Walking Contradictions

Thomas sat in the air port terminal working on the comic he had been drawing for years in secrete. It was based on his family and their experiences and was progressing well. But he had no clue for a title.

"Inspiration," He mumbled, pulling out his small MP3 player and putting his headphones on. "Where oh where is that shuffle button?" He decided that the first song to come on would be used for the title of the comic book. As the familiar cords to the song Anna had slipped on there rang in his ears, he smiled and flipped to the front of his note book and jotted down the title.

"Flight 205 for Salt Lake City Utah now boarding." A female voice said over the intercom before clicking it off again. Thomas sighed and put his notebook back into his bag and put his MP3 player away as he headed for the gate.

"If you two don't shut up, I will kill you both," Oz seethed at the pair of arguing siblings. "Now get your asses upstairs and go to bed."

"But Oz," Brad started to say.

"No! I don't wanna hear it! Just shut up and go!"

Anna sighed and Brad rolled his eyes and the duo went upstairs, shoving each other as they went.

"Dad said we aren't each other's punching bags," Anna grumbled, hitting her brother in the arm.

"You take it so well," Brad grunted back, shoving his sister into the wall at the top of the stairs.

The sound of Oz's phone going off brought the fight to a halt and made the dog start barking. Brad and Anna leaned over the railing of the stairs and listened closely as Oz mumbled something before answering. "Hello? Oh hey Thomas, how's the flight? Well what can you expect? So where are you?" There was a pause while he listened to the answer. "Alright, so what's Mike's condition?" Another long pause. "Well that's good. So who do you think did it? Oh yeah? Why am I not surprised? Ok I'll tell them. Keep us updated. Ok see ya man," Oz closed his phone and groaned. "I know you two are listening."

Brad shot his sister a look before they went down the stairs. "So how is he?"

"Mike's got a broken arm and is kinda banged up but he's gonna be ok," Oz gave a weak smile before continuing. "Your dad thinks Tony has something to do with this. So he's going to LA to finish things."

"What?!"

"Calm down," He said, holding up his hands, "we don't know what's going to happen so we shouldn't freak out."

Anna's face suddenly went blank before she disappeared upstairs and closed her bedroom door. Music was cranked on soon after.

"Poor kid," Brad mumbled, "Anyway, why the fuck is he going back? They're gonna kill him."

"Hey, a man's gotta do what a man's gotta do," Oz said, walking into the guest wing of the house, Brad following him. "And if he feels that he has to go deal with Tony on his own, then that's what he's gonna do. We can't stop him."

"The hell we can!"

"You aren't going to LA, Brad."

"You're no help!"

"Yeah, I know," Oz pulled his laptop out of his bag and opened it. "I'll find out where he is," He said, letting the computer boot up before pulling up a tracking system. "He's still in Shasta, at the hospital. Probably visiting his brother."

"And he better stay there," Brad said, turning and walking out. "Asshole," Brad stormed up the stairs but stopped in his tracks when he heard his sister talking to someone in a hushed voice. And then a cell phone started to ring. Not to his surprise, a male with an australian accent picked up.

"Hey sis, what's.....seriously? I'll be there! Dude my mom's home!" The bedroom door flew open and Seb bolted past Brad, down the stairs and out the front door.

Anna stood in the doorway, her cheeks flushed at being caught with the neighbor boy by her brother, who just gave her a sly grin. "We're even now," He said in a cool tone. The pair went into Brad's room and looked out the window that overlooked the neighbor's yard. They watched as a group of four stood out in the snow, hugging and crying. Their mother was home from the middle east.

"Luck bastards," Brad scoffed.

"What was mom like?" Anna randomly asked.

"I couldn't tell you. I don't remember her at all. I've just seen pictures. Seemed happy enough."

"I found her and Dad's wedding rings," Anna said softly as she and her brother shared a look.

"I bet he told you to leave em, didn't he?"

"Yeah,"

"From what he's told me, Mom wasn't the greatest person in the world,"

"But she's still our mom,"

"Always, regrettably," Brad said before walking out of the room.