He Was Mine, I Was His

Reunited

    "Um, Soda. Can I just call you later?" I asked, in shock to be standing face to face with my brother after so long.

    "Yeah, um I'll talk to you later," Soda replied. I could tell he was confused but that was the least of my problems right now. Sodapop walked out and my brother walked in. 

    "Hi," he said in a low voice after he shut the door. 

    "Hi?" I replied, ready to take his head off. "Really Charlie? After a year of not a damn letter or phone call, all I get is a hi?"

    "What? I sent you letters!" He defended. 

    "Bullshit. You left after dad died and I haven't heard from you since. I thought you died too!" I started crying. All the anger I had built up for him the past year was all coming out.

    "Hey," he comforted, trying to give me a hug. I pushed him away but he hugged me anyways. "Mari, I did send you letters. I sent you letters for five months after I left. I never got any back so I just stopped sending them."

    "What? I never got any," I said, pushing away from him. 

    He thought for a moment before something clicked, "Mom."

    "What about mom?" I asked. 

    "Do you know why I left Marilyn?"

    "Yeah, you didn't want to help out around the house so you ran off to the Marines. You left us hanging high and dry!"

    "Is that what she told you?"

    "What are you talking about?" I yelled. 

    "I didn't leave because I wanted to. I left because mom told me to. I wouldn't put it past her to have thrown those letters away."

    I froze in shock. Why would she do that? Did she really or was Charlie just trying to save his ass? Why wouldn't mom want Charlie around after what happened?

    Charlie hugged me again, "I'm so sorry I left you. You've got to believe me. I tried to keep in touch with you. I thought you didn't want me either."

    I burst into tears again. I felt so terrible about everything. I felt bad for being angry at Charlie for so long when who I really should have been mad at was my mother. I was so oblivious to everything for so long. The truth was being thrown at me like a bag of bricks and let me tell you, it felt like I was broken. 

    "I'm sorry," I whispered, crying into his chest. "I'm so, so sorry."

    "It's okay Mari. It's not your fault," he replied, walking me over to the couch. 

    We sat down and Charlie explained everything. He told me that the week he left, mom and him had been fighting a lot. With work and school, I wasn't around to witness any of it. One day, she told him to leave and never come back. Charlie had enough so he did. He said his friend in the Marines said they would take him in. When I came home that night, mom had told me that Charlie packed his things and ran off. 

    "I wrote to you and mom nearly every week," Charlie explained. "I'd wait and wait for one back but it never came, so I stopped. I went through training and they have me stationed a few hours from here. When Elizabeth called and told me what happened, I knew it was time to come see you."

    "Wait, so for the past month that I've been here, you've only been a few hours away?" I asked. He nodded. "And you didn't do anything about it?"

    "I wanted to, believe me," he defended. "I was just scared. Up until just a few minutes ago, I thought you hated me just as much as mom did."

    "I'm sorry. I wish things could have been different."

    "I do too but we can start over. I'm here for you now and always."

    That sentence made me feel relief for just a moment before another thought bugged me. "When are you leaving?"

    Charlie seemed to know what I meant, "Two months, maybe three. Vietnam's ramping up and they need us out there."

    I nodded, "So right as I get you back, you're leaving again." I wanted to cry again but I couldn't. It was like I was all dried up.

    "I know it's not ideal but it's the hand we're dealt. We've got to make what's best of it," Charlie replied, rubbing my back.

    "I know."

    "Do you want to go for a drive?" He asked. I looked up at him. When he still lived at home, we would go for drives. Clear our minds, talk, listen to music. I missed those days. 

    "Yeah. I would love that."

    We walked out to his old pickup and got in. The radio was playing Johnny Cash, an artist my dad had gotten Charlie hooked on. Some things never change. We drove around the outskirts of Tulsa for about an hour just talking and listening to the radio. He told me more about his time in the Marines and the people he'd met. He seemed to be living the life he'd dreamed about for a long time. That was something I had longed for. 

    When we got back to the house, Elizabeth was there. She was excited to see Charlie and happy that we had made up after so long. I was happy too. I had lost so much, it was nice to have him back. 

    Charlie stayed for dinner before leaving. As I laid in my bed that night, I found myself thinking about Charlie and I's conversation that day. The one about him meeting all kinds of new people and doing what he loved. I used to live like that. I painted and played the piano. I liked sports and was really good at them too. After dad died, I had to kind of put those aside. I was too sad and too busy with trying to support my mom to enjoy those anymore. I still played volleyball but I had to quit soccer and cheer because we couldn't afford it. I realised as I sat there, that I didn't have to worry about that anymore. I didn't have to support anyone besides myself and I had saved enough money to do so. I was still a little sad, well really sad but maybe I could channel that into turning things around. Trying to get things to go somewhat back to normal. Maybe I could bring some of that good back into my life.