To Be Accepted

To Be Accepted Part 4

   The following morning, I had to get up early, because Adam was coming to hang out with me at home while my parents went to work. I was getting ready for their arrival, after having eaten breakfast, when I heard Adam come in, but someone else was with him. I knew Adam's voice when heard it, but this other voice I was hearing, was unfamiliar to me. I got my teeth brushed, then went to the living room to see who was with Adam, with my parents having already gone out the door by the time I saw both Adam and his new friend.

   I entered the living room where they were, and immediately, upon seeing Adam's friend, I froze. I knew it wasn't him because of his size, but the person who came over with Adam, looked almost IDENTICAL to Steve! There were some subtle differences besides height and the like, but if I looked at this guy right, I could see a supersized version of Steve standing right in front of me, although he was about the same height as Adam, maybe just a shade smaller in weight, but not by much.

   "Why do you look like Steve?" I asked.

   "Oh.... yeah, I forgot to tell you Mike, this is Steve's older brother Luke, he came over because he wanted to meet you." Adam said.

   "How's it goin' Mike?" Luke asked.

   "I'm doing a little better, but I still have my moments." I replied.

   "That's totally normal man, I can understand why you liked Steve so much, he talked about you all the time, that's why I wanted to come over to meet you." Luke replied, "I had to meet you to see why Steve always raved about you, now I get why he did." Luke said, smiling.

   "I miss him so much Luke, I still can't believe he's gone." I said.

   "It's going to take you a while to cope, I'm sure Mike, but don't let people tell you to just get over it, because that's not their place to tell you how to feel. You have the right to feel sad, Steve touched a lot of people's lives, his goal was to be a motivational speaker once he graduated." Luke said.

   "Did he ever say anything bad about me?" I asked.

   "Not a thing bud. Every time we talked, all he told me was how awesome you were, and how he couldn't wait to see you again the next day. I remember him telling me how you were like a little brother to him, because he was the youngest between the two of us, he liked having you around so he could have a younger brother figure to pal around with." Luke said.

   I was so impressed by how well Luke and I got along. I felt like I didn't even have to try to earn his friendship, but just as quickly as we laid eyes on each other, we started talking like we'd known each other forever. Finally, the time came for us to go to Steve's funeral. The funeral director requested that Steve's casket be kept closed, because he was not fit for being viewed. Adam, Luke, and I all got dressed appropriately for the service, then headed down to the church where Adam said Luke had been baptized, it was there that I met Steve's mom and dad, who couldn't have been a nicer couple. 

   I gave both his mom and dad a hug, offering my condolences, then we all took our seats, while the pastor of the church did his sermon to begin the service, then Steve's mother and father went up to do the eulogy. They understandably struggled to get through what they had to say, but they powered through it, saying some absolutely wonderful things about their son. I looked around at the crowd, trying not to make it too obvious that I was looking, there wasn't a dry eye in the church. 

   I saw Nicky sitting in the front row sitting with her parents, the poor girl was a mess. I wish I could've gone over to comfort her, but it wouldn't have been appropriate of me to get up during the service, so I had to wait until it was over. After we were done inside the church, we headed out to the adjacent cemetery which was not far from where the church was, this would be where they would bury Steve.

   After we all gathered outside, the pastor said a prayer, then they slowly lowered the casket into the ground, after Nicky had placed a bouquet of flowers on top of Steve's casket. After he was lowered in the ground, the groundskeepers of the cemetery started covering the hole, that's where I lost it, because that meant that what happened was real, it's where it finally hit me that I'd never see my best friend again. I turned around where a waiting Adam was already down on my level, hugging me as tight as he could, without squeezing the breath out of me.

   Once I collected myself, Luke asked for my attention.

   "Just remember Mike, Steve may not be here physically anymore, but he's always going to be with you in spirit, all you have to do is talk to him, he can still hear you even in Heaven." Luke told me.

   When we got home later that day, and Luke and Adam had gone home once my parents were off work, and I was ready to go to sleep, I never imagined how true, Luke's words would be. Things were about to get really crazy up in here.

   TO BE CONTINUED...............................................................................................................