Brothers

When he saw his older brother pull up into the parking lot, Evan felt his stomach twist, and he had the sudden urge to puke his lunch out all over the sidewalk. The little green car sidled up to the curb slow as a turtle, and his brother's arm rested leisurely on the edge of the open window. After some time, the man eventually spotted Evan and gave him a lopsided grin followed by a wave so uncertain it was almost like he hadn't recognized the young boy at first.

The heat was bearing down on Evan's shoulders hard; he felt the pits of his white t-shirt becoming soaked through with sweat and he knew that despite his feelings about the situation there was no choice but to get into the car. A few girls from his class passed by, their dark shoes clicking against the pavement like a metronome. They hid their laughter beneath cupped hands and giggled in each other's ears.

Evan headed straight for the passenger's side before anyone else happened to see his brother. As soon as he got inside, he removed the heavy backpack from his shoulders and dropped it to the floor of the car with a loud, resounding thud that seemed to shake the entire vehicle with its weight.

Although the older man was alarmed by the noise, he did not look at his brother and instead hoarsely muttered, almost to himself, "They're makin' you work hard in sixth grade, huh?" His eyes were fixed on the black pavement ahead even though the car wasn't moving yet.

"I guess," Evan mumbled. He crossed his arms and waited for the car to begin its slow and steady crawl up the hill and into the stream of traffic nearby.

Neither of them spoke again until the school was out of sight and they were caught in a jam caused by the flood of people coming home from work. Against all odds, Evan was the first one to break the silence. "Ryan?" he began.

"Huh?"

"Why couldn't Mom or Dad come get me? Why'd they have to send you?"

Ryan coughed and scratched his patchy, stubble-speckled chin. His jaw hung open for a bit until he thought of an answer. "Well, ah – we don't get to see each other a lot. Like once a month. I wanted to come get you 'cause I figured maybe you wanted to see me like I wanted to see you. You know." He was a simple man; in fact, the only clothes he ever wore were bland shirts and work jeans suited for the undemanding jobs he took up that only required lifting large loads from Point A to Point B.

Evan didn't say anything back; he was just about to hastily stuff his earphones into his ears until his brother started talking once more.

"Well, you know I sure missed you a lot. It ain't easy being out on your own and I always wanted to know how you were doin'. Drove me crazy. You know," he said, his thick fingers suddenly tightening around the steering wheel.

It reminded Evan when he was a toddler and those same fingers curled round his neck with no warning; he had to grab one of the toys lying nearby and smash it against his brother's temple as hard as he could so he would let go. Ryan crawled on all fours to their mother like a little monster and began bawling for a long time. Evan simply sat and watched her gather the oversized child in her lap and say, "He just don't understan', Evan, he just don't understan'."

The traffic finally let up around the second light. Ryan turned sharply and kept talking, as if his words were the only thing keeping Evan tethered to him. "I got a present for you. It's in the back seat and I hope you like it. You like presents, right? All kids like presents."

"Sure."

"Hope you like it," he said again.

"I'll see when I open it at home," Evan sighed. He was soon delighted, however, to find that after another clogged road they were nearing his house. "You aren't gonna stay long today, are you?"

"Nah, I got some work to do after this. Spent my break coming down here to get ya."

"Great." At that news, Evan felt himself smiling for the first time that afternoon.

When they pulled into the driveway, a stick-thin, middle-aged woman was peeking through the blinds, watching them. She had been scanning the street for the little green car for the past twenty minutes. As soon as she saw her sons' faces she left the house to greet the both of them.

"Need help with your bag?" Ryan inquired, just as Evan opened the car door to leave.

"No, I'm fine."

Ryan reached under the backseat and retrieved a small, clumsily-wrapped box for his brother. "Don't forget your present," he said. As usual, he handed it over without once looking at Evan directly.

"Thanks." The boy took it, and his mother appeared right beside him shortly. She gave him a once-over and let him pass into the house with a single gesture, and then she stayed behind to have a few hushed words with her elder son.

The weight that had settled itself on Evan's shoulders ever since he saw his brother finally lifted off as soon as the turtle backed away and disappeared in a cloud of dust down the street. His mother came back inside the house grinning, the creaky door slamming shut with a loud bang behind her.

"How was your brother?" she asked.

"Same as always, Ma. Could you stop letting him pick me up from school? I hate it when he comes."

"Don't be so hard on him, Evan. You know he ain't all there – that's why he don't look at you. He does his best."

"Yeah," he grunted. "I know."

"Go to your room and wash up. We're gonna have supper in a few minutes, okay?"

Evan trudged up the wooden stairs and plopped his things down in his room with no regard for order. He turned on his computer and booted up one of the games he had downloaded onto it. In a short amount of time, he became engrossed in the flashing colors that emitted from the screen. He forgot about everything else that had happened that day as he clicked and shot and killed the virtual soldiers that came at him from every which way. And the gift from his older brother remained, unopened, in the corner of the room.