Brendan Dude

Luke sighed and smirked at me. “You’re an idiot.”

“Paraguay is the capital of Uruguay!” I yelled in rebuttal.

“No it’s not!” he defied. “Paraguay’s a whole different country!”

“Bullshit.”

“Language, Brendan. Really.”

I smiled at him across the room. I sat on my bed while the rain pounded down outside and Luke was across from me, hesitantly sitting on David’s old bed. He seemed careful not to wrinkle the sheets – as if he’d be cursed forever if he left it untidy.

My smile caused a silence between us. I couldn’t stop staring at the bed and how Luke was on it. I mean, I understand that there wasn’t much of a choice where to sit down, but…I dunno.

Luke had been coming over to my house a lot since David had died. It didn’t take a genius to figure out why – he’s my best friend. He had a big heart. Put the two together along with what just happened and you got our situation. Nearly every day he either rode his bike here or just got a bus pass and rode home with me. That was cool. Soria and Ren wouldn’t do that. It takes seven years of bonding, and that’s what me and Luke had.

“So how’s life?” he grinned.

I shrugged. “Eh. Crazy…”

His smile faded. “You okay?”

“Yeah, man,” I added.

He stared me down and folded his hands together. Then he leaned forward on his knees, a little half-smirk on his face. “You know…if you ever wanna talk about anything, I’m here for you…”

“You’re such a girl,” I teased.

“Seriously. Brendan…” he trailed off, not smiling at all.

“I know.” I shot him a little grin across the space between us and we relaxed.

Luke brushed his hair back. “…You wanna talk about anything?”

“Like what?”

“Like…like David, or anything that’s on your mind, or Joey…”

My mind jumped at the easiest thing to talk about. “Joey’s so fuckin’ crazy,” I laughed, wanting to ease myself. I wasn’t all over talking about David.

“You’re so mean,” Luke sighed, rolling his eyes. “You never even talk to him.”

I shrugged. “Yeah I do.”

“I mean before it all happened.”

I shut up.

“He has been acting kinda weird lately though,” he rethought.

“No crap! The kid’s insane,” I informed. “I dunno if he’s gonna explode on me or get pissed off or what.”

“Well, you guys’ lives are pretty hectic right now, I’d assume,” Luke assured.

“I hate it though! I can’t bond with him if he’s bouncing all over the place.” Silence. “Not that I’d wanna bond with him in the first place, anyways.”

“He’s your brother.” Luke furrowed his brow.

“But I don’t have to be his friend.”

“But you should be,” he suggested. “I mean, don’t you feel bad about anything?”

“Why should I? He played a big part in the whole David thing.” I didn’t feel like talking about it now. He was pulling the conversation in a direction that I wasn’t used to talking about.

“You ever think that maybe…you know…he just wants a brother now?” Luke suggested. “Maybe he’s got intimacy issues. Maybe you should just give him a hug.”

“No! The freak’ll spaz out on me!” I yelled. “I don’t like him. I don’t like being around him. Hell, I hate him.”

“Just because he’s unpredictable, it doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a heart,” he bargained.

“I don’t think he does. That kid’s fucked up beyond belief,” I said flatly.

Luke went silent and bit his lip. All through this heated debate I’d been staring at him and he’d been throwing glances at my doorway. I got the nerve to rip my eyes away and then I saw what he saw:

Joey was standing in the doorway.

My heart just…it just dropped, man.

“Ohhhhh…” I trailed off upon the realization.

Joey looked pissed. His lips were pressed into a thin line, and his eyes…whoa. His eyes. He could’a shot lasers outta them. I think I peed myself.

“Yeah,” he said flatly.

“Uh, Brendan…” Luke whimpered.

In the blink of an eye Joey was in my room and we were fighting. He had his fists beating me all over and I had my arms around his neck. I felt the air being sucked outta my system with every hit. Soon there was moisture on my face. I didn’t know what it was, and I didn’t care. All I was focusing on was just injuring him any way I could.

“How could you hate me?” Joey yelled, his voice cracking.

I didn’t respond. I couldn’t.

“You can’t!” he continued, tackling me down on my bed. “You saved my life.”

“So?!” I countered, trying to pry his bony fingers off my shirt.

He socked me in the nose. Hard. This was followed by a sucker punch to my eye. The smell of bleach (don’t ask) pelted my senses and I did my best to hit back, but flying fists make for a good shield.

There was blood leaking into my mouth from my nose. Joey stood on his knees above me, crying as he beat me. Blood wasn’t the only thing I tasted…

“Get OFF!” I yelled, trying once and for all to push him off.

It didn’t work.

But as if a miracle had happened, I felt the weight being lifted off of me almost all at once and the fists quit flying. I was…I was safe. Thank the lord.

“Stop it!” I heard Luke scream.

I paused for a moment. After the moments of commotion, this peace seemed illogical. I felt my face with my hands. When I touched my eye, it stung and hurt at the same time. My lip burned when my finger brushed against it. And my arms…battered. My body was sore and worn-out. And my face felt like it was split right down the middle.

Through my blurred vision I saw Joey kick and scream against Luke’s grip on his arms, but when Luke yelled at him some more, he quieted. “Chill!” he repeated. “You don’t wanna fight.”

Eventually Joey calmed down to just be sobbing. Then he fled my room and left us thinking What the hell…

Luke threw his hands up at me. He looked pretty steamed too. “Well, that’s it. Brendan, you can’t start fights with him. That’s what happens.”

“I don’t!” I choked. “He started it…” I trailed off, partly because I was in so much pain, and partly because I felt the salty sting of tears come to my eyes.

Luke sighed. I could hear him across the room. Because I had covered my eyes, I couldn’t see him, but I knew he was there. I always know when he’s there. That’s crazy.

He sat down at my legs. I was still lying on my back on the bed, too hurt to sit up, but I felt the pressure of his arrival. I lifted the hands off of my eyes. Luke was smirking at me.

“You better change your ways, dude. It’s just you and him now,” he stated.

I coughed. A metallic taste lingered in my mouth.

“D’you want some ice?” he offered. “Your eyes are really startin’ to swell.”

“Yeah.”

In a matter of minutes Luke was standing over me, holding an ice pack to my eye while I held a tissue to my busted lip. I felt like I was in the hospital and I hated it. I couldn’t talk. I felt like shit. I hated Joey.

“Dude, seriously…” Luke whispered. “Remember what I said. About you being able to talk to me about anything. You can call me or talk in person. It’s just…” He looked at the floor. “It’s just…I know there’s a lot on your mind. And you’re trying to make it better by crapping all over Joey. But you can’t. I mean, I know we’re not in the same same boat, but…”

“I know,” I choked out. His brother was probably still alive.

“Just remember it,” he smiled.