The Tragic Truth
Past
“Ah man! I can’t believe you’re here!” Maria said, running to hug Dannii and me. Before she let me go out of the hug, she whispered, “And who is this?” I smirked and let go of the embrace. Kae looked so out-of place in this homey little house. So, I introduced him.
“Maria, this is Kae, my boyfriend. Kae, this is Maria. We’ve been friends since…well, since forever.” I laughed and Kae went over to shake Maria’s hand. She shook her head. “No, no. That’s not the way we greet each other.” Dannii and I both snickered from behind Kae’s back. We both knew what was coming. Maria leaned into Kae, and air-kissed him on both cheeks. I swear, Kae was blushing. It was pretty funny. She greets all guys like that.
“Well, you guys, I’m sure you’ve had a rough trip. So I’ll let you go to sleep. Just follow me upstairs…” her voice led off into nothing as we walked up the stairs with her. There were two rooms we were going to be staying in that were adjacent from one another. They belong to two of her sisters, who were away at college.
“I assumed you two could share a bed?” Rina asked quizzically. We nodded. “Mom just says…well, just go to sleep. Ha ha…okay. Well, goodnight! I’ll see you guys tomorrow morning and we can get something planned out. Why don’t you come back to the high school?” I smiled. “Sounds great,” I said.
The next morning we went out to the car to bring out suitcases in. We were too tired to do it the night before. I took a shower, got dressed, and we all joined downstairs to have a big breakfast with Rina and her family. The sum total that was there was her little twin brothers, her little sister, one of her big sisters, out of four, and her parents. I always remembered that anytime I was over, it always felt like a family reunion. Even though I wasn’t even related to any of these people.
We all had a big breakfast and then the four of us hurried off to our old high school.
Rina parked my Jeep in the high school parking lot and then we all walked over to the school, and in through the front doors. Rina had to sign us in as visitors; the schools are so security-tight these days. We just followed her around to her classes. You wouldn’t believe the welcome we got.
Maureen: “I can’t believe your back!! We’ve missed you so much! Friggen A, Skye. Dannii? You guys didn’t even tell us where you were going!”
Isabelle: “Oh, my gosh? I mean, like, I didn’t think I would ever see you again?” [You know, the whole ‘talking in questions’ thing. That’s Isabelle for you.]
Cassi: [she screamed.] “My husband!! You’re back!! Ah gaaahd!! We’ve all missed you soo much!!”
Dannii, of course, got the same kind of reactions.
And Kae looked at me weird when Cassi said, “my husband!”.
“Umm…is there something you need to tell me…?” Kae laughed.
“Wow. Good times. Well, a while ago we randomly came up with the idea that if either one of us got a sex change, we would marry each other,” I started laughing too, “Well, then on my 14th birthday, Cassi gave me this cheap little plastic ring and asked me to marry her. We planned a date and everything. Then we got dressed up, went to the front of the lunch room at school, and had Maria act like a priest, marrying us. I had brought cup cakes as wedding cake and afterward…well, great fun. I was the husband and she was the bride.”
We started laughing hysterically as we sat in the back of the class the rest of the period.
“Wow. I didn’t realize how much of another life you had going for you. Well, I guess you don’t need me anymore!” We were sitting on Rina’s sister’s bed back at the house. Kae got up to leave as he said that. I smirked and pulled his arm, and he fell back on top of my lap.
“Ow…my…legs. You’re. Crushing. My. Legs.” I whimpered. I giggled, trying to break free of his massive butt. Okay, just kidding. It wasn’t that big. It was just kind of sexy. He hugged me and we soon went to sleep.
Days passed about the same. On Friday, we went to the mall with our old friends. We hung out from the minute school got out, to about 11:30 at night. The mall closed at 10:30. So for about an hour we hung around Taco Bell and random gas stations, just screwing around.
On Saturday, we were planning to leave sort of at night. Around sort of when it got dark, I guess. We were planning on driving through the night. I decided that I wanted to leave a little early.
“I…I want to-I want to visit my brother,” I choked out. I was talking to Kae. He looked at me with sympathy and nodded his head.
“Let’s go tell Rina we’re leaving.” He replied. We said our goodbyes, packed every last thing into the car, and headed off to the cemetery.
“Now just take a right here,” I pointed out to Kae. He was driving this time. We stopped at the cemetery and Kae started to get out of the car.
“Thanks,” I stopped him, “but I want to be alone right now.” I got out of the car and walked over to Patrick’s grave. It was sort of hidden behind a big willow tree. He always liked trees. He used to climb them all the time.
I felt so tall, standing above the grave that was only a foot high. I looked down at the headstone.
_______________Patrick Brookes
___________________1993-1999
_____________You’ll always be right here with me, bud.
I had written that. “You’ll always be right here with me, bud.” My mom was too drunk to even consider putting anything on the headstone, and my dad-well, he wasn’t even there at the time. He was probably hooking up with some random girl at a bar. They called the house, asking what to put on the headstone. I told them. Somehow, it had made me feel closer to him. That just maybe he was actually right there with me. But I knew he wasn’t.
“Hey, bud,” I started. I hadn’t ever talked to gravestones much…but I went on, “well. I guess I should’ve brought flowers, huh? Well…I guess you never liked flowers much, anyway. You were just a six-year-old boy. You always liked collecting shells, though. Maybe I’ll get some shells for you next time…I’ve missed you. A lot. I ran away to New York. You know, if you were here, I would’ve brought you with me. I really would have. I know you didn’t know it then, but Mom and Dad aren’t exactly the best people. I wouldn’t have left you with them…” I sank to my knees and started crying. I really couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“I really wish you were still here! I wish that I had a little brother I could still take care of! I wish that you could’ve met Kae. He’s a great kid. Do you remember how I always call everyone ‘kid’? Well, probably not…you were too young. But I wish that you could’ve met him! He’s my boyfriend…I think you would’ve approved. I would’ve always wanted your input when it came to boyfriends. I would’ve wanted you to be the over-protective little brother who threatens the guys that you don’t think are right for me! I wish you were still here! I wish I had some sort of person that told me I still belonged to a family! You were the only person that would’ve been able to do that! Mom and Dad wouldn’t have! They couldn’t have! Mom’s always drunk and Dad’s always gone! The only family I have left is you! And you’re gone!!”
I laid down on the soft grass near the willow tree. I just sat and cried, watching the sun set in front of me.
“I’m going to go check on her…” Kae said. Dannii nodded, “I’ll come too.” They walked a little ways until they saw me lying in the grass. Kae ran over to me and Dannii followed suit.
“Shh, shh, we’re gonna go back home now,” Kae whispered. I didn’t feel like I even had the strength to walk. So Kae lifted me up into his arms, the way a groom would do to a bride, walking underneath a threshold. Dannii wiped away the tears from my eyes as we walked back to the car. Kae laid me in the back, trying to let my body dodge all of the extra crap we had lying around.
“I’ll drive…you just sit back there with her.” Dannii suggested. She grabbed the keys from Kae and started the car. He climbed into the back as best he could and found a way to lie next to me. I guess he threw most of the stuff into the passenger seat.
I fell asleep to the hum of the car, with tear streaks down my face, and Kae stroking my matted-down hair.
“Maria, this is Kae, my boyfriend. Kae, this is Maria. We’ve been friends since…well, since forever.” I laughed and Kae went over to shake Maria’s hand. She shook her head. “No, no. That’s not the way we greet each other.” Dannii and I both snickered from behind Kae’s back. We both knew what was coming. Maria leaned into Kae, and air-kissed him on both cheeks. I swear, Kae was blushing. It was pretty funny. She greets all guys like that.
“Well, you guys, I’m sure you’ve had a rough trip. So I’ll let you go to sleep. Just follow me upstairs…” her voice led off into nothing as we walked up the stairs with her. There were two rooms we were going to be staying in that were adjacent from one another. They belong to two of her sisters, who were away at college.
“I assumed you two could share a bed?” Rina asked quizzically. We nodded. “Mom just says…well, just go to sleep. Ha ha…okay. Well, goodnight! I’ll see you guys tomorrow morning and we can get something planned out. Why don’t you come back to the high school?” I smiled. “Sounds great,” I said.
The next morning we went out to the car to bring out suitcases in. We were too tired to do it the night before. I took a shower, got dressed, and we all joined downstairs to have a big breakfast with Rina and her family. The sum total that was there was her little twin brothers, her little sister, one of her big sisters, out of four, and her parents. I always remembered that anytime I was over, it always felt like a family reunion. Even though I wasn’t even related to any of these people.
We all had a big breakfast and then the four of us hurried off to our old high school.
Rina parked my Jeep in the high school parking lot and then we all walked over to the school, and in through the front doors. Rina had to sign us in as visitors; the schools are so security-tight these days. We just followed her around to her classes. You wouldn’t believe the welcome we got.
Maureen: “I can’t believe your back!! We’ve missed you so much! Friggen A, Skye. Dannii? You guys didn’t even tell us where you were going!”
Isabelle: “Oh, my gosh? I mean, like, I didn’t think I would ever see you again?” [You know, the whole ‘talking in questions’ thing. That’s Isabelle for you.]
Cassi: [she screamed.] “My husband!! You’re back!! Ah gaaahd!! We’ve all missed you soo much!!”
Dannii, of course, got the same kind of reactions.
And Kae looked at me weird when Cassi said, “my husband!”.
“Umm…is there something you need to tell me…?” Kae laughed.
“Wow. Good times. Well, a while ago we randomly came up with the idea that if either one of us got a sex change, we would marry each other,” I started laughing too, “Well, then on my 14th birthday, Cassi gave me this cheap little plastic ring and asked me to marry her. We planned a date and everything. Then we got dressed up, went to the front of the lunch room at school, and had Maria act like a priest, marrying us. I had brought cup cakes as wedding cake and afterward…well, great fun. I was the husband and she was the bride.”
We started laughing hysterically as we sat in the back of the class the rest of the period.
“Wow. I didn’t realize how much of another life you had going for you. Well, I guess you don’t need me anymore!” We were sitting on Rina’s sister’s bed back at the house. Kae got up to leave as he said that. I smirked and pulled his arm, and he fell back on top of my lap.
“Ow…my…legs. You’re. Crushing. My. Legs.” I whimpered. I giggled, trying to break free of his massive butt. Okay, just kidding. It wasn’t that big. It was just kind of sexy. He hugged me and we soon went to sleep.
Days passed about the same. On Friday, we went to the mall with our old friends. We hung out from the minute school got out, to about 11:30 at night. The mall closed at 10:30. So for about an hour we hung around Taco Bell and random gas stations, just screwing around.
On Saturday, we were planning to leave sort of at night. Around sort of when it got dark, I guess. We were planning on driving through the night. I decided that I wanted to leave a little early.
“I…I want to-I want to visit my brother,” I choked out. I was talking to Kae. He looked at me with sympathy and nodded his head.
“Let’s go tell Rina we’re leaving.” He replied. We said our goodbyes, packed every last thing into the car, and headed off to the cemetery.
“Now just take a right here,” I pointed out to Kae. He was driving this time. We stopped at the cemetery and Kae started to get out of the car.
“Thanks,” I stopped him, “but I want to be alone right now.” I got out of the car and walked over to Patrick’s grave. It was sort of hidden behind a big willow tree. He always liked trees. He used to climb them all the time.
I felt so tall, standing above the grave that was only a foot high. I looked down at the headstone.
_______________Patrick Brookes
___________________1993-1999
_____________You’ll always be right here with me, bud.
I had written that. “You’ll always be right here with me, bud.” My mom was too drunk to even consider putting anything on the headstone, and my dad-well, he wasn’t even there at the time. He was probably hooking up with some random girl at a bar. They called the house, asking what to put on the headstone. I told them. Somehow, it had made me feel closer to him. That just maybe he was actually right there with me. But I knew he wasn’t.
“Hey, bud,” I started. I hadn’t ever talked to gravestones much…but I went on, “well. I guess I should’ve brought flowers, huh? Well…I guess you never liked flowers much, anyway. You were just a six-year-old boy. You always liked collecting shells, though. Maybe I’ll get some shells for you next time…I’ve missed you. A lot. I ran away to New York. You know, if you were here, I would’ve brought you with me. I really would have. I know you didn’t know it then, but Mom and Dad aren’t exactly the best people. I wouldn’t have left you with them…” I sank to my knees and started crying. I really couldn’t hold it in anymore.
“I really wish you were still here! I wish that I had a little brother I could still take care of! I wish that you could’ve met Kae. He’s a great kid. Do you remember how I always call everyone ‘kid’? Well, probably not…you were too young. But I wish that you could’ve met him! He’s my boyfriend…I think you would’ve approved. I would’ve always wanted your input when it came to boyfriends. I would’ve wanted you to be the over-protective little brother who threatens the guys that you don’t think are right for me! I wish you were still here! I wish I had some sort of person that told me I still belonged to a family! You were the only person that would’ve been able to do that! Mom and Dad wouldn’t have! They couldn’t have! Mom’s always drunk and Dad’s always gone! The only family I have left is you! And you’re gone!!”
I laid down on the soft grass near the willow tree. I just sat and cried, watching the sun set in front of me.
“I’m going to go check on her…” Kae said. Dannii nodded, “I’ll come too.” They walked a little ways until they saw me lying in the grass. Kae ran over to me and Dannii followed suit.
“Shh, shh, we’re gonna go back home now,” Kae whispered. I didn’t feel like I even had the strength to walk. So Kae lifted me up into his arms, the way a groom would do to a bride, walking underneath a threshold. Dannii wiped away the tears from my eyes as we walked back to the car. Kae laid me in the back, trying to let my body dodge all of the extra crap we had lying around.
“I’ll drive…you just sit back there with her.” Dannii suggested. She grabbed the keys from Kae and started the car. He climbed into the back as best he could and found a way to lie next to me. I guess he threw most of the stuff into the passenger seat.
I fell asleep to the hum of the car, with tear streaks down my face, and Kae stroking my matted-down hair.