His brothers keeper part ----11
"Ahhhh...not fair not fair..." Rock grumbled as he put the last of the dishes away.
Rush barked at his heels, as he pushed a chair back at the table and turned the kitchen lights off
before going into the living room.
"Blues?" Rock whispered , as he approached the sofa, "Hey Blues"
The sandy haired boy was sleeping peacefully on the couch the Tv still going in the background. A green cat on his head.
"Shoo Tango," Rock scolded nudging the cat off his brother. He took a seat on the floor beside the sofa and watched the steady rise and fall of Blues chest.
"Unngg" Blues mumbled softly, wincing a little.
// His ankle is still bothering him // Rock realized. " Maybe I can help make you feel better" he whispered. He lifted up Blues shirt and gently began to rub soothing circles on his stomach. "Dad does this when I'm sick or hurt, it always makes me feel better."
Blues slowly opened his eyes. "Huh?" He felt someone touching him, and was suddenly flooded by many painful memories. He slapped the hand away from him "WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!!!!!!!!!!" He screamed. He started to lunge at Rock but his ankle gave out and he ended up on the floor. "Unnggg..arrghh.........unngg" Blues clenched his teeth, as his head began to swim.
"Blues ...I...I'm sorry...I just thought you....I just wanted to make you feel better" Rock babbled "I....I'm sorry..Blues" He put a hand on his brothers shoulder "....are you ..ok?"
Blues nodded his head "yes" . He pulled his knees up to his chest tucking them under his chin. Then folded his arms around his legs and put his head down between his knees. hugging himself into a tight little ball.
Rock watched him silently. "Blues....are you sure your ok?"
The sandy haired head bobbed slightly before jerking with a loud gasp.
"Blues...you....your..crying" Rock draped his arm over Blues shaking back. "Hey...I un...guess you don't like having your stomach rubbed huh?" Rock soothed, he tried to rub Blues shoulders but the older boy was sitting rigid as steel.
Blues shook his head "no" gasping again.
"Blues I'm sorry ....I didn't mean to upset you really" Rock pleaded with his brother. "Come on let's get back on the couch. Alright?" He tried to pick up the older bot, but was once more shoved away by an angry fist.
He crawled back over to where Blues still sat curled up. "Hey Blues come on what's wrong....what is it?"
Another gasp shook his brothers frame.
Rock took both of Blues shoulders in his grasp, and gave him a small shake. "Big brother....Blues...Blues......look at me"
Blues tilted his head up slowly. "Wily ' he rasped.
"Huh?"
"Wily use to do that"
"Oh....uh..so you like miss him huh?'
"I wish " Blues laughed bitterly. "No"
"Tell me Blues...."
Blues looked at the coffee table as he began. "...Dr. Light ..had turned me on for....what he thought was the first time...................and discovered that I was blind. He was naturally very upset ...and....Wily.....he acted upset about the news too."
"Wily..." Rock stared.
"Yes. Wily was still.......working with Dr. Light. Though......now he had his own agenda.
He..had created another Robot. And someday's would take us to the river or for ice cream..or..".
"Another Robot....who?" Rock asked.
"..............Bass"
"Bass!" Rock breathed " then you fought Bass before I was created right?"
"No.............Bass was my best friend " Blues choked. "I know you wont believe me but Bass wasn't bad...not..not always. It happened slowly. He changed over the years. Kinda like a peach that you leave in the sun to long, it looks fine on the outside.......... you don't see how truly bad it is until you pick it up and find that it's rotted on the inside from neglect. Yes...Bass's spirit...his soul went bad.......he went bad. And after awhile he was too bitter and hateful to save........"
"How do you know all this about Bass?"
"It happened one hot summer day, when I was playing with him. I grabbed him by the waist and felt a horrible group of welts and slashes......B...Bass had been beaten black and blue......." Blues cried "And then it suddenly clicked...why he always wore those thick sweaters and pants, and why his mood had been getting darker and darker.
Bass was furious that I had found out.......He hurt me for that.....I think....I think he beat me to an inch of my life.....t..then..h..h.h. he just held me and..h.. hugged me and screamed..and cried...until he couldn't scream anymore. I still have nightmares ...with him just screaming and screaming over and over again..why couldn't you save me!!!" Blues was silent for a moment lost in his thoughts. "I'm sorry Bass, I wish I could have seen what was happening to you. That Wily was gone mad and was dangerous.
Then one night ......it happened . I was lying on the couch watching Tv with him. Dr. Light was off at a conference again . So it was just me and Wily. "
Rock listened intently barely taking a breath.
"He was rubbing my stomach...and I had almost fallen asleep then......then" Blues grimaced as if he couldn't fathom what he was trying to say as real. "H..he was rubbing my stomach..t..then. He ..started doing....weird things' Blues hugged himself tighter, his cheeks burning with embarrassment.
"What did he do to you?" Rock's concern evident, //anything that could upset my brother this much must have to be pretty bad //
"He...he.." Blues clenched his eyes shut, tears spilling down. "He..h..he put his hand down.....my pants...a...and....s..s..s started t..t.touching me d .d .down there" Blues continued to sob wiping the relentless tears away as fast as they slid down is chin. " I...wasn't very good at walking around without my vision..at the time....I...I tried t..t..t.to get away..b..but he caught...m... me . And....and...h..wa...a...nnnnn.....hurt...s.s..s.ssssoooooo..b...bad.dd.d.d.ddd" Blues threw his head back between his knees and bawled.
"Wily raped you!" Rock gasped. Blues gave him a startled look, before nodding his head.
Ya Blues I know what rape is ....and child molestation" Rock answered his brothers startled look.
"Oh god Blues I'm sorry...how...how come Dr. Light didn't do anything?"
"Dr. L..Light ....never knew' Blues mumbled " After Wily left me......just left me laying there and went home . I...got up and cleaned up all the blood....my... blood...from the floor, threw my clothes away and..took a shower...t..the ..l.l.longest hottest s..shower of my life. And I cried then.
For what had happened. For what could have happened . For what I had lost and for what I was going to become.
I was just like Bass. A perfect peach......then suddenly I wasn't perfect anymore...I never would be again...my innocence was taken from me...and I could feel myself starting to rot from the inside.
Bass was right, and that night ,even though I was blind ,I think I truly saw things clearly for the first time. I had to learn to cope with being blind... on my own. Or I would always be at someone's mercy . Just another peach left to decay from the inside out.
I left home that night. This is the longest I've been back since" Blues leaned his head against Rocks " I spent all my life trying to prove myself and being treated like shit because I was blind .
Then the one person who treated me justly......turned on me. I swore it would never happen again
I would not depend on anybody ever...So I learned to live with my blindness and ...myself . I may not be a perfect peach .... but...but maybe one with just a small bruise on it.
"Oh Blues," Rock wrapped his arms around the older boys neck "you can stay here ..with me and Dr.Light. You don't have to be alone ."
"Sometime's it's better to be alone Rock"
Sometime's but not all the time" Rock smiled "Don't peaches ever get lonely?"
"This peach doesn't need any more bruises" Blues huffed
But.."
"No"
"But you.."
"No"
"But Blues"
"No ok no.. I come back and eventually my peach will be crushed!!!"
"We..we'll make peach juice then!!"
"Rock for Christ sake I'm not a god damn peach, you can't make juice out of me it's a figure of speech!!!"
"I know Blues !!!! Hells Bells would you stop seeing me as a little boy and start seeing me as your brother. You know something Blues, you are blind, and it's not cause you can't see but cause you can't feel!!! And that's a whole lot worse. I'm sick of your emotional constipation. Alright your want a figure of speech fine!!!. You're a peach..that's great, a bruised one maybe ..and you don't want to be a part of anyone's life because you don't wanna be hurt ...right. Well guess what peachy boy!! You are still gonna be hurt. Don't you get it!! Your hurting yourself Blues, you don't wanna get bruised again ,ok fair enough ,but if you hide yourself away then your gonna wilt and die under.... you.!!!
I can't say your never gonna get hurt again Blues, I can't say you won't get another bruise on that almost perfect peach ego of yours. But it doesn't mean you die. You change ..you grow. A peach doesn't die. It becomes something else. It may be all soft and bruised and mushy..so make it into juice. Different but still there. You gotta be willing to take the risk, willing to loose in order to gain"
"But it's hard Rock, when I'm here I just keep thinking what if ...what if he comes back what if he's waiting for me...what if Dr. Light tries something...."
"Blues!!!" Rock was appalled "That's dad your talking about !!"
"Their the same Rock!!!" Blues shouted " I know it's sick and perverted to think of dad that way but....but..Wily was my father too..I can't help it!!!"
"Wily's a monster, he hurt you and he betrayed dad.....we can fight him.
"Yes Wily's evil, he betrayed dad and he hurt me......but I can't fight him"
"why not?"
"Because somewhere in that monster is the kind , caring man who took me up on the rooftop to see a sunset....who taught me how to tie my shoes and read books..who..who..ate cherry ice cream with me ....and who..one day went crazy ....and left my life forever" Blues sniffed "I'm sorry Rock.....I ...I can't fight him"
Rock got up and began to pace the living room , he was angry. Angry at Wily and confused with Blues and his whole bizarre handling of the situation.
"Rock stop pacing .....wait where are you going?"
"I'm going to find Wily !!" Rock yelled "I'm gonna give him a piece of my mind!!"
"Forget it Rock, you can't afford to loose any...unnnn" Blues bit his bottom lip hard , dropping his head to gaze at the floor. "I..I'm sorry"
Rock turned and looked at his brother. Hard. As if seeing him clearly for the first time, and he realized something.....underneath all the sassy comments and the cruel putdowns was a sad lonely young boy,, who had seen more than his share of heart ache in his young life. Blues wasn't mean...he was scared. Scared of getting hurt again. So he kept everyone away from him.
Rock knelt in front of his brother . "Blues , it...it's ok. Your home and nobody is going to hurt you...you don't have to play tough guy anymore..at least not with me.
"Thanks Rock," Blues smiled "look do me a favor ...please.....please don't tell dad about....you know...please"
"It's not my secret to tell.....but you should tell him y'know?"
"Maybe.....someday" Blues sighed.
The two of them sat in silence for a few moments, before Rock suddenly bounced up with an idea.
"I got it " he cried, racing off to leave his brother sitting confused on the floor. Rock returned a few seconds later, with a pair of crutches. "Look we can go outside now"
"Crutches?"
"Ya come on ..lets go Blues !" Rock beamed.
Blues grinned shaking his head " Did anyone ever tell you you're the most optimistic robot ever ...I mean your always happy"
"It's good to be happy"
"I don't know happiness is contagious you know . You could start an epidemic "
Rock thought about that for a moment "I think that would be a good epidemic to start "
Ya...ya I guess it would " Blues put a hand on Rocks shoulder "Rock ,promise me something "
"Un...ok what?"
"Promise me that no matter what happens in your life you'll never loose that innocence you carry with you..promise me....please.
"I ...I can't promise that to you Blues....not without lying...nobody could. But..... I promise that I will never give up..no matter what. I will never let go" Rock slung an arm around Blues waist to help him up. "Promise me Blues ...promise me that you won't give up. Don't be a peach or juice or anything but you. Be Blues, be my brother...promise me.... "
Blues hobbled on the crutches "I....................................Come on to the gardens "
To be continued ..............................