Falling Together

Chapter 28 (Cole)

Cole: "This is private property."

Adrian: "Get out of my way Cole!"

Cole: "You can't just barge into my home.'

Who the fuck does he think he is?

Adrian: "You couldn't save your brother but let me save Lily,"

Cole: "Bret has a fucking big mouth and do not talk about my brother."

Adrian: "Please let me safe her! She is my life, I can't live without her."

Cole: "Blah, blah, blah."

Adrian: "The house! It's on fire!"

I'm not listening to anything he's saying and man, is he annoying. But as soon as I give in to any sound, I hear something behind me. It sounded like cracking wood. Fuck, he was telling the truth. I turn around and head straight towards the stairs.

As soon as I run through the door I notice a motionless figure on the floor but I can give three shits about her right now. The second I reach my brothers room, dodging the fire that is growing stronger to the second floor, I run in and close the door behind me.

How did I let this happen? Who am I? My brother is dead, I almost raped and killed a girl, and now the only thing I have left to care about is burning down in flames. As I look around Mikes room, there's pictures of him everywhere. I could never understand how strong he was for dealing with his disability. I remember when we were little he was obsessed with going to the park and playing in the playground. I grab a picture of me and him at the park and sit down on his bed. My mom would take us to the same park twice a month and those were always my favorite days, the ones I would look forward to.

We were laying down on the grass out on the field of the park, looking up to the sky and enjoying the tranquility.

Mike: "Cole?"

Cole: "Yea buddy?"

Mike: "Did dad leave because of me?

He always asked about our father. I never knew what to say to him without freaking him out. Once he goes into one of his episodes, it takes a miracle for him to come out of it.

Cole: "No, of course not. Him and mom were just not in love anymore."

Mike: "How can someone just not love someone anymore."

I shrug my shoulders.

Mike: "Will you ever stop loving me?"

Cole: "Never in a million years!"

He laughs and says "what about a billion?"

Cole: "Not even then smarty!"

This time we both laugh and we just sit there for a while longer enjoying the silence and I start to think how happy I was to have him in my life.

Mike: "Look Cole there's a squirrel on the tree!"

He loved all kinds of animals, even the ones people would run away from. Sometimes I got nervous and watched over him just in case he grabbed one that was potentially dangerous to him.

Cole: "I see! Is it Chip or Dale?"

He laughs.

Mike: "No silly, Chip and Dale are in Disney! They wouldn't be here in some park."

I gasp and pretend to look hurt.

Cole: "Some park? This is my favorite park in the world!"

He smiles and says "Mine too."

He was my world. After my father left us when we were young, my older brother Bret became the man of the house. Bret could never handle Mike. He never had the patience. Mike had a weird habit of not sleeping at night and wouldn't fall asleep until he knew that everyone in the house was in his room watching over him. He was afraid of the dark and knowing that people were there with him, made him feel safe.

At first no one understood why he was afraid of the dark, but one day he finally spoke up and explained to us that with his mental disorder comes strange hallucinations. It was like having his nightmares turning into reality. I could never imagine what he went through. He suffered with severe anxiety disorder. He worried about everything and everyone.

Bret always loved him but he never truly understood him. Once I got out of prison I heard that he threw a charity in Mikes honor. No matter how many times Bret told me to stay away, I couldn't help but see the amount of people who showed up. No one there knew him, no one even cared what had happened to him. Bret was always the smartest of the three of us. He was four years older than me. Well, us. Mike was my twin brother.