Corner of the World
Miguel
"Innie, minnie, minnie, STOP!" I say as I flip the pages of the baby name book Seb and I just went out and bought, "Letter T, boys name," I announce, Seb just has a laugh induced smile stretched across his face, "Trahern."
"Trahern?" he chortles.
"It means super-iron or super-strength."
"My turn." he says holding his hand out for the book, he skims the pages before coming to a stop, "Girls name, letter O, ummm," he runs his finger up and down the page, "Oralia, and that horrid name means a precious girl with shining yellow hair and sunkissed skin to match."
"Hmm, considering my hair color and your hair color I think the chances of us having blond haired child are slim to none." I laugh.
"How about Eartha." Seb cackles, "Mmm little Eartha."
"Ewww." I laugh as I take the book back, "Oh, if all else fails there's always Chadwick."
"Oh god." he hounds with laughter, "Did we buy the right book? Because this one seems to be full of the world's worst names."
"No wait! I found a normal name!" I announce, "Brian."
"Oh, so this book only has the world's worst and most boring names?" he laughs.
"Well apparently." I say rolling my eyes.
Seb pulls me into his lap before he rests back on the headboard of our hotel room bed.
"Try page 163." he says casually.
"Why?"
"I dunno, just seems like a good page."
"Mmm Abraham." I laugh.
"Biblical." he says, I can feel him rumbling under me with laughter.
"Have you been wearing my shirts?" he asks as I flip through the book some more.
"Yeah, none of mine fit right without showing my bulge." I mumble, "How about Roxbury?"
"Is that an actual name?" he laughs distractedly.
Our name game fun is soon interrupted by our hotel room phone ringing, Seb reaches over and picks it up.
"Hello?" he pauses, "Evan, calm down, what's going on?" he pauses again, "No, holy shit no, are you sure?" another deadly pause, "Fuck man! No! Fucking Christ no!" he hangs up the phone and his eyes are starting to turn red.
"What's wrong? What happened?" I ask impulsively.
"Miguel was in a car accident, he was fucking DOA at the hospital." Seb exclaims, I get off his lap and start rocking back and forth.
Miguel was the guy who introduced me and Seb, if it wasn't for him our band wouldn't even exist. He was best friends with our entire band and he even came on tour with us a couple of times.
"Fuck!" Seb screams at the top of his lungs as he paces the room. Miguel and Seb knew each other since the third grade, practically brothers. I glance at the name book, and I know if this baby's a boy, we won't need the book.
I lie down on the bed, I'm so stunned I can't even make a sound, I can't even cry.
Within a five hour span, we're on a flight back home for Miguel's wake and funeral. Usually when our band is on a plane we're the annoying passengers everyone continuously tells to shut up, but not this time, we're completely silent for the entire flight. We don't even bother to listen to music or even glance at the in-flight movie. We're just brain dead, complete zombies.
I clutch Seb's hand tightly the whole taxi ride to my apartment, where he decided he wanted to stay as opposed to his own. We haven't spoken since we got the phone call.
At my apartment we open up our suitcases to find something to wear to the wake, which started half an hour ago. As we're getting dressed Seb walks up to me and hugs me, burying his face deep into my shoulder and sobbing.
Never in my nine years of knowing him have I seen him cry like this and the worst part is I have no idea how to comfort him. I feel his tears seeping through my shirt, but we continue to stand in my bedroom in silence.
"We have to get going." he says finally.
We got back to getting dressed before heading to the funeral home for the wake. When we get there Maureen runs up to me and hugs me, then she hugs Seb, never making a sound though, its all very eerie.
I clutch Sebastian's cold clammy hand as we walk further into the funeral home to wear the open casket is. And I cry, for the first time since the news, and Seb is the one standing strong. Seeing Miguel lying there was what got to me, he was always to full of life, even those times where he'd pass out drunk he'd still toss and turn a little, talking in his sleep. Yet here he was not moving, dead.
"Its okay." Seb whispers to me, hugging me. I calm myself before we got up to Miguel's family to pay our respects.
"Trahern?" he chortles.
"It means super-iron or super-strength."
"My turn." he says holding his hand out for the book, he skims the pages before coming to a stop, "Girls name, letter O, ummm," he runs his finger up and down the page, "Oralia, and that horrid name means a precious girl with shining yellow hair and sunkissed skin to match."
"Hmm, considering my hair color and your hair color I think the chances of us having blond haired child are slim to none." I laugh.
"How about Eartha." Seb cackles, "Mmm little Eartha."
"Ewww." I laugh as I take the book back, "Oh, if all else fails there's always Chadwick."
"Oh god." he hounds with laughter, "Did we buy the right book? Because this one seems to be full of the world's worst names."
"No wait! I found a normal name!" I announce, "Brian."
"Oh, so this book only has the world's worst and most boring names?" he laughs.
"Well apparently." I say rolling my eyes.
Seb pulls me into his lap before he rests back on the headboard of our hotel room bed.
"Try page 163." he says casually.
"Why?"
"I dunno, just seems like a good page."
"Mmm Abraham." I laugh.
"Biblical." he says, I can feel him rumbling under me with laughter.
"Have you been wearing my shirts?" he asks as I flip through the book some more.
"Yeah, none of mine fit right without showing my bulge." I mumble, "How about Roxbury?"
"Is that an actual name?" he laughs distractedly.
Our name game fun is soon interrupted by our hotel room phone ringing, Seb reaches over and picks it up.
"Hello?" he pauses, "Evan, calm down, what's going on?" he pauses again, "No, holy shit no, are you sure?" another deadly pause, "Fuck man! No! Fucking Christ no!" he hangs up the phone and his eyes are starting to turn red.
"What's wrong? What happened?" I ask impulsively.
"Miguel was in a car accident, he was fucking DOA at the hospital." Seb exclaims, I get off his lap and start rocking back and forth.
Miguel was the guy who introduced me and Seb, if it wasn't for him our band wouldn't even exist. He was best friends with our entire band and he even came on tour with us a couple of times.
"Fuck!" Seb screams at the top of his lungs as he paces the room. Miguel and Seb knew each other since the third grade, practically brothers. I glance at the name book, and I know if this baby's a boy, we won't need the book.
I lie down on the bed, I'm so stunned I can't even make a sound, I can't even cry.
Within a five hour span, we're on a flight back home for Miguel's wake and funeral. Usually when our band is on a plane we're the annoying passengers everyone continuously tells to shut up, but not this time, we're completely silent for the entire flight. We don't even bother to listen to music or even glance at the in-flight movie. We're just brain dead, complete zombies.
I clutch Seb's hand tightly the whole taxi ride to my apartment, where he decided he wanted to stay as opposed to his own. We haven't spoken since we got the phone call.
At my apartment we open up our suitcases to find something to wear to the wake, which started half an hour ago. As we're getting dressed Seb walks up to me and hugs me, burying his face deep into my shoulder and sobbing.
Never in my nine years of knowing him have I seen him cry like this and the worst part is I have no idea how to comfort him. I feel his tears seeping through my shirt, but we continue to stand in my bedroom in silence.
"We have to get going." he says finally.
We got back to getting dressed before heading to the funeral home for the wake. When we get there Maureen runs up to me and hugs me, then she hugs Seb, never making a sound though, its all very eerie.
I clutch Sebastian's cold clammy hand as we walk further into the funeral home to wear the open casket is. And I cry, for the first time since the news, and Seb is the one standing strong. Seeing Miguel lying there was what got to me, he was always to full of life, even those times where he'd pass out drunk he'd still toss and turn a little, talking in his sleep. Yet here he was not moving, dead.
"Its okay." Seb whispers to me, hugging me. I calm myself before we got up to Miguel's family to pay our respects.