Sequel: The Nephew of a Dead Artist ›
Six Feet Underground
Gerard's Fate
Mikey's POV
I was home alone. Frankie and Anay had went out shopping while I was cleaning for a bit. Frank and I are officially dating, which is great. I really love him. I don't think I ever stopped loving him.
Anay seems to love him too. We had a talk about everything that happened last year with her mother and us. She's growing up so well. She's going to be a bright young lady someday.
I was going through our bedroom closet, getting rid of anything that I didn't use or need anymore. I never relized how much junk we had in this closet.
As I was pulling boxes off the shelves a cardboard box I had never seen before caught my eyes. I pulled it down and sat on the floor with it in front of me. Tapped to the top of the box was the note:
To whoever finds this:
I hope you take good care of the things in this box. You can take it home, read the journals, and cherrish the memories left behind with the items in the box. I know I can't anymore. Hope you enjoy and find him for me.
xoxo
Gerard
My heart skipped a beat as I read the note. This was the box. Gerard's life. I lifted the lid up off of it and saw a few notebooks on the top. I took them out and set them aside. I would read them later, I had this feeling there was something else in this box that I needed to look at first.
Underneath the note books was some toys and little trinkets. Also there were three video tapes. I picked up a toy car that was at the top of the jumbled mess. A plastic batman car that looked like it came out of a McDonalds Happy Meal. My eyes welled up with tears as I examined the plastic toy car. I had one just like this one at one point. But then I moved and I left it behind in my old room, for... Gerard. He had kept in all this time?
I set the car down and picked up a neaklace made of twine, shells and stones. I smiled as I ran my fingers over the smooth stones and the rough shells. Gerard would always tease me with this. He would tell me that one day it would be mine and that day would be the day that he would officially make me a grown up. Of course that was when I was five.
I slipped on the neaklace and smoothed it out on my cheast. I smiled and thought about what Gerard might say if he caught me wearing his neaklace.
A black bandana lay folded at the bottom. I picked it up and noticed it was covered in dust. I didn't know why but I carefully set it back into the box and lifted the first movie out. On the side of it, writen in black marker, was "Gerard's B-Days".
I moved up to the bed and put the tape in the VCR and hit play. I rewound the tape to the very begining and watched every birthday up to his tweleth. Everyone of them were compleately normal. He was always looking out for me at his parties. But by his Thirteenth I was no longer in them. Gerard also seemed to be more and more depressed as the birthday's went by. Also, the parties got smaller and smaller as the years passed. I noticed the mom and dad were trying their hardest to make Gerard smile and forget about something. I didn't know what it was but by his sixteenth party I was told right by Gerard himself.
"Come on, Gee! Please just smile!" my dad begged a very unhappy looking 16 year old Gerard. "It's your sweet sixteen, you're supposed to be happy!"
"How can I be?" Gerard spat. "Each birthday is just a reminder that he's dead!"
I heard a sigh and mom walk into the camera's veiw. "Gerard. We told you, he did not die! Mikey's alive!"
"You're lying!" Gerard yelled, letting the tears fall freely. "He's dead and you know it! You saw his body on the bathroom floor! You saw him!! He commited suicide!"
The camera clicked off and I stared at the black screan, the tears falling rapidly. Is that what he thought? That I had died? Commited suicide?
The VCR ejected the tape and I took it out and replace it with the next one, "Gerard's accompishments".
I pressed play and the screan was black at first before a picture of Gerard came up on the screan. I smiled at the picture. It was of Gerard and I. Underneath it was the heading in white "Brothers.."
The picture faded and was replaced with another one of us at his seventh birthday. I was on his back and smashing cake into his face as he held me up by my legs and was trying to get away from my hand. A few seconds later, that image faded. After ten more images and three video clips of Gerard and I hanging out together, other picture appeared with the title "Graduation" under it. Gerard was dressed in his blue robes was smiling as he held up his deploma.
This video basically covered any important aspects of Gerard's life; me, school related things, girlfriends, and collage. The video ended with a song that was writen by Gerard, or so said the video.
I ejected that video and put in the very last one. This one was untitled. I pressed play and watched as news report after news report of 9/11 came on. I didn't understand why there would be a tape of 9/11 in a box of Gerard's things. But I soon figured it out.
Gerard's face came onto the screan. He was standing in front of the North Tower the camera held up by his outstreached arm. A guy standing next to him and smiling broadly at the camera.
"Hey! Gerard and Dusty here!" Gerard said happily.
"Sup, people?" Dusty said. "We just wanted to tell you all about our new TV show, The Breakfast Monkey."
Just then a loud crashing sound and screams were heard. "What the fuck was that?" Gerard yelled.
"I don't know!"
Gerard held the camera up twords the top of the building, backing up quickly to get a better view of the top. Then the camera went heywire and fell to the ground. Gerard's screams filled my ears as I looked at a car tire.
"Oh, fuck! My leg!"
"Gerard, what happened?"
The camera was picked up and Gerard appeared again. He was clutching his leg and crying out in agony. Blood seeped through his blue jeans. Gerard moaned in pain and tried to stand as people were running in the opposite direction.
"Here!"
Gerard was helped up by Dusty and they tried to run away from the buildings. Another loud crash and the camera shook. Dusty moved the camera back to the towers and caught a glimps of the second tower exploding at the higher floors.
Then more screams and a large crowd of dust obscreed the camera's view. Screams were heard and people coughing. I heard Gerard yell out in pain and the sound of debry falling onto the ground. A few minutes of a white screan the air cleared up and Gerard lay on the ground, covered in dust and debry. I gasped as I saw a large chunk of metal sticking out of his middle. His wide open eyes stared at the camera and looked glassy.
I heard Dusty scream and then drop the camera. He ran to Gerard and cheak his pulse before crying next to his body.
Then the camera cut to Gerard's funeral. But I turned the TV off, crying into my arms.
I was home alone. Frankie and Anay had went out shopping while I was cleaning for a bit. Frank and I are officially dating, which is great. I really love him. I don't think I ever stopped loving him.
Anay seems to love him too. We had a talk about everything that happened last year with her mother and us. She's growing up so well. She's going to be a bright young lady someday.
I was going through our bedroom closet, getting rid of anything that I didn't use or need anymore. I never relized how much junk we had in this closet.
As I was pulling boxes off the shelves a cardboard box I had never seen before caught my eyes. I pulled it down and sat on the floor with it in front of me. Tapped to the top of the box was the note:
To whoever finds this:
I hope you take good care of the things in this box. You can take it home, read the journals, and cherrish the memories left behind with the items in the box. I know I can't anymore. Hope you enjoy and find him for me.
xoxo
Gerard
My heart skipped a beat as I read the note. This was the box. Gerard's life. I lifted the lid up off of it and saw a few notebooks on the top. I took them out and set them aside. I would read them later, I had this feeling there was something else in this box that I needed to look at first.
Underneath the note books was some toys and little trinkets. Also there were three video tapes. I picked up a toy car that was at the top of the jumbled mess. A plastic batman car that looked like it came out of a McDonalds Happy Meal. My eyes welled up with tears as I examined the plastic toy car. I had one just like this one at one point. But then I moved and I left it behind in my old room, for... Gerard. He had kept in all this time?
I set the car down and picked up a neaklace made of twine, shells and stones. I smiled as I ran my fingers over the smooth stones and the rough shells. Gerard would always tease me with this. He would tell me that one day it would be mine and that day would be the day that he would officially make me a grown up. Of course that was when I was five.
I slipped on the neaklace and smoothed it out on my cheast. I smiled and thought about what Gerard might say if he caught me wearing his neaklace.
A black bandana lay folded at the bottom. I picked it up and noticed it was covered in dust. I didn't know why but I carefully set it back into the box and lifted the first movie out. On the side of it, writen in black marker, was "Gerard's B-Days".
I moved up to the bed and put the tape in the VCR and hit play. I rewound the tape to the very begining and watched every birthday up to his tweleth. Everyone of them were compleately normal. He was always looking out for me at his parties. But by his Thirteenth I was no longer in them. Gerard also seemed to be more and more depressed as the birthday's went by. Also, the parties got smaller and smaller as the years passed. I noticed the mom and dad were trying their hardest to make Gerard smile and forget about something. I didn't know what it was but by his sixteenth party I was told right by Gerard himself.
"Come on, Gee! Please just smile!" my dad begged a very unhappy looking 16 year old Gerard. "It's your sweet sixteen, you're supposed to be happy!"
"How can I be?" Gerard spat. "Each birthday is just a reminder that he's dead!"
I heard a sigh and mom walk into the camera's veiw. "Gerard. We told you, he did not die! Mikey's alive!"
"You're lying!" Gerard yelled, letting the tears fall freely. "He's dead and you know it! You saw his body on the bathroom floor! You saw him!! He commited suicide!"
The camera clicked off and I stared at the black screan, the tears falling rapidly. Is that what he thought? That I had died? Commited suicide?
The VCR ejected the tape and I took it out and replace it with the next one, "Gerard's accompishments".
I pressed play and the screan was black at first before a picture of Gerard came up on the screan. I smiled at the picture. It was of Gerard and I. Underneath it was the heading in white "Brothers.."
The picture faded and was replaced with another one of us at his seventh birthday. I was on his back and smashing cake into his face as he held me up by my legs and was trying to get away from my hand. A few seconds later, that image faded. After ten more images and three video clips of Gerard and I hanging out together, other picture appeared with the title "Graduation" under it. Gerard was dressed in his blue robes was smiling as he held up his deploma.
This video basically covered any important aspects of Gerard's life; me, school related things, girlfriends, and collage. The video ended with a song that was writen by Gerard, or so said the video.
I ejected that video and put in the very last one. This one was untitled. I pressed play and watched as news report after news report of 9/11 came on. I didn't understand why there would be a tape of 9/11 in a box of Gerard's things. But I soon figured it out.
Gerard's face came onto the screan. He was standing in front of the North Tower the camera held up by his outstreached arm. A guy standing next to him and smiling broadly at the camera.
"Hey! Gerard and Dusty here!" Gerard said happily.
"Sup, people?" Dusty said. "We just wanted to tell you all about our new TV show, The Breakfast Monkey."
Just then a loud crashing sound and screams were heard. "What the fuck was that?" Gerard yelled.
"I don't know!"
Gerard held the camera up twords the top of the building, backing up quickly to get a better view of the top. Then the camera went heywire and fell to the ground. Gerard's screams filled my ears as I looked at a car tire.
"Oh, fuck! My leg!"
"Gerard, what happened?"
The camera was picked up and Gerard appeared again. He was clutching his leg and crying out in agony. Blood seeped through his blue jeans. Gerard moaned in pain and tried to stand as people were running in the opposite direction.
"Here!"
Gerard was helped up by Dusty and they tried to run away from the buildings. Another loud crash and the camera shook. Dusty moved the camera back to the towers and caught a glimps of the second tower exploding at the higher floors.
Then more screams and a large crowd of dust obscreed the camera's view. Screams were heard and people coughing. I heard Gerard yell out in pain and the sound of debry falling onto the ground. A few minutes of a white screan the air cleared up and Gerard lay on the ground, covered in dust and debry. I gasped as I saw a large chunk of metal sticking out of his middle. His wide open eyes stared at the camera and looked glassy.
I heard Dusty scream and then drop the camera. He ran to Gerard and cheak his pulse before crying next to his body.
Then the camera cut to Gerard's funeral. But I turned the TV off, crying into my arms.