Final Breath

Fourteen

Mr. Carter is tall with a thick beard and thin mustache, hazel eyes, tanned skin, and both his ears are pierced.
'You must be Tyler,' he softly speaks when he sees me. His voice isn't deep like I thought it was going to be, but it's still commanding.
'Nice to meet you, Mr. Carter,' I tell him, 'it sucks, the circumstances of which we're meeting, but it's still a pleasure to meet you.'
Mr. Carter then pulls me in a hug, and I don't know what to think of it. At least he smells like after shave and cologne.
I don't even notice that Erik is nowhere to be found until I look around for him. Eventually I give up on trying to find him and follow Mr. Carter into his office. When he clicks the door closed behind him, I realize then that everything is more real than I was originally aware of.

Hours must've gone by before Mr. Carter and I finish up writing and finalizing my will, and then getting the program brochures done for the funeral.
It's still early enough where the streetlights still haven't come on, but it is getting dark outside. Dad hasn't called, but I'm sure he'll start to worry soon. I'm willing to bet that Tyson's still awake, also waiting for me to come back home.
Mr. Carter hugs me again as I start to stand up from his office desk. My Uber is around the corner, which means I don't have to wait in the cold for too long.
I wave goodbye to Erik who's coming out of the kitchen with a huge bowl of ice cream, and he also won't let me leave without nearly choking me in a hug of his own. It's the last time I'll ever see him again, we both know it.

Just as I figure, Tyson is wide awake and in the living room, yet again watching Disney Channel.
'Hey, bud,' I greet my younger brother as I join him on the couch. He immediately leaps into my arms and peppers my face in kisses. I chuckle as I eventually get back at him. He squeals with laughter as he then tries to get away from me. It's while we're fooling around that it hits me triple hard how much I'm going to miss my younger brother when the time comes for me to depart.