The Cheap Bouquet

Jaime's POV (5 days later)

I sat at home, listening to my iPod. My eyes were shut, concentrating on my All Time Low. I was singing along to Jasey-Rae, one of my favorite songs.

"JAIME!" My mother screamed. I ripped out my ear bud and looked at my mother. Tears were over flooding her bloodshot eyes, and she looked exhausted.

"Mama! What's wrong?!" I asked, jumping to my feet. I ran to her and wrapped my arms around her. She started sobbing into my chest.

After a few minutes, my mom pulled away. "Edward... Edward is dead."

I gasped. Edward was my 7 year old little brother. My parents were divorced, and Edward and his twin sister, Maria, lived with my dad and his girlfriend. I hated talking about them so I never brought it up to anyone except Vic. My dad was irresponsible, I knew they would get hurt, but I didn't think they would die!

My eyes started watering. "How?!"

"Your dumb fuck father and his bimbo girlfriend were drunk off their asses as usual, and Edward was out in the backyard running around and fell into the pool. Apparently your father didn't teach Edward how to fucking swim." My mother said, wiping the tears out of her eyes. "We're having a funeral in two weeks for him."

I started sobbing. My little brother, dead. "C-can I see the body?" I asked in between sobs.

"Yes, it's still in your fucking father's pool cause he didn't call the damn police!" My mother exclaimed. She wiped more tears out of her eyes and pulled out her car keys. She handed them to me.

"You drive, I'm crying way to hard." She muttered. I took the keys from her and went to her car. I got in the drivers seat and started driving to my fathers house.

"Such a piece of fucking shit." I could hear my mother mutter under her breath. The rest of the drive was silent other than the sound of my mother's heartbreaking sobs. I had never seen her so upset before.

When we got there I got out of the car, slamming the door behind me. I hadn't seen my dad in years since I wanted nothing to do with him. When I saw him standing on the porch waiting for us, it made me enraged.

"You fucking drunk piece of shit!" I shouted. I ran to him and wrapped my fingers around his neck and started squeezing, choking the life out of him.

"Jaime, stop." My mother said. Reluctantly, I unwrapped my fingers from his neck. I glared at him and walked over to my mother, wrapping an arm around her.

"Jaime wants to see Edward." My mother said, her sobbing starting to turn into a soft cry.

My father nodded and went into his house. We followed him into the backyard, where I saw little Edward floating in the pool. It was enough to make me sick. My mother actually puked.

"Jaime!" My little sister Maria came running out of the house and threw herself at me. I picked her up and spun her. She laughed and I set her back down. I forced a smile on my face.

Maria dropped her voice to a whisper. "Jaime, what happened to Edward? Daddy says he's dead. What does that mean? I asked dad and he yelled at me."

I could feel my heart breaking. A tear came to my eye but I wiped it away. "It means Edward is in a much better place." I said, choosing my words carefully.

"But if he's in a better place, why is everyone sad?" Maria asked, her eyes wide with curiosity.

"Well, he's not living anymore. He won't be here on earth with us." I said, my voice cracking. I was holding back the sobs that were trying to come out so I would look strong in front of Maria. I heard shouting and looked over and saw my mom and dad fighting.

"How about I take you to go get some ice cream?" I asked. Maria smiled and nodded. We went to my mom's car. Maria got in the front seat and I got in the drivers seat, driving to the nearest ice cream shop.

When we got there I held the door for her, and she went strait to the counter. She got strawberry, and I got chocolate. We sat down at a table and I pulled out my phone. I saw I had a new text and a missed call from Vic.

"Can you hang out tomorrow babe?" It read.

'No, I can't.' I thought bitterly. I crammed my phone back in my pocket and continued eating my ice cream, trying not to burst out sobbing.

"So... Edward won't be with me anymore?" Maria asked.

"No, he won't be with any of us anymore." I said. My eyes started watering, but I wiped it away. I didn't want anyone to see me crying.

"Oh." She continued eating her ice cream.

We ate our ice cream in complete silence. When we were done, we went back to the car. I started to put the key in the ignition when I heard Maria start to sob.

"I-I'm sorry Jaime. I-I thought I c-could keep it all i-in and be s-strong like you but I-I just can't!" She sobbed.

I wrapped my arms around her and she sobbed into my chest. I started sobbing too. Edward and I were close, I didn't want to lose him.

Maria pulled away from me, her eyes red. "Th-the last words I-I said to h-him were 'I h-hate you'. N-Now he'll think I h-hate him!"

"No he won't, he knows you loved him." I looked at the time and was shocked to see it was 7:35 p.m. "We need to get back." I said. I started up the car and drove back to my dad's house.