Mark quietly approached the swingset where his brother sat, burning up a Marlboro. The smell of smoke burnt his nostrils with the fresh sun of Spring bearing down on him. Leading him was a rusted metal dolly cart, empty and with a loose wheel.
CJ could see out the corner of his eye that his brother was walking towards him, but kept his focus ahead of him on his cigarette. He tried his best to knit his body as far together as it would go, lest Mark sense his imminent breakdown. Two lone garbage bags and a smaller, previously used grocery bag sat unceremoniously next to the swing he was in.
"That's it?" Mark called out as he pulled the dolly cart flush to the swingset's pole. "That's all you're bringing?"
"I don't have much." The brother said on the swing, voice hoarse and fingers shaking.
"Uh... well..." Mark mumbled to himself as he moved the sunbaked black bags to the cart's platform. The smaller bag fell to the ground in his shifting. "Wait, what's that?"
CJ took another draw from his cigarette before breathing out his answer. "The money from the safe."
Mark rushed to the bag and tore the knot away to find $500 in $20 dollar bills. He let his eyes roll over the cash before retying the bag. "Look, I hate Mom and Dad too, but come on. They could charge you for this, and you know they will. We can't make a clean break with this."
"Shut up." CJ's eyes narrowed. "They deserve to lose it, I deserve to gain it. I don't care."
"You're gunna care when they pull their damn lawyer into this."
"Nope, still won't." CJ lifted himself out of the swing before dropping his finished cigarette onto the ground and stomping it out. Mark rolled his eyes and threw the bag onto its already loaded brethren. "Wait," He said as he gripped the handlebar, "that's all they had in the safe?"
CJ shrugged and dug his hands into his shredded jeans. Mark turned the cart around and the two brothers dug their boots into the path out of the park.

CJ hung his hand over the side of the boat as the waves smoothly drifted by. Mark sat beside him, in the proper direction, scrolling through his phone. He had long since given up trying to get anything else out of CJ; he never talked much and today's earlier situation didn't help, nor did the fact that the brothers hadn't seen each other in almost five years. They had kept in touch over the internet, sure, but never too much. CJ mostly was absorbed into his own mind, and Mark mused how grateful he felt that he didn't turn out the same way.
"You told them?" CJ's quiet, dark voice slit the air around it and startled the older brother.
"Huh?"
"You told everyone, didn't ya..." CJ's voice drifted off, following the waves.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
CJ groaned and flipped himself around before snatching his own phone and tapping out a short message. He whipped himself back around to face the outside of the boat and threw his phone back into the pocket of his orange flannel overshirt. Mark was about to ask why CJ was intent on not stating it until he opened the text.
"I didn't tell anyone. Well, Sabrina knows. That's it, I swear on God."
"I told you not to tell her," CJ hissed at him.
"After the fact, yeah!" Mark bit back, which earned him no response. CJ's gaze turned away again to the blue licking the boat's side.
"It's not like it matters," CJ sighed, almost inaudibly.
"No one will even notice, man. I've already hyped you up as my brother. They'll buy it, I swear. These are good folk."
CJ fell silent again, and didn't speak for the rest of the trip.

The dock came in suddenly with a hard thud, knocking CJ over for a moment. Mark helped him up and grabbed the dolly cart's handle. He strolled off, his younger brother slowly and heavily following behind. A girl sat at the end of the dock on land, holding up a small banner that read, "Welcome home, CJ!" on it. The evening breeze blew her long, black hair past her purple almond-shaped eyes.
Once the last of CJ's thick brown boots made it off the dock, the captain called the stop once more before heading back on his route. Mark hit the beach sand and wrapped an arm around the girl's waist.
"Hey hun," He said, followed by a cheek peck.
"Hello sweetie," Her voice was softer than the breeze itself. Her gaze turned to CJ and she smiled wider. "Hello! How was your trip?"
CJ kept walking, head down, past the pair until he realized he had hit shore. He looked up and noticed his brother's girlfriend looking at him with a gentle smile.
"Huh?"
"I just wanted to know how your trip went," She said, more faulter in her voice.
"Good."
"That's great!"
CJ shrugged and dipped his head, causing his long mousy-brown hair to cover his face. Sabrina folded her banner up and clutched it to her chest.
"Alright guys, it's about high time we turned in. Ceej, you can stay with me for the night. I think the old coot is asleep by now and he's got your house keys," Mark announced.
"'K," The brother returned. Mark patted Sabrina's shoulder as she gazed at CJ worriedly.
"Let him be," He whispered, and the pair headed off through the rock walled entrance to the beach, CJ in tow.

CJ sat on a stool in Mark's kitchen, a towel draped over his shoulders. Sabrina was nearby, fluttering about her boyfriend's kitchen and whipping up dinner. Mark held a pair of scissors to the nape of his brother's neck.
"So you want all the back off?"
"All of it."
"Like, up the bang line?" Mark held his finger at the top of CJ's head where the both the back and bangs separated.
"Yeah. Shave it. Not a clean shave. Just shaved."
"You sure? That's gunna look a little strange."
"I'm sure."
"Alright," Mark conceded, and began cutting off huge chunks of the long back until it was short enough to run his razor over. As he worked, Sabrina came around the island with a few bowls of clam chowder. She sat the tray out of the splash zone of CJ's cut hair and sat herself on the stool next to it.
"I... I don't think we've been formally introduced," She almost whispered. CJ pointed his ear as Mark ran the razor nearby. She nodded understandably and played with a stitch on her skirt in awkward silence.
After Mark finished, CJ ran a hand over the back of his head and smiled wide for the first time in what felt like forever.
"How do I look?" His voice cracked as his eyes waxed misty.
"Great," Mark and Sabrina said in near unison. CJ shoved his hands between his knees and smiled at the floor, his eyelids drooping. After a moment, Mark nudged CJ off the stool and Sabrina guided him to the couch.
"Here, have some chowder," She chirped as she retrieved a bowl and deposited it into CJ's hands. He gazed at it for a minute before giving a small taste.
Mark leaned over the back of the couch, remote in hand, looking for anything good to watch. Sabrina rejoined them with a bowl for Mark and herself.
CJ gazed up at the pair. "Thanks. For this."
"No problem," Mark smiled. Sabrina nodded. CJ looked back into his bowl and didn't look back up until it was all gone.