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NATHANIEL
AGE 18
"Nate, wake the fuck up, man," I hear my brother Gabe shout through the closed door.
I try to roll over and pull the covers over my head.
"I mean it, bro. If you don't get up soon, I'm going to drag you out of bed by your feet."
Reluctantly, I stand up, knowing Gabe isn't kidding.
"Alright, alright, I'm up. Let me jump in the shower really quick." I yawn as I open the bedroom door and see him standing there with a serious look on his face.
"Nate, I know you only got back a few days ago, but John was nice enough to let you work for us this summer. If you make me late for our shift, he's going to kick my ass. Then I'm going to kick yours," says Gabe, playfully nudging me with his shoulder as I try to walk past him towards the bathroom.
"Ha, I'd like to see you try. These guns aren't just to make me look pretty, you know!" I joke, tensing and flexing my muscles as I walk into the bathroom.
"Guns? Ha, more like water guns," Gabe fires back. "I'll show you what a real man looks like." He laughs, tackling me from behind and throwing me to the ground.
We spend the next few minutes wrestling and playing on the floor, just like we used to when we were little kids. I've really missed this, or should I say, him.
While I was happy living with the Jacksons, Gabe had problems from the beginning. When we both went to our new schools, things went from bad to worse for him. He hated his new school and would spend almost every day in the principal's office for causing trouble, skipping school to visit me, or generally disobeying the rules.
Then, to top it all off, a few weeks before Gabe turned eighteen, we learned that Dad had been released on bail.Unfortunately, he didn't get to enjoy much of his freedom. On the same night, he went to a bar, had a little too much to drink, and got into a fight with a group of guys. He got knocked out, causing him to hit his head on the pool table when he fell. He never woke up.
The nightmare from my childhood was gone, but his shadow stayed with us.
Gabe moved away from the Jacksons and back to our old house. Now that he was eighteen, there was nothing they could do to stop him. Gabe decided that he wasn’t going to let the others control him anymore. So he started supporting himself and has been working for John ever since.
He started out as a foreman on the construction site, helping John with some of hisoff the booksjobs, but in recent months, he's become John's right-hand man. He takes care of all the jobs that no one else even wants to think about, and now that he's almost twenty-one, he's old enough to be settled and making good enough money to take care of himself and me.
He's asked me to move back home with him. He's even gotten me a summer job so that I can earn some money to buy a motorcycle to get me to school here in the fall. I worked so hard to improve my grades and catch up with my classmates. TheJacksons were kind enough to pay for a private tutor. I worked with him three days a week to learn to read and write better and to make sure I was up to date with other schoolwork, too.
Still, I was always known at that school as the dumb kid—the failure no one wanted. Now that I'm back home with Gabe, where I belong, I have the opportunity to finally become the person I WANT to be.
I'm no longer the same quiet, shy kid my brother left behind. Changing schools and being on my own for the first time in my life made me grow up fast. It didn't take long for my class to realize that I was being held back. After taking so much ridicule from my classmates and even a few beatings from the school bullies, I had no choice but to fight. I no longer had a big brother to protect me or fight my battles for me.
I joined a local gym, learned to box, started eating right, and started drinking protein shakes. Now I'm no longer the skinny, malnourished kid he left behind. I'm all muscles and abs.
"Seriously, Nate, we have to go now, or your ass is going to walk to work," Gabe shouts as he starts tying his shoes.
"I'm coming. I'm coming," I call back, hurrying to get my shoes.
"Ha, you sound like that girl from the bar last night," Gabe jokes. "I don't know why you didn't hook up with her friend. She looked like she'd have shown you a thing or two, little bro," Gabe adds as we get into his car.
"I told you I'm not interested," I snap back.
"Please, for the love of God, don't tell me you're STILL pining after that girl," Gabe complains, slapping his hands on the steering wheel. "It's that bitch's fault we got separated in the first place. There's plenty of other pussy in the sea," he continues viciously.
"Firstly, you know her name is Isabella, and second of all, it's Dad's fault for beating us up. Also, we don't know if it was her who turned him in. Lastly, if you ever call her a bitch again, brother or not, I'm going to kick your ass." I snarl back, feeling my blood boil.
"Whatever. I'm not going to argue with you about a bitch who has probably forgotten about you anyway."
"Gabe, this is your last warning!" I say, feeling my fists clench at my side.
***
We spend the rest of the ride in silence. I try to take in the scenery and how many things have changed in the almost five years I've been gone. However, I can't focus because I keep reminding myself of what Gabe said. His words cut me like a knife and bring up my deepest insecurities and worries. My head tells me to let her go; that I have to move on. My heart says she will be back. All I know is how much I miss her and I get nauseous even thinking about moving on and meeting anyone else.
