Like Nobody's Business

A Time Of Conflict

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Alexander Nixon

I grabbed a pen and began to write on the small piece of paper a small note to Nayeli explaining my absence if she is ever to wake. My subconscious was telling me leaving her alone will result in another tragic situation but I have no choice this time around. After what Anthony did seeing or hearing anything will trigger her and send her back in shock. Right now she really needs to be stress free so the last thing she needs to hear is anything about Anthony.

I took a minute to take a good look at her before I left, she was laying on her side with her hands latched around a pillow which she hugged to her chest. I knew she got that habit from her sleeping next to me so much, usually it's me she holds on to like that. Man do I miss it. There more I look at her the more I remember what happen and as usual my small smile and happy memories are replaced with darkness and pain.

The drive to Anthony's house was nerve racking because I actually don't know what to expect. My fingers tapped against the wheel as my anxiety grew. When I finally arrived the fire was still massive but multiple firefighters were working together to put it out. There was a small crowd of bystanders, local news reporters, and press standing behind the police line as they watched them work. The scene was chaotic. The continuous flashing of blue light from the police car gave me an uneasy feeling, the alarming sounds from the fire truck were not helping either.

I jumped out of my car and shoved my keys in my pocket as I dipped under the 'do not cross' line but as expected I was stopped by the police.

"Alexander Nixon, that's my brother's house." I held my ID in plain sight allowing the police officers to read it.

"Let him through, come with me." The detective signaled for his colleague to let me pass.

"As soon as we get it out we're gonna search through the rubble for like bodies, evidence you know anything that can solve this, it's gonna be hard because fires burn most evidence. We can't tell if there is anyone inside or not. By the time we received the call from one of the neighbors and got here the place was already covered in flames. They're was nothing we could do to save anyone so prepare for the worst. We spoke to the person who called it in and asked if they saw anything that may look suspicious to them but unfortunately they saw nothing of that nature. When was the last time you saw your brother?"

"Around 3 or 4 weeks ago." I gave a straight forward answer, easier to remember.

"Weeks? That's quite some time. When last have you spoken to him?" He looked at me with piercing eyes.

"I haven't spoken to him since. I'm a busy man, we both have different priorities," I rubbed my hands down my face.

They informed me of all the important information before going back to help the others complete the job. As I watched I made sure to also look around in the crowd of reporters and bystanders to see if anyone may look suspicious, it is very often that the person who committed the crime returns to the crime scene.

Look at me.

I called my parents informing them of the bad news, I urged they should come right away and in no time they were here. My mother's hair is a mess and her clothes are crushed, definitely showing she threw on the first thing she saw after I told them the bad news just so they could get here on time. For the first time in all this mess, I realized how much this is going to affect my mother, it never crossed my mind how heartbroken she will be when she learns her son is dead. No one knows it yet but it won't be long from now they'd be pulling Anthony's burnt corpse from the remaining rubble.

Tears were already streaming down her face before she even got to see everything. Her eyes were fixed on the remains of the burnt house behind me, the smoke in the air was thick causing her to cough a bit. As soon as she was close enough I pulled her in a tight embrace and rested my hand on my father's shoulder. He seemed calm but I knew he was angry. Anthony is his baby, no matter what he always chose his son.