Provisions

Part 4

Cain:

One suitcase, a duffle bag, and a backpack. That's all I have left of my family. Three. Fucking. Bags. Not to mention, they're mostly filled with clothes. It's not like the government guys gave me a limit as to what I can pack, I just... it was too painful to strip away the memories that I had made here. It didn't feel right. This was the last place my family ever saw, why ruin that by messing up the atmosphere. Packing three bags doesn't take very long so I spent the night saying goodbye to the safe haven my parents built for my brothers and I.

I walked into Tim's room for the first time since he died. It was just like he left it, just a little dustier. Tim was always well-kept. He made his bed every morning and was proud to have a clean room. His blue and white striped bedding was as neat as ever. His desk was perfectly organized; everything from his pencils to his tape dispenser were exactly perfect. If any of us were going to go anywhere in life, it was Tim. It should have been Tim. He was the only one who tried, not because he was told to, but he wanted to. For himself. It was like he had something to prove. I walked over to his closet and sorted through his button ups, dress pants, belts, and ties. They smelled like him. I never knew a smell could really remind you of anyone. I shut his closet door and made my way over to his desk. I grasped his chair tight and sat down and opened the drawer on his desk. Once again, there was even stacks of papers, pencils, sticky notes... but in the corner, I saw something pushed back. I reached my hand back there and grabbed it. It was a school picture of him from his senior year. I must have stared at the picture for minutes. I put the photo in my pocket and lifted the stacks of paper to find his laptop. I grabbed his laptop, put the photo inside of it, and put it in my backpack. I took one last look at Tim's room and shut off the lights.

The next stop was Winston's room. Just as I expected, his bed wasn't made. Tim and Winston were complete opposites, but they were the best of friends. Winston's room was decorated heavily with sports memorabilia, his basketball trophies, swimming medallions, lacrosse certificates... they were all posted on his walls and decorated his shelves. His desk was never used for homework, it was scattered with junk. I went over to his unmade bed, sat down on the dusty sheets and opened his bedside table. I wasn't surprised to find a box of condoms, two playboys, and an mp3 player with romantic music tossed in there. I chuckled lightly cause that was just so... Winston! I laid back on his bed and felt something hard underneath his pillow. His laptop was hidden under there. Since I had Tim's, I might as well take Winston's too. I grabbed the laptop and placed it in my backpack along with something from the side drawer. I'll let you guess what it was. I got up from his bed and made my way to his doors. I turned off the lights and say a whole-hearted "goodbye" to my brother.

Last stop: my parents room. I walked into the large room expecting a nice, neat, tidy room but was shocked to see empty bottles of whisky, cognac, vodka, and wine all over the floor. I guess I never noticed the bottles when I found mom. The room had stayed shut ever since. I walked over to my dads side of the bed and sat down and looked in his nightside; all I found were cards of clients, passwords, and a usb drive. I decided to grab these because the officials did say that I could take over the company again, not that I really want to, but what choice do I have? I made my way over to my mom's side and opened her nightstand and found pictures of the family, jewelry, and lip balms. I decided to just grab a box of jewelry and a few photos. My mom and I weren't as close as I was with my dad so I didn't really know what else to take. I don't think Carmex would do me much good. And that was that. I left my parents bedroom, walked around the house for another hour or so and went to bed in my childhood bed for the last time. Tomorrow morning at 9 I'd be leaving this place and not coming back. It's a strange feeling to know that you're leaving somewhere so familiar... not by your own will. Why did those government guys come to my house? I don't know. Why should I even trust them? I don't know. Why leave behind the last remnants of my family? I don't know. I thought long and hard, questioning all the decisions I was making and I couldn't seem to actually have an answer. That's how I fell asleep; thinking about what's to come and not knowing that I was opening up a very fragile door.