fires and floods. | dominic fike

10

Dominic sighed heavily as he and Alex sat side by side on a park bench, getting comfortable as they began to unwrap their food. Using the money he had from some beats he produced, Dominic bought both him and his brother breakfast. Most of the time, they were able to scrape by each day to feed themselves but this breakfast was different. It was the first time in 5 days that Dominic was able to buy food for the both of them. He had spent almost all his money on drugs behind Alex's back and it was eating him up. Dominic felt so guilty for forcing Alex to fend for himself so that he could have his drugs, but not too guilty since he knew Alex always found a way to take care of himself.

The boys had spent the last few weeks since Alex's release couch surfing and sleeping in their mom's car. The car was more of a last resort for the nights they couldn't secure a home, which felt more recently as of late.

"I'm gonna go see Madison today." Alex said, a mouth full of food. Alex met Madison in school, Dominic could tell his younger brother was developing a crush on the girl.

"Cool. Here's some money." Dominic handed Alex $40. He did the math in his head and they had about 70 bucks left. It should be enough for a motel room and maybe some dinner.

The brothers enjoyed their morning together before going their separate ways soon after.

It was another Saturday in Naples for the boy. He debated on reaching out to Celeste and seeing if she wanted to do something, but he knew she would be busy taking care of her siblings. He missed her like crazy. It had been two weeks since their kiss, and it's been the best two weeks of his life, minus the last 5 days. Celeste and Dom spent all their time together, with Dominic even hanging out with her family. When Dominic would produce at a friend's house, Celeste would sit in and watch the process. She loved seeing him make his music, his ability to mold his voice to a beat so easily was attractive to her. They shared small kisses throughout the day, they began to feel casual. Celeste was learning that Dominic showed his love through physical touch and compliments, which she adored.

Dominic sighed heavily, stumped on what to do. He wasn't feeling too sociable, he felt isolated in fact. He hated the crashes of his drug use, he was two days sober and his body was feeling it. His decision to become sober (or at least take a tolerance break) came after a huge argument with Alex two days prior.

"Hey Dom, I need to get in the money fund for shower stuff." Alex asked from the passenger seat of their mom's car. The younger brother lit the blunt in between his fingers, taking the first hit since it was his weed.

Dominic sat quiet, waiting for his turn to inhale the blunt. Alex handed it to his older brother, waiting for a response. Dominic's lips met the paper, inhaling it and feeling the smoke take up his lungs. He took note of the warmth, and how it burned, and how part of him enjoyed the burn.

"Yo? Am I talking to a wall, jit?" Alex chuckled, trying to get his brother out of his silent spell.

"Uh, yeah about that..." Dominic strained off, becoming nervous at what he was about to let Alex know. "There's no money right now, jit. I'll get you some tomorrow." Dominic mumbled, handing him the blunt back. A wave of confusion overcame Alex.

"What do you mean?" He sternly asked.

"There's no money." Dominic nonchalantly spoke, as if it was something to look over.

"I just gave you $300 two days ago. We've been sleeping in the car. We haven't eaten together. The fuck you mean we have no money?" Alex spat out at his big brother.

"We had shit to take care of." Dominic shrugged, looking more dazed than ever.

"Tell me what shit we could possibly have to take care of." Alex sarcastically spoke, annoyance evident in his voice.