The Pursuit of Happiness (Patrick Kane)

|Forty|

Patrick

I can't lie, Kayleigh had been thrown off since she saw her brother. She would never admit that his presence makes her uncomfortable, the simple thought of him knowing where to find her was enough to make her sick. She didn't talk as much as she usually did and her eyes didn't shine as bright. She wanted to forget about him being here but she couldn't.

I didn't understand at first why she despised him so much. She valued family more than anything and I always thought there was a chance they would be a family again. That was until I saw the way she looked at him, like the sight of him was insulting to her. Then I heard him talk to her, like her life was less valuable than his because he was a realist and she was a dreamer. I felt the way he belittled her every chance he had and I realized him and her... there was no way they would ever be together again. Not in the ways they think.

She was too good for him, and she wouldn't admit it but it was true. Her thing was trying to help people and her mother and brother are some of those people who will never get better. Who will never understand life's mysteries and the wonder that comes once we have the courage to step out of our comfort zone and see things for themselves.

But things like this are hard for her. She can't help her family and that's a hard pill to swallow for someone like her who is used to working her ass off and getting results. So I try to keep her mind off of it and get us dinner and we can watch a movie. We laid cuddled up in the couch with Annie curled up at our feet and just sit in silence for a while. I could feel that she had something to say, but I don't think she knew how to start it. Finally she turns to me and starts to speak.

"If one of your sisters were like my brother. Who went against everything you believed in and lived only for the knowledge that people are suffering at the hands of their opinions, would you still love them" she asks me.

I just sit there because this wasn't something I ever thought about before. It's not something I could imagine, my sisters and I being so at odds. But I think about what she asks and how I would feel in her situation. And my heart breaks when I turn to her and I realized what she was realizing too. "I don't think I could" I admit. "I mean, we can have a difference in opinions. Trust me, we already do, but not to the point where I don't like them as people. If my sisters thought the way your brother does let alone say those kinds of things I don't think I could keep them around. I mean how do you expect to be successful in anything believing your opinion is the only valid one" I question.

"Exactly. So why do I feel so bad" she whispers.

"Because you're a good person Kay, you want to see the good in everyone. You help people and you realize that you can't help your brother. No matter what you say, no matter what you do in life you can't take the hate out of people. Love is a learned feeling but so is hate. And until everyone can see that there is no one right way to live our lives I'm afraid there's always going to be people who truly believe that women have no place in power or that black people can never be equals or the LGBT+ community will never be accepted. The list goes on. And we can change laws and help as many people as we can, but changing a person, how they think and act, that's nearly impossible" I say.

"I guess that's why this is so hard for me. I thought that if I got to this point I could change him. I thought that he would see he was wrong and we could go from there. But I guess we will never be able to come to an agreement" she sighs.

"That's okay baby. People don't really change" I insist.

"Life is like a moon. We go through phases, and at the beginning of a phase there isn't much. Just a crescent moon there enough to let you know that there is still hope. There's still a piece of you out there that isn't in the dark. Then as time goes on we step into the light and more of us shine. Parts of us that hasn't see the light before, sees the light.

We don't change, you're right. But we evolve, the light shines more and more on things we learn, on truths we see. And it never stops, we're always learning new things, finding new light and getting into new phases" she explains.

"No offense, but that would make your brother a never ending lunar eclipse" I claim as she starts to giggle.

"More like he's always the dark side of the moon. But someone's got to be there" she admits.

"I guess so" I laugh. "But you sure you're going to be okay? I can tell this whole thing is bothering you" I insist.

"I think I'll be okay. He will leave eventually, god knows he has no other reason to be here. How he found out we were at the beach, I'm not sure. Maybe he got it out of dad or mason or one of their friends back home. I don't really care at this point as long as he just leaves us alone" she shakes her head.

"I'll make sure he leaves us alone. I wasn't kidding about having people that will take care of him" I insist.

"Take care of him? What's are you gonna do have them kill him" she jokes.

"I mean..." I trail off. She playfully hits me in the chest making me laugh. "In all seriousness though, there's paperwork I can sign to make sure there's no problems with him again" I promise.

"Sounds good to me" she agrees.