Life of Leslie

1

As I stared down at the blank field, I felt something hurt inside of me. As I filled out the job application, I stopped at the field which everybody thinks is the easiest, age. I am 17. It's not that I don't know how old I am that hurts, what hurts is to know that I've gone through more during these 17 years than anyone should in a whole lifetime.

My name is Leslie Winston, I've got wavy brown hair and crystal blue eyes. I'm pretty short, 161 cm to be exact. I was born in Manchester but I live in London now. The northern part. I moved here quite recently, alone. My birthday was just 3 weeks ago so I moved here when I was only 16 by myself. Why did I do that you might wonder? Why aren't my family with me. Well, the truth is my older brother, Jake, passed away. 2 years ago, he was in a car crash. After the funeral when everything started to sink in, my parents finally understood that he would never come back again. Jake was 4 years older than me but still their little favourite, so when he died, I guess some parts of them did as well. They always had their biggest hopes and dreams on Jakes shoulders. Sometimes I noticed that it actually weighed him down a little bit too much. The spark in his eyes was gone quite often at the end, which made me think if he might have done it on purpose. I really hope not, in that case he could've just done the same as me. Run and never come back.

I have a little brother as well, Sam. He's only 12 so he can't really go anywhere. I feel bad for leaving him behind, but since Jakes death he's been the replacement. I was just in the way for them to love him, like I was craving too much attention or anything. Sorry to break it for you guys, but I lost my brother just as much as you lost your son! Sam's doing great though, he's a really great kid. He doesn't really have all the social skills though, no diagnosis or anything. But he can be quite awkward in social situations.

You might wonder what my parents did wrong, which led to me moving away. Many parents start to fight, drink, use drugs or other bad things. Not my parents. Well, they started to fight a bit but not that much. And alcohol and drugs are no problem. The thing was that when Jake passed away, they acted like me and Sam did as well.

I get ahead of myself, you must be so very confused. Let's go back to 'the night'.

*****

"Leslie, could you help me out a bit?" my mother called from the kitchen as she cooked dinner. Tonight's curry chicken and rice. My favourite!

"I'm coming!" I answered as I made my way up from the couch. Me and dad looked at some football match, well none of us watched really, we just sat and talked. Had a good time really. Sam was sitting at the kitchen table, talking with mum as he did his homework. Jake was out with his friends, they went into town. As I crossed the hallway and entered the kitchen, the doorbell rang.

"I got it." I simply said, never could I have prepared for what I would know in less than a minute. As I opened the door, I got simply shocked when a police officer stood there.

"Hello, sir!" I greeted, a bit louder so either mum or dad would hear. My mum came out in the hallway, wiping her hands on the apron as she greeted;

"Good afternoon, sir. Can I help you?" . Neither of us had a clue of why a police officer would show up at our doorstep.

"Are you Mrs. Winston? Um.. this is hard for me to tell you and I wish I would never have to. But your son has been in a car crash." he said, feeling bad for us. I couldn't believe him, my lovely brother couldn't be injured could he. My mum got weak by her knees as she yelled out for my dad. Dad came rushing as he heard my mother, he had clearly not heard any of the talking. As he held my mother up by her arm, he turned his head and locked eyes with the police. He realised without a word being spoken what had happened.

"Can we go see him? How bad is he? Has he broken any legs or something?" I asked without waiting for answers.

"Leslie..." My father said as the police officer just stared sadly at me. I turned my head at my dad.

"What is it? Don't you want to go see him?"

"Leslie. He's gone." my father said as tears streamed down his face.

"No." I just said. Starting to run out the door, to run down the street looking for him. "He can't be!"

"Leslie!" I heard my mother shout. Just then, I felt my father's strong arms around me as he spun me around and hugged me tightly. He's gone.

As I came back in our house, I walked up to Sam and hugged him tightly. This was my only brother now. We went from three siblings to two in a matter of a few hours.

The rest of the night we held each other tight, all four of us. Clearly not knowing what to do with the fact that my brother was dead, his lifeless body being transported. How? Why? How come the sweetest angels are always taken too soon?

He was always there for me. He knew how it hurt when our parents had higher expectations on him than me. But little did I know that he actually protected me. My lovely brother, whom I loved with all my heart.

Never would I see him again.