Brothers (Phan)

5

Phil turned to me, tiny tears welling up in his eyes. I leaned over and wiped them away before they fell, he just looked out the window behind me. I sighed loudly. "Phil, it's okay. I don't understand why, you're perfe-uoh well I uh mean, but things will get better for you, I promise." He looked at me and smiled a tiny bit. "Thanks Dan, now let's go inside." We simultaneously opened our doors, stepping out into the warm, almost-summer air. Phil rubbed his face roughly, as if he was trying to rub his skin off. He then looked at me, took a deep breath, and rang the bell. We could hear someone approaching the door, and my mum pulled it open. "Dan! And Phil! What brings you around?" Phil looked at her strangely. "It's my house?" She laughed and stepped out of the way, beckoning us in. Phil looked over at me and rolled his eyes. "She acts like she owns the place, What the hell?" I smiled at him, and we walked in, going down the hallway my mom went down moments before. She pulled out one of the chairs around our dining room and sat down. She tipped her head to the two chairs across from her. Phil rolled his eyes again, "Where's dad?" She looked slightly sad. "He's in our room. Go on in there." Phil ran a hand through his hair roughly, groaned, and then stared my mother dead in the face. "Listen, Linda, let me make this clear. I'm going back to talk to my father, not because you let me 'go ahead,' but because THIS IS MY HOUSE. Second of all, once again, THIS IS MY HOUSE, so don't boss me around again, got it?" She nodded as a tear slid down her cheek. He huffed and turned to stomp out of the room. She looked up, wanting me to come comfort her. I scowled, shaking my head and following Phil out. He stomped down the skinny hallway with the flickering light, then taking a deep breath and twisting the knob and poking his head around the corner. "Father?" I heard a muffled "hmm?" and Phil opened the door all the way and stepped in. I followed suit. Phil gingerly sat on the edge of the unmade bed. "Father, Joey died." His dad looked at him funny, "okay? I'm sorry to hear that." He said almost like a question. Phil sighed and added, "no, you don't understand. He always helped me pay my bills. I came here to..." He paused and took a deep breath. "askificangethelpwiththemoney." He said, rushing and mashing his words together. His dad laughed, "what was that?" Phil looked up at him, "can I have help with the rent money?" His dad sighed and shook his head. "Oh Phil, I can't do that." Phil's eyes began watering, he took a shaky breath. "Well, i-is there anything else I could do?" He said, stuttering. Derrick ran his fingers through his coarse, brown hair. "I don't know, Phil. This was so out of the blue. You could always stay here." I looked over at Phil, he looked so confused. "I don't know. I don't really want to, but I guess I'll have to. I just paid this months rent, so I would have the rest of the month to get stuff packed. I guess I'll have to move in for awhile." Derrick looked overjoyed for Phil to be saying that. "Oh, well I didn't think that would happen. I'll get your old room all cleaned up for you, and you can come whenever you get your stuff all packed." Phil nodded slightly and stood up. "Let's go," he whispered to me. I followed him out the door, walking out to Phils car. When he got into the car, he slouched low into the seat. "I never thought I would have to move back in with him." I sat there awkwardly, unsure of what to say. He continued speaking after a moment. "Dan, no offense, but I kinda want to be alone for a bit, do you mind if I drop you off at home?" I shook my head. "Phil, I understand, it's completely fine, I need to get home anyway." He sighed, and added a small thanks and began driving. I would point whenever he needed to turn. When he arrived at my house, I pulled him into a hug and then finger gun saluted at him. I opened the car door and turned to watch him drive off. I sighed, and walked up our small path to our front door, where I pulled the key out of my wallet and unlocked it. I walked in and took a deep breath. I can't believe everything that has happened in the last two days. I locked the door behind me and began trudged up the stairs to my small bedroom. The second i walked through the doorway, I flopped onto the bed. "Shit, I'm still in Phils clothes, which means I'll need to get my clothes back from him soon." I thought to myself. I groaned and stood up, tugging off Phils clothes and pulling on a pair of sweatpants. I walked downstairs and threw his clothes in our washing machine, adding some detergent and starting it up. I stood, transfixed by the small waterfall pouring from the back of the drum. It put me into a trance-like state, and I just thought about any little thing that came to my mind. When it stopped running, I closed the little door thing and walked back upstairs. This time I crawled into my bed, getting underneath my thick duvet, and drifting off to sleep.