Shattered

One

I wish I didn't look so much like my brother. We both had white-blond hair and piercing blue eyes, and we were both tall- even if he was a little taller- and we both looked dangerous.

But there were more differences than similarities. See, my brother was mean, cruel, violent, and overall- a dick.

I wasn't that much better. I could be mean and I could be violent, but I hardly ever was unless someone either started a fight with me or talked shit about my friends.

Sure, we'd both been arrested a few times (him way more than me), but almost everyone in our friend group had.

When I was younger, I idolized my brother. I thought he was brilliant, he was tuff, he was a hero. But then I realized he didn't care about me, that he didn't care if I was dead in a ditch or sitting in a jail cell for the rest of my life. To him, I was just a hindrance, an annoyance, something that didn't matter.

And after years of thinking that's what he thought of me, I had started thinking it about myself.

Thankfully, I had my best friends, Steve Randle and Sodapop Curtis, to keep me grounded and not dead. And yes, Sodapop was his real name. Once I beat a guy up for making fun of his name.

"Charlie! Are you alright, buddy? You keep zoning out." Soda snapped his fingers in front of my face to get my attention.

"Yeah, man, I just didn't sleep last night." I rubbed my eyes tiredly. I worked full time with Soda at the DX, and Steve worked with us part time.

I was sixteen, I had been since February 12th. Dallas was about nine months older than me, his birthday being November 9th. My mom had gotten pregnant again almost immediately after having him.

"Bet he was up all night writing music again." Steve teased. "I'm joking, your songs are great."

"Thank you. But no, I wasn't. I literally didn't do nothin', I just couldn't fall asleep."

"You were with Valerie, weren't you?" Soda deadpanned.

"Nah, I broke up with that broad. She was cheating on me." I said, inspecting my cuticles. "Speakin' of which, I did it before work, which means her brother oughta be here to kick my ass in about- oh, I dunno- five minutes?"

"Make it thirty seconds." Steve grinned, gesturing to the window.

"Ughh. If you'll excuse me, gentlemen," I bowed dramatically before I went outside. He immediately punched me in the face and I fell over. "Wait!"

"What?"

"She was cheating on me, so I have a justified reason-"

He kicked me in the face before I could get to my feet and knock him down. I pressed my foot down on his chest so he couldn't get up. "C'mon, man, you can't beat me up at work."

"I don't care, you broke up with Valerie!"

"Yeah, 'cause she fucked Curly Shepard!" I defended and he shoved me off him and bashed my face against the sidewalk before Soda pulled him off me.

"Get lost, Smith," he spat. "And leave my buddy alone, huh?"

"Fuck all of you, I ain't comin' back here," he said as he stalked away.

"Did I win?" I groaned and Soda and Steve helped me up.

"Sure thing, pal." Steve patted my shoulder. "You definitely tried your best."

"Damn."

.

"Ooh, what happened to your face?" Two-Bit grimaced.

"I'm never breakin' up with a chick right before work again." I flopped on the couch and Steve sat on my legs since I refused to move.

"Oh, wow, you're comfortable to sit on," he said.

"Thanks?" I asked.

"Yeah, no problem, buddy,"