Hey Guys! New chapter today. It's an overall sad chapter, sorry. Thank you all for the positive feedback! I will be posting a new chapter next Tuesday so be on a lookout. Questions, comments? Leave it in the comment section. Enjoy:)
Chapter 5
Dani is walking through the park. It was a nice day with good weather. Dani sits down at a nearby bench. A boy, around Dani's age, sits next to her.
"What are you doing here?" The boy asked, having a similar voice that Dani has heard before.
"What do you mean? I-"
"I told you to take care of mom. What are you doing here?" The boy asked again looking at her. It was her brother, Lucas.
"Lucas? I thought you-"
Where is mom? You had to take care of her, what happened?" Lucas states in a cold, angry voice.
"Mom is… she is dead," Dani responded in a low voice, looking down.
"Dani! I told you to do one thing and you fail me? What kind of person are you?" Lucas asked with a face of disgust.
"I'm sorry, Lucas. I swear I tried to help her," Dani tells him.
"You are lying and you know it!"
Dani looks at the floor, tears falling down. "I'm sorry. You are right, it's my fault."
"Tu tienes la culpa y lo sabes! Como puedes vivir sabiendo esto?"
"Lo Siento. I'm very sorry." She says, her voice cracking.
"You failed me, Dani. You are an absolute failure"
"you are right. I failed. I'm sorry."
"Dani."
"Dani."
Dani opens her eyes in a sudden change of scenery. She sees Emily above her with a worried look. Emily is smoothing Dani's face while Dani is trying to understand what was happening.
It was just a dream. Dani looks at Emily, guilt in the girl's eyes.
"Shh, its okay Dani. It was just a bad dream." Emily tells her in a soothing tone.
Dani sits up and looks at Emily. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to wake you up." Dani rubs her eyes.
"Don't worry, okay? Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah… it was just a dream. Not that big of a deal."
Emily holds Dani's hands and looks at her. "Honey, you are shaking."
Dani notices and tries to calm down.
"Was it about your brother, Lucas? You mentioned him in your sleep."
Dani nodded.
Emily lifts Dani's chin up. "What happened in your dream, Dan?"
Dani drifted her look away from Emily. She exhaled deeply and looked down at the floor.
"One day, Lucas and I went to the park," Dani began. "We were better off outside than inside the house due to...well you know. We were out playing, having fun. Once it was starting to get dark, we were heading back home." Emily looked at her, patiently listening. "We stopped at the corner store and we bought ice cream. Our favorite flavor, chocolate chip," Dani says with a weary smile. "Once we stepped out to the parking lot, there was a drive-by shooting. Lucas quickly pushed me behind a car, causing me to fall on the floor. When the shooting stopped, I got up and saw him on the floor," Dani feels a lump forming in her throat. " I looked back and saw that he got shot in the abdomen. There was lots of blood. I looked at him and he was barely conscious. He told me that he loved me and to take care of mom for him." Dani had tears in her eyes and tried to blink them away. "After he said that he closed his eyes. I never saw them open again." She said the last sentence in a whisper.
Emily looked at Dani heartbroken. "Oh baby, come here," Emily embraces Dani with her arms. She is holding her tight, refusing to let go. "I'm sorry this happened to you."
"I promised him that I would take care of mom and I failed. I failed at my brother's last wish," she tells Emily. Dani can no longer contain her tears. The floodgates open.
Emily rests her head on top of Dani. "Honey, this isn't your fault. Your mother passing away is not your fault. You did your best to take care of her. What happened was something that you couldn't control."
"Then why does it feel like it?" Dani asked, sounding heartbroken and defeated.
Emily presses a soft kiss on Dani's head, holding her. She cradles Dani like a mother would cradle a small child. Emily knew what happened to Lucas because of police reports, but she was never told from Dani's perspective. Dani never touched the subject ever since she met Emily. In part, Emily is glad that Dani has the confidence to tell her this. On the other hand, it breaks Emily's heart watching Dani suffer. Dani is the kind of person who would never show her emotions in front of others. It takes a lot to break her. And this situation destroys her.
Emily just holds Dani, comforting her until Dani falls back asleep.