talk like that! I have a five year old brother! I told you this address for emergencies, not- no! Get up! I will not have you vomiting on the floor of this house!"
Ari knew what happened when Max used that voice. It meant long nights of crying and clutching desperately, bruises and blood in the morning, and not enough food and pain everywhere.
Once he was big and strong, Ari wouldn't let anything hurt them.
...
Ella and Ari were at the park, but it wasn't fun. It didn't seem right to Ari that they were having fun, when Max was in the house doing maths with a scary man who smelled bad.
"Do you want to swing?" Ella offered, smiling hesitantly. She hadn't spoken since they left the house. "I can push you."
Ari shook his head.
"No thanks," he muttered, scuffing his toe on the edge of the swing frame.
He crawled inside the cement tunnel that Max always liked, and sat on the edge. There was gravel on the ground, and it stung his palms. Ari didn't fully get why Max liked the tunnel so much- it was kind of stuffy and uncomfortable- but he figured if he sat there long enough, he would understand.
Eventually, Ella crawled in with him. She had to draw up her knees to her chest to fit.
"Hey," she said. "Are you ok?" Her words were gentle, and Ari felt like he could tell her anything.
"I think Maxie's sad," he confessed. "I think it's because of Sam."
Ella looked pretty sad, in that moment, too.
"Ella," Ari said slowly. "Sam died, didn't he?"
He hadn't really seen Sam that much lately, because Maxie wouldn't let him. They used to see each other all the time, though, but Ari never really liked Max's boyfriend. Sometimes Sam was nice, but he would always act so silly, and he smelled like the scary man Max yelled at. Ari didn't really see the problem with Sam being gone, but it made Max sad, so he wasn't all that happy, either.
Ella cleared her throat.
"Yeah, Ari. Sam's... not with us anymore."
"Ella?"
"Yeah, Ari?"
"Did Sam kill himself?"
Ella blinked.
"Where did you get that idea?"
Ari shrugged his skinny shoulders. He lowered his green eyes and frowned. He didn't really understand why, but he felt different. Empty, like there was a giant hole in his chest.
Maybe it had something to do with the fact that he hadn't eaten very much lately.
"Dunno." He muttered. "I just... I don't know."
...
Ok. Happy new year. :) I'll try and post really soon, I've just been kinda busy lately. Y'know. With stuff. Sorry this isn't the longest. Listen to Legacy by Eminem. It's AMAZING. :) Please review, I know everyone says it, but it really does motivate me. Yep. Hope you have a good 2014. (If you read this note, say 'HNY' in your comment. I've been really curious as to how many people actually read these.)
SS
PS I'm trying to get to 200 reviews before I finish this fanfic. Please help.
