Kel and Hero after Mari's death

Mari?

Hero could not believe what he saw. "Aubrey? Hero?" Hero's younger brother called out from inside their neighborhoods house. Tiny foot steps walked out back. "Oh there you are- huh? What's wrong?" Kel said looking at the throwing up Aubrey. He looked up to see Hero staring at a hanging Mari. "Mari?" Kel just stood there staring at Mari. No tears. He couldn't cry. He had to be there for his friends. Kel silently made a promise to himself that he would keep everyone happy. He looked down at the throwing up Aubrey and squatted down next to her. Providing care for her. Unlike his brother, Hero bursted into tears. He couldn't stop them no matter how hard he tried. "How did it end up this way?" He asked himself. "Where did it go wrong?" Hero kept on and on not being able to stop those questions from overflowing in his head. "Was this my fault?" Behind him, Aubrey's throw up was replaced with tears. Kel stood up and took a good look around. Sunny and Basil were there too. He hadn't even noticed them with all the commotion. Though, for Sunny and Basil that was a good thing. They both look scared. Kel felt bad for them. For all of his friends and his brother. "I have to help them somehow," Kel thought,"but what can I do..?" Kel was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard sirens. "Police," He thought. "Kel. You , Aubrey, Basil, and Sunny all go inside," Hero said not taking his eyes off Mari. "But-" Kel spoke up. "Kel please. Just go inside. I'll be there in a minute," Hero demanded. Kel felt that this wasn't the time to argue and helped everyone inside Sunny and Mari's house.

Everyone sat at the kitchen table. Aubrey was still crying, Basil was mumbling some stuff, Sunny just looked down at himself, and Kel observed all his friends trying to take in what had just happened. It was all happening too fast. Just a few moments ago Kel, Aubrey, and Hero were all having fun playing games. They had heard some commotion coming from Sunny and Mari's house, so they decided to check on them. Everyone was so excited for the next day to come. It was Mari and Sunny's recital. They had practiced so hard. They were all looking forward to it, especially Mari. Kel usually didn't care that he didn't understand something. He knew he wasn't as smart as the others. Or "stupid" as Aubrey would say. But still he found himself thinking, "Why? Why did this have to happen?" The police had arrived and Hero was asked to answer questions, given he was the oldest there. Eventually the police left and sunny was scared of his own home. The only room he felt comfort in was his bedroom. Sunny ran up to his room and locked the door behind him. Basil, Kel and Aubrey tried to get through to him, but he was too scared. Sunny's parents arrived and everyone but Sunny left the house. They thought they should give him some space. Little did they know that was a huge mistake.

Hero didn't speak to Kel that night. Or really any night after that... Though Kel hadn't thought about it that much in the first week after Mari's death. It was just another week of school the day after their recital was, so Kel was pretty occupied. Sunny was excused from school for sometime. Aubrey and Basil were pretty distant even at school. He got a little lonely sometimes, but he had lots of friends and he joined many sports. Those helped distract him from everything that had happened with Mari. He tried very hard to stay happy and like the person he always was. If you didn't know Kel any better you might have thought he didn't care about Mari. He was just good at hiding his feelings. Hero on the other hand hadn't came out of his room and hardly his bed for the past week. Sooner or later it became a routine. Kel going to school, hanging out with friends and Hero staying home in bed all day everyday. Kel and Hero's parents started to grow worried about Hero. Sooner or later Kel did too. Something was wrong with his older brother. He knew it. They're parents would come into Hero and Kel's room everyday and check on Hero. Letting him know they were there for him. Kel did too. Out of everyone in his house he was the one who truly cared the most about Hero. His parents were more worried about him not going to school and getting the credits he needs to graduate college. They offen talked about it over dinner. Kel knew what was important to their parents. If anyone could get through to Hero it would be him not his parents or anyone else. Kel was the last person Hero had to depend on. But would Hero destroy that bond?