Brother of My Ed [pic] by lizzie_11 Okay, now here is the sad part: It is now later that night, and we see Yugi, in his room, kinda looking kinda sad. He takes out the key to the dresser in his closet, and opens the drawer above the one that contained the "swimsuits of the gods", and pulls out a picture. The picture shows Yugi, (a bit younger and a bit shorter) with an older boy. They are giving each other bunny ears. The boy looks like an older version of Yugi, except that he has his black hair in a buzz cut. He is wearing a gray short-sleeved shirt, camo pants, and black boots. While it's apparent Eddy is showing a happy smile, the boy looks kind of dazed. He has a tattoo on his right lower arm that reads D*** (sorry, censors won't let me write the full word-argg) Yugi: (sighs) Poor Mark. Marky: Hey boys, what's big, sugar-coated, and costs a nickel? All three: Jawbreakers! The three are about to run off when Mark says: Mark: Hold on. (to Yugi:) Eddy, you come with us. Today, you will feast upon on the food of the gods. Markk: Ambrosia? Everyone stares at him. Yugi: Gee, Mark, you're the best! I'm so glad you're my big brother! The four run off. When we left off, Yugi had just had a flashback of his brother Mark's magic show, when he was six, and Mark twelve. We now go to another flashback, fast forwarding to a year later. Back to present mode: Eddy smiles at the memories. Gently, he replaces the picture, and opens the drawer above it, (with the help of a stool) and takes out a black jacket. As he lifts it up, a pack of cigarettes and several small brown packages fall out. Flashback mode:* *About here is where my story goes from G or PG to PG-13. I'm writing this in case any parents don't want their kids seeing PG-13 stuff. So don't say I didn't warn you. We see a fifteen-year-old Mark walking down the street with nine-year-old Yugi. It's obvious, from their bookbags, that they come from school. They are walking along, talking about something or other when: Markk: (coming from behind a deserted area) Hey Mark. Mark: Double-K! God, I haven't seen you in forever. Where've you been, dawg? Markk: Uh, hanging, stuff. Since we don't have any classes together, I guess we haven't seen each other for a while. Mark: Have you taken any P.E. since the volleyball incident? (laughs) Markk: Ha ha ha. And ha. We should get together some time. Tell Marky I said hi, and to go to h***. Mark: I will. But anyway, I gotta get Eddy home. C-ya. (he starts to leave) Markk: Hey Mark! (Mark turns around) You want a cigarette? They're really good when you're depressed. Jeez, I must have smoked a million of these after Catt dumped me for Marky. (he spits) [BEEP] [BEEP] Mark: Yeah sure, I'll have one. (Markk gives him a cigarette) Bye. (Double- K walks away in one direction, and Mark and Eddy in another) The brothers walk in silence until they reach the front door of their house. Yugi is about to go in, when Mark holds him back: Mark: Hey,Yugi, promise you won't tell mom and dad about what happened. Eddy: About what happening? Mark: (grins) Good kid. Flashback mode: We fast forward again to a year later. Ten-year-old Yugi is sitting on his bed listening to Mark and his parents argue in the kitchen. Voice: You're ruining your life! Mark's Voice: So what the [BEEP] if I am? That's none of your [BEEP] [BEEP] business!!! Voice 2: You keep this up, you'll be sorry you ever opened your mouth! There are places for people like you! Mark's Voice: Good! Send me to one of them! At least I won't have to listen to your [BEEP] anymore!!! Voice: (almost tearfully) What happened to you Mark? You were an honor student, and now you're failing almost everything! You were the nicest kid, and now you're just. . .mean. Mark's Voice: Go to [BEEP]! We hear Mark's footsteps storm away, and hear the room to his door slam. That Guy From The Wonder Years: Everything had gone wrong from that first cigarette. Mark got hooked. He started smoking monthly, then weekly, and then daily. And soon after that, it wasn't just cigarettes anymore. He started smoking marijuana, and cocaine too. Mark changed for the worst. He didn't care about anything anymore. Not even for me. Author: Hey! What the h*** are you doing here?! Get out! (smiles weakly) Sorry 'bout that. (heh) But anyway, that flashback took place at night, so we leave Yugi to sleep his troubled dreams. We go to the next morning. Eddy: (walking into Mark's room)* Hey Mark! Want to play catch or something? *Mark's room is a pig sty. There are footprints on the wall, trash all over the floor, and (worse) Playboy pictures all over the wall. We see a brief flash of Mark's room before he became an addict: it's pretty clean, and instead of skanky women, he has posters of basesball players and sports stuff. Oh yeah, the other important thing is that I kinda forgot to mention that until we see Mark now, he didn't have his tattoo. Mark: (smoking something) Nah, I'd rather lie here and waste my life. (laughs) Yugi: But- Mark: Cram it. Yugi sadly walks out of the room, and out of the house. He sits down sadly on the sidewalk. And who should walk by. . .but MARKY!!! Marky: Hey kid, what's with you? Yugi: Mark never wants to do anything with me anymore. He just wants to sit in his room and smoke. Marky: Yeah, I never see him anymore. (a light bulb lights up above his head) But tell you what kid, how 'bout I be your older brother? Yugi: (face brightening) Really? Marky: Yeah, sure. We'll do all the stuff you want to do, and in return, I'll teach you the art of scamming a la Marky. Course it'll cost ya. (seeing Yugi panic) Just a quarter, man. Yugi: (hands over the quarter) Wow, thanks! But are you sure it's okay? Marky: Yugi, you'll be like my little brother, except you'll be the little brother that doesn't pretend we're not related. The two run off into the sunset. Flashback mode: We go forward another year, (anyone find this ironic, that we're flashing back, by going forward?) with Eddy at eleven and Mark at seventeen. That Guy From The Wonder Years: I spent the year with Marky, playing catch and learning how to be a professional scammer. Sure, I was a good protoge, and he was a good older brother, but. . .something was missing. And that was Mark. He never talked to me, did anything with me. He just sat in his room, smoking his life away. And I was- Author: Hey! I thought I told you to get out! Security?! SECURITY?! Security Guard: Duh? Author: Grrrrr. . . Why you- SCENE MISSING Author: Eh-heh-heh-heh. Sorry bout that. Oh well. Anyway, in this scene, we see Yugi coming into his house from school. He heads into the kitchen, but as he passes by Mark's room, he stops, surprised to see Mark. (smoking as usual) Yugi: Mark? What are you doing home? Your school doesn't get out for another half-hour! Mark: School is for losers. (he breathes out a cloud of smoke and extinguishes his cigarette) Man, that was my last one. (he gets up and starts walking out of the room) Yugi: Where're you going? Mark: To see where dad hid his money this time. (he leaves) While he's gone, Yugi sits down on his bed, sad as always, that his brother never spent any time with him, like he used to. And Marky wasn't always the best person to talk to. He sits on something sharp. Yugi: Ow! (He jumps up and grabs what he was sitting on) Hey, what's this? A box of cigarettes! And there's one left! Mark must not have seen it. He takes out the cigarette and grabs Mark's fire lighter off his desk. He clicks the fire lighter on, and is holding it to the cigarette in his mouth when: Mark: (sees Eddy and runs in) Eddy! What the h*** are you doing?! (he knocks both away from Eddy) Yugi: I just wanted you to like me! Like you used to. (his voice trails off) Mark looks stunned. Plain stunned. It's as if he realizes the damage of the last three years. He sits down, slowly, on his bed, and buries his head in his hands. Mark: (in muffled voice) Oh my God! What have I done? He sits like that for awhile, while Yugi creeps out, shutting the door behind him. Back to present mode: A misty-eyed Yugi wipes his eyes. He hugs the jacket for a second, then replaces it in the drawer. As he does, he takes a small folded piece of paper out of one of the pockets. He has done this many times, and he knows the letter by heart, but he reads it anyway. The letter reads: Dear Yugi, I'm sorry. Mark Flashback mode: *Ah yes, the dramatic finale. And if you really want it to be dramatic, imagine "Adam's Song" by Blink 182 playing in the background. It is nightime, very late, about one or two in the morning. Yugi is sleeping in his bed. Even in his sleep, he looks worried. He has not seen Mark since the "incident", and that was yesterday. As if on cue, an arm shakes Yugi. It continues shaking him until he wakes up. Yugi: (yawning) Huh, what the- Mark: Ssh! Yugi: (in a low voice) Mark! What are you doing here? Mark walks over and flicks on a lamp. Mark: I've come to say goodbye. Yugi: What? Mark: I'm leaving, Yuge. I'm sorry. I wish it didn't have to be this way. But it does. (Pause) I'm a failure. Yugi: No you're not! You're- Mark: I'm a failure. I'm a cigarette-smoking-weed-taking-cocaine-addicted high school dropout. And that's not the person I want to be. At all. Or for you. (Pause) You want to know why I'm leaving, Yugi? Because. . .because I don't want you to become like me. When I saw you yesterday, I. . .I saw what I had become. And I didn't want you to become like me. And I know that if I stay, that you'll become me. Yugi: (crying) Mark! Mark: So I'm going. Going somewhere, where I can learn to be a human again. (he starts to leave) Goodbye, Eddy. Yugi: (still crying) Mark! Don't go! Come back! Mark: I'll come back. When I can look at myself in the mirror and say this is a person who is a good brother. He walks out of the room, and we hear the front door open and close softly. Yugi stares at the door for a long time until the scene dissolves back in to the present, with Yugi standing, still holding the piece of paper. Unconsciously, he replaces the paper to its pocket and walks to the kitchen. Still unconsciously, he pulls out an address book, and flips to the M's. We see the names Markk and Marky, and their numbers. About now, Yugi finally snaps back into reality, and dials Markk's number. {NO ANSWER} Next, we see Eddy dialing Marky's number. Yugi: I really hope I don't get another pantless red guy. The phone rings and yet another mysterious voice picks up. Voice: Hello? Yugi: Hi, can I speak to Marky?

Voice: Um, he's at college right now, and won't be home for a few weeks. Yugi: Oh. Well, when he gets back, will you tell him Yugi called, and for him to call me, so- Voice: Yugi! Dork, what're you doing, calling my house?! And the voice is revealed to be. . .DUKE!!! (DA DA DUM!!!) Yugi: Duke?! What're you doing at Marky's house?! Duke: Dork, he's my older brother! (gasp, gasp, surprise, surprise) Yugi: What?! But he was friends with my brother! There is a long awkward pause, until: Duke: Wait a minute- Yugi: You mean- Duke & Yugi: OUR BROTHERS WERE FRIENDS!!! Pause Duke and Yugi: AAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Both hang up at the same time. Yugi: And I thought him being the Lucky Charms guy was scary. He is about to leave, when the name Markk catches his eye, and we hear Markk in flashback mode say: Markk: Hey Mark! (Mark turns around) You want a cigarette. . .cigarette. . .cigarette. . .cigarette? (the word cigarette echoes continously) And the ordinary look on Eddy's face, changes, morphs into a bitter mask of anger and hurt and sadness. And the look on his face symbolizes four long years of unanswered, pure revenge. Yugi: (in a voice unlike his own) It was you, Markk. You ruined my brother's life. You twisted him into a monster that was ashamed to look at itself in the mirror. It's because of you that Mark isn't here. You destroyed Mark. (Pause) I'll get you, Markk. I'll get you, if it's the last thing I ever do. (thunder and lightning crack outside) Whoa. That was scary. And who knows what the future will bring. Y'all come back now, ya hear?! Something tells me this isn't over. Not by a long shot. And so, I will end this story with what may be the only ending: ****************************************************** ~~~~ to be continued ~~~~