𝐇𝐎𝐎𝐃𝐈𝐄 | Jeremiah Fisher

four.

      LAUREL CONKLIN AND CAROLINE POPES CLOSED THE DOOR BEHIND THE OFFICERS. They then turned back to the six kids who were standing in the hallway.

"How could you guys be so irresponsible?"

"Mom, it wasn't a big deal." Steven said. "Seriously, the cops were just looking to break up the bonfire."

"Not a big deal?"

"Yes."

"I would say getting picked by the cops for underage drinking is a pretty big deal, Steven!" Laurel said.

     Steven sniffed. "Were you guys smoking tonight?"

"What? Keep your voice down. Susannah's asleep on the couch!"

"I wasn't yelling, you were!"

"Just so you know, guys, I didn't drink tonight." Jeremiah told them. "I was the DD, I swear."

"Yeah, but the others drank." Caroline said, watching her kids. "I hope you guys know how disappointed I am. In both of you."

"I just had a beer, mom." Eva replied looking at the ground.

"The problem isn't that you were drinking. The problem is that you didn't watch over each other. That's not what I taught you."

"We watch over each other!" Louis protested. "We do it all the time and you know it."

     His sister nodded in agreement and Caroline crossed her arms on her chest.

"Sometimes I feel like you guys don't understand what I want for you. I just want to see my kids love each other."

"What are you talking about?" Eva asked. "We love each other."

"Oh yeah? Because since the accident I feel like you aren't really together. You're just so different. Sometimes I feel like you barely like each other."

"You serious? You really think that?" Eva exclaimed.

"We can't do everything together either, mom! We're not going to stop living because of Jimmy's death! It's not what he would have wanted! We can watch over each other without always being stuck together."

"It has nothing to do with 'being stuck' together, and it has nothing to do with your brother either! You're supposed to take care of each other, to protect each other, it's what I taught you!"

"How can we take care of each other if you haven't teach us how to take care of ourselves?" Louis yelled before running out of the house.

"Louis!" his sister ran after him.

"Eva! Evangeline, you stay here!" Capucine yelled but her daughter didn't listen.

     Eva knew that if her mother was using her full name, then she was really angry, but her brother meant more to her than anything else so she ignored her mother's calls and ran outside. Louis had already run across the garden and Eva rushed after him. Everyone came out the front door calling for them to come back but the twins didn't turn around and ran away, running down the middle of the road.

"They're actually going fast!" Steven exclaimed.

"They'll be back soon. It's my fault, I shouldn't have said that." Caroline sighed, running a hand over her face.

     Meanwhile, the twins had run to the beach. Louis dropped to his knees in the sand and screamed as he kicked the ground. Eva slowed down as she approached him and sat down beside him with a worried look. Her brother had tears in his eyes and she couldn't tell if it was because of sadness or anger. Probably both.

     For a few seconds, the only sounds you could hear were their breathing, still jerky from the run they had just made.

"What's wrong?" Eva finally spoke.

"I met this guy to the party. He was really nice and really cute." his sister smiled when she heard him. "We kissed."

"Yeah? Louis, that's so cool! Why aren't you happy? Don't you like him?"

"Yes, I do, but when we kissed, two boys walked past us and they made dirty noises like they were throwing up or something and then they laughed and they called us names."

"Who were they? Do I know them? Do you want me to kill them?" Eva asked and it made her brother laugh.

"No, I don't know who it was, thanks, tho. But anyway. It didn't seem like he cared about what happened. I mean, it's like it didn't touch him, you know. But me... it was... it made me so mad and so sad and... it hurted me, you know. But the worst part is that I didn't react. I didn't know how. What could I say? I don't know. I just... I don't know how to handle this kind of things. I'm not sure I actually can."

"Louis, listen. You can handle it, because you're strong and wonderful. The problem is not if you can handle this or not. The problem is that we shouldn't have to handle this. But there are assholes and always will be. It's just how the world is, and it sucks. So we have to adapt and just... try to ignore it, to fight it. Try to change the mentalities, as much as we can. Even if it's hard sometimes. But even when things come worst, you'll still get me. You know it, right?"

     The twins smiled at each other. Louis opened his arms.

"Come here."

     She leaned against him and they just lied on the sand and looked at the sky for a few moments, enjoying the only presence of each other.

"So would you tell me about this guy or not?" Eva grew impatient. "What's his name?"

"His name's Jonathan. We like the same books and watching the sky and he plays the guitar too."

"Sweet. He lives here?"

"No, he's here for the summer. It's only his second one in Cousins."

     They talked about Johnathan for several minutes and after a while they finally decided it was time to go back home. When they entered, Caroline was waiting for them, sitting on the sofa in the hall, and she got up when she saw them. The others weren't there so the twins deduced that they had gone to bed.

"Hi, kiddos." she told them with a little smile.

"Hi."

     There was an awkward silence and she sighed.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier. It wasn't right. You lost Jimmy too. It was selfish of me to say those things to you."

"It's okay, mom. We were all tense."

     They approached her and the three of them hugged silently for longs minutes, and the only things you could hear in the room were the sobs they were trying to hide. Their father wasn't as absent when they were kids. It was after Jimmy's death that things changed. After the car accident that cost him his life. Their father was driving. He never got over it. The family was shattered.

"I'm going to bed. Good night." Eva said, going up the stairs.

      As she tossed in her bed trying to sleep, she heard two knocks on her wall and she smiled. Ever since they were little, Jeremiah had the bedroom right next to hers so they shared the same wall. They had introduced these little knocks in the evening to wish each other a good night.

     She reached out and knocked twice as well. She smiled and without realizing it, sleep caught up with her.

— my baby louis