The Five Sons of Brent Star

Chapter Seven

Luke was the next brother to come to the library.

Luke did not sit as Eli had; he kept walking around the library, pulling books off the shelves and looking at the covers. He would not read the back of the book, just the cover.

"What is your favorite book?" He asked me.

"That is far too tough of a question to answer," I responded, watching him.

He was by far the most relaxed of all the brothers. He had let his blonde hair grow long and kept sweeping it out of his eyes.

"When you figure it out, let me know." He said.

"You do not seem to hate me like the other brothers," I said without thinking.

"They do not hate you. Well, maybe Eli, but he is all about the money." I would have to ask Eli what he did and how he got into it. "Maybe Zach too, but he thought he would be playing in the NFL by now." Luke laughs at that. "He is so small."

The twins were smaller than the other three Star children. Ian was the tallest, then Luke, then Eli, and then the twins were about four inches shorter.

"Just not short, but we are not all bulky. Well, except for Ian, he came back looking like Rambo."

"Where was Ian?" I asked before I could stop myself.

Luke looks up at me and smiles. "No one has a clue. I do not know how Eli got into touch with him."

"Did you like your father?" I asked, bringing us back to Brent. The conversation so far had been led by Luke.

"That is far too tough of a question to answer," Luke said. He just stared at the book in his hands. "There were times I thought he was the greatest human on the planet."

"What changed that?" I asked.

"He became distant. Have you ever talked to someone, and you can tell they are just standing there looking at you but not really listening to what you were saying?"

I nodded my head; I had felt that many times in my life before.

"That's as my father. He would try to have these family dinners, the six of us, and we would show up, but we would start talking, and it was like he was not there. I don't know; it is kind of hard to explain."

"Maybe try." I pressured him.

"I think he thought he was a God."

And then Luke put the book back into its slot and walked out of the library, leaving his time slot early; this time, I did not get to stop it early.

Zach was ten minutes late. I knew Ian had accidentally come to his late. Zach did it to prove a point. Maybe a schedule was a little overkill, but I wanted to stay on track.

He was dressed in black athletic shorts, all-white tennis shoes, and a cut-off.

"I was working out," he said, watching my eyes glaze over his body.

Even though he was one of the shortest Star brothers, he was a good six inches taller than me. I was five, five.

"You like working out?" I asked.

It was a stupid question, and I could hear Zach thinking I was a ditz.

"I do. I play semi-football. I was allowed to come here if I track my workouts and log everything."

"Cool. What position?"

He pauses. "You watch football?"

"Some," I shrug. "I bet on some Packers games here and there."