Family, Love, And Friendship

Memories

I felt my heart aching as memories of me and Sion came to mind. The first time we met, our  stupid fights, and dumb decisions, our first time riding horseback together, him being there to comfort me when I lost my parents; my mother to cancer and my father to the bullet. He was shot and killed in front of me as I hid when bad men broke in. My big brother Al was out at the time, when the men left I picked up the phone and dialed in tears. He picked up and asked what happened. I tried to tell him, but it wouldn’t come out. All I could say was, “Father was hurt bad. Help!” He came rushing home to find father dead. He then hugged me tight and used the phone to call for help. They asked him what happened, he told them that I called him crying, and what I had said, but that he didn’t know what happened before. I was the only witness, the cops tried to talk to me, but I was too frightened and had completely shut down  from the shock and trauma. I just sat in the corner and stared into space. I no longer cried or  reacted at all, everything just sounded distant. The ambulance showed up and they wheeled  father out of our home. I was checked out by the paramedics and then released into my brother's care. My brother told the police he would bring me into the station when he can but that I need time right now. Most left and my brother took me to Sion’s place for the night while the police finished up with the crime scene. We were given the guest room after my brother explained our situation. Once everything calmed down the emotions started to come back, and I began to cry. Brother held me as I did so. When I finally calmed down, he laid down and I laid next to him on the bed. He held me and I fell asleep for a short while, but was awoken by the nightmare of witnessing father’s death. Brother held me tighter, but I couldn’t sleep after that, I was too scared, so we stayed up. He continued to hold me and gently rub my back. The next morning, he left to go to work, he wanted to stay with me but couldn’t. Sion came in and sat next to me. He put his hand on my shoulder and we sat that way in silence, until finally I spoke up. I told him I wanted my father, but he was gone now. Sion simply listened until I finished in tears. He comforted me, and told me he missed Bossy. Bossy was our nickname for our old friend Bobby, that he knew before we became friends. When he became friends with me Bobby joined to, so we called him Bossy because he was always very bossy towards everyone, but he was no longer alive. He was killed in a car accident along with his siblings and parents. A drunk driver was going the wrong way at high speed and hit them head on killing them all on impact. The driver survived and walked away with minor cuts and bruises. Part of me is glad Bossy is gone, because things are more fun now and me and Sion grew much closer after he was gone. After we talked for a while, we decided to play in his room until my brother returned. When Al got back later that night and saw me playing and spending time with Sion, it made him smile and gain hope that I’d be ok. He told me this later. The next morning he brought me to the police station and held me in his lap as I told the cops what happened. “I was playing in my room when I heard screaming downstairs, so I went to look and saw my father fighting with two masked men with guns. They were trying to get in. He took down one of them but the other got in and saw me. He told me to come to him or father would get hurt. I froze, he yelled at father more before holding father from behind his gun to father’s head. He took him to the living room. I knew I should call for help but the only way to the phone would be in the view of the man, so I hid instead, underneath the stairs. At first, I moved away to get closer to the phone. I used the wall for cover and saw my father sitting in the living room with the gun to his head through the doorway. They fought more than I heard the gunshots and saw father get shot and go limp in the chair. Then it went quiet. The man then started coming towards me, so I ran back to where I’d hidden before, beneath the stairs and waited for the man to leave. When he did, I got to the phone and called brother. I couldn’t speak because of the shock aside from those few words. Then he came home and contacted you guys.” Whenever I got emotional during it, he’d hug me until I calmed down enough to continue. Once we finished, we went back to Sion’s place. Whenever my brother left for work, Sion stayed by my side which is why I’m so thankful to have him. But now, I could’ve lost him, even now he could get worse at any moment. He still hasn’t woken  up or even moved aside from quiet slow breathing. I return to reality to hearing Mr. Luno calling my name over and over “Kei, Kei, Kei, KEI!!!” “Ye.. yes?” “You ok?” “Fine.” He has a worried look on his face. I know why. He gets me to sit on the chair in Sion’s room and checks me over for injuries and then treats the cuts. He finds nothing more than minor scraps that can be easily cleaned, and a bandage placed over the real damage isn’t physical but emotional, though I can’t tell him that.