#64 - Passing Through
He's My Brother
Segment Notes: I started out planning to write something else and this utter adorableness happened. I know the kid sounds more like he's at least ten, but he's a prodigy and this is anime, lol. In the Japanese version, apparently there's text on the WRGP posters that say the Pegasus Memorial Foundation is a sponsor, heavily implying he's dead by that time. I decided to change that. I'm not a huge fan of the character, but I see no reason for him to be dead already.
Kalin was somewhat surprised when he wandered into the kitchen one morning and found Radley frowning at the morning newspaper. "What is it?" he asked. The town paper rarely had anything upsetting in it, but upon closer inspection, Radley was looking at the City's paper, which Kalin had wanted to take in case Yusei turned up in the news.
Radley sighed and set it down on the table. "My family is going to be in the City," he said. "Pegasus is coming to host a popular wine-tasting festival and my family is supplying some of the wine."
Kalin sat down next to him. When Iliaster had changed history the last time, whatever calamity had caused Pegasus's death by the time of the WRGP had been reversed. He was as lively as ever, as the news article showed.
". . . Are you going to try to see them?" he asked.
Radley frowned. "They want nothing to do with me. I don't really want to go and make a scene. I'm a powerful businessman in my own right and I have a reputation to uphold. Plus, I'm still largely anonymous; people don't know I'm connected with the Ramon family of Napa Valley even though I've started using my last name."
"You wouldn't have to go to the festival," Kalin said. "It would be better to stay away from that anyway when you're allergic to grapes."
"I know. But even just going to their hotel could cause a scene." Radley sighed and leaned back. "My brother has never met me. I don't know if he's been told anything about me—negative, of course—or if they're just pretending I don't exist. I can't deny I'd like to meet him . . . and to see if going to my family in person would make any difference to them at all . . . but I know it probably wouldn't and I don't know if it's worth trying."
"I won't push you either way," Kalin said. "I know what it's like to have a terrible family."
Radley nodded. "I have a wonderful family right here. But . . . I have to admit I wish I could reconcile with my birth family too."
"I don't want any reconciliation with mine," Kalin said. "They were never decent to me. If my mother cared at all, it wasn't enough since she just walked out on me and left me with my drunkard father. And of course he was always a mess. Drinking was the least of what he did."
"I know," Radley said softly. He sighed. "Part of me says I should just leave it alone because they're not worth it anyway, especially when they never treated me right. But . . . there were happy times, sometimes. And . . . it's hard to forget that."
". . . I guess it would be," Kalin said, laying a hand on Radley's shoulder. "I'll support whatever you decide."
Radley gave a wan smile. "Thank you."
xxxx
Radley still hadn't decided what to do by the time of the festival. But as it turned out, someone else made the decision for him. As he walked down the main street that day, debating whether to make the drive into the City, the whirr of a helicopter brought his attention up with a stunned start. The vehicle was coming to land right in the middle of the road, swirling dust and autumn leaves as it arrived. Radley shielded himself from the wind, staring at the chopper in disbelief. The insignia on it belonged to the Ramon family.
The door opened and a small boy of six was standing there, wearing a suit and tie. He jumped down instead of waiting for the pilot to bring the steps and walked right over to Radley, who could only gawk at him. As the child looked up at him, he wavered slightly and then said, "Are you Radley Ramon?"
Radley dropped down to be at his eye level. "Yes, I am," he said.
The boy shifted, biting his lip. "You're my brother?"
A wistful smile played on Radley's lips. "Yeah." He recognized the kid from the pictures he had seen in the private detective's report he had ordered some time back. The boy had seemed spoiled from that, but as he stood gazing at Radley now, he just seemed like a regular kid.
To Radley's utter shock, the child leaned in and threw his arms around Radley's neck. "Hi."
Slowly Radley curled his arms around the small body in a return hug. This was not what he had expected at all. Was it some kind of publicity stunt? . . . No, he couldn't feature his parents or his grandparents sanctioning such a thing. They all hated him. They would never set foot in this town.
But then . . . how was his brother here?
He looked back to the helicopter when there was a slight movement. The pilot was coming around now, looking hesitant and worried. "We really need to go, Master Emilio," he said in concern.
Radley sighed to himself. The poor boy's name meant Rival. Even in his name, his parents had made sure to send the message to Radley that he had been replaced.
Emilio scowled. "In a minute," he retorted. "We just got here and I've never met my brother."
"Your parents never wanted you to meet him," the pilot said in concern. "If they find out what we've done . . ."
"I can always make them deduct your salary or fire you if you don't do what I want," Emilio warned.
Radley had to shake his head in disbelief. Yes, his family certainly was spoiling this child, unlike how they had raised him. But they might regret it now that he was already developing a strong mind of his own.
He looked back to Emilio. "So what's the deal here?" he asked. "Haven't they been telling you how awful I am and how you should stay away from me because I'll drag you down to Hell?" It was heavy talk for a small boy, but since he definitely seemed older than six, Radley was taking a chance that he would understand.
"Yeah, but that's dumb," Emilio said. "I wanted to know about you, so I had my governess read all the stories about you in the news. And when we were going to be so close, I wanted to come see you." He looked at Radley in awe. "I don't think you're what they say. You're nice."
Radley had to smile in awed amazement. "Really. Well, you're very nice too. I'm happy you came to see me."
"Can I meet your friends?" Emilio asked.
Radley glanced at the nervous pilot. "When do you have to be back?"
"In an hour. I told everyone I was going to be sight-seeing." Emilio shrugged. "I just didn't say where."
Radley had to chuckle. "Well, maybe just for a few minutes then," he said. "You don't want to get your pilot in trouble, do you?"
"No one has to know we came here," Emilio said. He took Radley's hand. "I'll probably tell sometime, though. I want everyone to love you again. You're family!"
Radley straightened, still holding the boy's hand. "It means a lot to me that you feel that way," he said, his voice thickening. "I've wanted to meet you. But I'm afraid it won't be so easy to get everyone else to feel the same way about me."
"I know." Emilio made a face. "It's all dumb. They think it's bad that you like long hair and jewelry and stuff. Well, it's weird that you like jewelry, but it's okay."
Radley was amused and still very touched. "You're very wise," he said. "Let's go see my friends and then you'd better go so your pilot won't worry."
"Yeah, I guess," Emilio said as they started walking up the wooden sidewalk. "Can we write to each other? Well, I'm not so good at writing yet, but I could draw pictures and my governess could write what I tell her and read your letters to me."
". . . That would be really nice," Radley said, trying unsuccessfully to swallow the lump in his throat. "But wouldn't the whole family find out and stop us?"
Emilio shook his head. "My governess thinks you're nice too. You could send the letters to her and she would bring them for me!"
Radley smiled. "Okay then," he said. "I'd love to do that."
By now most of the town had come out to see what was going on with a helicopter landing in the street. Kalin and the Bunch were right out in front. "Radley?" Kalin stared at the scene. "What's going on?"
Radley beamed at him. "This is my brother, Emilio," he said. "He came out to see me."
Kalin rocked back in amazement. ". . . You've made Radley very happy," he finally told the boy. "I'm Kalin, Radley's best friend."
"I know," Emilio said. "I saw you in the paper, and these other guys too."
"Hey!" Scotch grinned and waved. "We're all Radley's buddies!"
"And his family," Virgil added.
Emilio smiled brightly as he was introduced to each of them. "Radley's lucky he has all of you guys," he said.
"I sure am," Radley smiled. "And I'm glad I have you now too."
"We'd really better go, Master Emilio," the pilot worried.
"Yeah, you'd better," Radley sighed. "But I'll definitely write."
Emilio handed him a slip of paper. "Here's my governess's addresss. And I've got yours."
Radley smiled more. "This really means a lot to me. I thought I'd never get to see any of my family again. I didn't know if I'd ever meet you at all."
"I didn't know if I could meet you either," Emilio said. "But then I decided I was going to!" He hugged Radley around the waist before heading back to the helicopter.
Radley watched, his hair blowing in the breeze as the wind picked up. "Goodbye," he said. "Thank you."
Emilio turned and waved before climbing onboard. Relieved, the pilot got in as well and soon the helicopter was airborne.
Kalin came up to stand next to him. "I'm glad for you," he said.
Radley smiled. "I wonder if Emilio might be the one who will bring this splintered family back together."
"Maybe," Kalin said. "But even if he can't get the rest of them to want to reunite, you've been given a wonderful gift by him not believing their skewed stories about you."
"Yeah," Radley smiled. He drew an arm around Kalin's shoulders and hugged him close. "I sure have."
