Family Secrets

Eliseo 1 - Brothers

Eliseo

I don't know how old I was when I fell in love with her, but I do remember the moment I realized it.

I was fifteen that year. David, Juan, and I had managed to convince our teacher to put us in the same group for a project. We were all over at David's house, drinking sweet tea and talking about the book we'd just been forced to read.

"A poster is the easiest thing," Juan said again. "Easy, cheap, and we're guaranteed a good grade."

"Or," I said with a grin, "hear me out: flipchart."

"I don't know. I kind of like the idea of a slideshow," David said, voice excited, "we can include pictures and colored text and—"

"—and none of us own a computer," Juan said grimly. "We'd have to work on it at school. And we'd have to learn how to work it."

"No, you'll love it! I worked with computers in Governor's School this summer," David argued. "I think everybody will use them in the future. It's really easy—"

"Maybe," an angel's voice suggested from the doorway, "you should try thinking outside the box."

My heart stuttered as I looked her way. She was holding a mug of steaming coffee, her hair ruffled and clothes dirty from work. She looked tired beyond belief, but her eyes danced with excitement, with intelligence. "Plenty of people are going to do posters, flipcharts—maybe even a few will do slideshows. You should do something to stand out."

Box... Box... "We could do a diorama," I blurted.

She laughed, "I love how me saying 'outside the box' makes you automatically think of putting something into a box."

I felt my cheeks heat, but everybody was too busy talking to notice.

"I like it," David said excitedly.

"Me too," Juan agrees. "It won't be that much extra work, but it will look like it. We have to do it just right, though, or the message will be lost."

"Good idea, Eliseo!" David grins, slapping me on the back. "And thanks, Ma."

She chuckled, "If you really want to thank me, you can help me carry in all those heavy, heavy groceries."

At the suggestion that strength was needed, all three of us jumped to our feet, heading for the door.

I was the last out, and as I slid past her, Astrid said quietly, "I've always loved how smart you are, Eliseo. Don't hide it."

I stopped walking to look at her, my heart thundering at the nearness, the words, her complete and total attention on me, and perhaps stupidly, the fact that she saw me. For most people Juan and I were always a packaged deal: indivisible, physically identical, and not worth the effort of even considering that we might be different people at our core. Most people saw us as interchangeable and didn't even try to figure out who was who.

On the rare occasion that differences were pointed out, it was often in Juan's favor. He was always the more confident of the two of us, the one ready to brawl, the one wanting to take charge of those around us. Me on the other hand, I preferred to quietly observe, to think about things, and to use my words instead of my fists... and those weren't traits appreciated by most of my pack. 

"Thank you," I finally whispered.

Her tired smile punched me in the gut even her words caressed my chest, "Don't let your brother overshadow you. You've got good ideas."