REMEMBER THEM PART 2

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“Peter.”

“Coach.”

The man was nothing like how he was before. He was frail and weak now. His strict straight posture turned into hunch. There were dark circles around his eyes and a pale complexion to his face.

He looked nothing like the man I remembered.

“You look…healthy.” He said to me while holding my shoulders.

A part of me wondered, ‘Does he blame me for surviving?’

“I was lucky, coach.”

“Sit down son.” He said to me weakly.

“I…didn’t think you were going to visit me this soon…I did go to your home today after all…[cough]...I just wanted to check up on you. I didn’t mean to disturb your folks.” He smiled weakly.

God, it hurt to see him like this.

“No bother at all, Coach. I know I should have visited you earlier-”

“Nonsense. You were hospitalized, there was nothing you could do about it.” There was a small flash of the strict coach he once was, but then he returned to his defeated look.

We didn’t speak for some time, I decided to take this as an opportunity to apologize,

“I’m really sorry I couldn’t make it to Will’s funeral. I..I’m sorry-”

“He saved me.” The coach cut in, he sounded really emotional.

“What?” I asked him, completely confused with his sudden outburst.

“Oh…Peter…he saved me…. he shoved me aside from gunfire…he saved me!” He was in pain. He started tearing up as he came closer to me.

“I tried to be a hero Peter, when I saw you open that door and save us all from that fire. When they started firing onto the crowd…. I thought they misunderstood us….I tried to reason with those murderers….my son warned me... I... I got my son killed.” He wailed.

“I got my son killed peter…. If I wasn’t the coach, he wouldn’t have played basketball. He hated it but I made him do it. Every single day I made him do those practice drills…all for what? Nothing!” He screamed at the end.

I hated this.

Why was this happening?

Why do good people always get hurt by the bad ones?

“Peter, I got my son killed.Jesus, everytime I close my eyes I can see him, I can see my boy!” He stumbled to where I was and cried on my shoulders.

“Those men took my boy away from me!” He yelled out in pain.

I hugged him tightly. That’s all I could do now, no word or speech I give him will convince him otherwise. The guilt he felt must have been tremendous.

“My son is gone, I killed him!” He screamed once more but this time into my chest.

I was questioning if I should reveal what I told Paige. The way it was going I could definitely see him taking his own life.

‘No…he won’t be able to handle it. Revenge will consume him.’

I decided to not speak another word and remained quiet as the man cried.

What he needed the most was someone to hear his problems and lessen the burden he carried.

It took another half an hour before he could regain his composure.

“I’m sorry about all that peter… I didn’t mean to put all that on you.”

“Please don’t blame yourself for all of this. The terrorists, they're responsible for everything, not you!”

“Those scumbags from Sabzistan will pay in blood! I hope we go to war. Jesus if I was young enough, I would enlist today.” He hid his fury underneath his tear-stained eyes.

I could understand where he was coming from, even if he was just advocating war.

I tried to change the topic to something less controversial, but the Coach cut in,

“Oh, that’s right! I almost forgot…Pierre. His funeral is this coming Sunday morning. They delayed it because of some traditional reasons, that’s why I dropped by your house today. His mother specifically asked for you to come.”

“Pierre’s funeral…. his mother wants me there…. I see, thank you coach. I’ll make sure to attend that one at least.”

After the game that day, we should have all headed to Pierre’s home. We should have had his mother’s delicious food. We should have snuck out to get some beer. We should have gossiped about all the girls we liked. I would have revealed my relationship with Jessica at that point. We should have all gone home wasted and drunk beyond reason. We should have got in trouble as a result.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

Instead of all of this, almost one third of us died that afternoon.

Almost everyone I knew or talked to in the club was buried or about to be.

“I have to go back home, coach.”

I wanted to say that I wanted to stay and reminisce about the good times, but the truth was that it was too painful to talk. I also had to meet the professor to confirm if the Moe’s satellite worked.

‘That’s right my focus now, has to be on saving Theo. All the other things could wait!’

“Before you go… I want to say… Peter, on that day… Do you remember me asking for you to stay back?”

“I…do.”

‘What was all of this about?’

He smirked at me for the first time since meeting him again.

“It was supposed to be a wonderful day.” He murmured as he touched the photo of his family on his desk.

‘What’s happening’

“On that day…. That morning… I talked to the principal. We came to the conclusion that you were a good hard-working kid and that you just happened to have been dealt a bad hand.”

“Coach, what are you talking about?”

“When I met your uncle and aunt today, I’m glad that I made the right decision.”

‘Why is he bringing them into this?’

“Midtown High and I will personally make sure that your uncle’s treatment plan is covered.” He said with a huge smile.

I was stuck, I couldn’t move an inch. My feet were glued to the floor and my eyes to the man before me.

“Sonny, you better shut your mouth before a fly gets in.” He joked as he started tearing up again.

‘Huh…why are my eyes suddenly getting wet?’

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POV - Melissa Sharpe

She was sick of crying. Sick of laying on the bed and rolling around like a child. She was sick of her cheeks being so dry.

She was sick of the maid constantly bringing her food to eat and her sending it away. She was sick of being sad.

Above all she was sick of living.

A world without her brother was a world that just simply wasn’t worth living in.

She contemplated suicide multiple times but that would leave Paige alone and she didn’t want to do that. She didn’t want her quiet, little sister of 2 minutes to be all alone in this cold world.

Melissa was stuck between a rock and hard place.

A part of her truly wanted to end it while another part of her wouldn’t be able to die in peace. Worrying about Paige and her dad until her final moments.

She hadn’t eaten for a whole day; she just couldn’t muster the energy to eat.

As a matter of fact, she couldn’t muster up energy to think about living on. A part of her still couldn’t believe that her older twin was dead.

Melissa remembered how proud she was of the fact that her brother was the captain of the basketball club. She could remember bragging about him to everyone she met.

‘Maybe if I wasn’t a loudmouth…. maybe if I didn’t brag about him to everyone that I met…Maybe he would have quit the club if I wasn’t such a bitc-”

THUD

She felt someone fall on her, the way the person hugged her back she could easily guess who it was.

“Paigey?” She asked.

“Mel.” Her sister squeaked back.

They haven't spoken since the funeral, she locked herself into her room and wouldn’t speak to anyone. She was always the talkative type but when something bad happened she would go back into her cocoon. Their mother died giving birth to them and her father was always a bit distant.

Her brother was always the one to bring her back out of it. He was kind and patient. He was her hero and the guiding star who would always be there for her.

Now he’s gone.

“I love you, big sis.”

She didn’t know why or how but when she heard her sister say that, she realized the thing she had been missing all along,

‘She needs me!’

Perhaps more than anyone, the one who was hurting the most was her sister. The shy, quiet girl who couldn’t and wouldn’t express herself.

That’s right, she couldn’t be depressed like this forever. Her sister needed her now more than ever.

She turned sideways, her sister was still hugging her waist tightly. That’s when it truly hit her,

‘She’s been suffering alone for all these days…I lost my brother but for her…she lost both of us!’

She hugged her sister tightly for the first time in ages,

‘How could I be so stupid? How could I let my baby sister feel so neglected?’

“It’s going to be alright Paigey, I promise you! Your big sister is going to take care of you.” She reassured her.

“Yeah, everything is going to be alright, don’t worry baby girl. I’m sorry for locking myself here, I’m sorry for leaving you all alone. I’m so sorry I made you carry that burden. Your sister is selfish, she’s just a conceited person who’s only worry is herself. I’m a bad sister-” She started her old habit of rambling again.

Before she could finish, her sister tightened her hug.

“Hey, don’t talk bad about my sister!” Paigey said with a pale smile,

She smiled at her sister, it was the best well-kept secret. Paigey might be quiet, but she was incredibly mischievous and a grade A troll when she wanted to be.

“Want to go have some Baskin Robbins?” Her sister offered.

Those feelings of anxiety came back. Eating ice cream with her siblings was something that she ritually did with her siblings. But this time her brother wasn’t going to be there with them.…he's never going to be there ever again.

Paige’s smile faded as she realized what was happening to Melissa.

“If you don’t want to-”

“No. Let’s go now!” She said conjuring the best smile she could,

‘I’m not going to let my feelings get in the way of caring for my sister. I’m not going to let her feel lonely again.’

“Are you sure…we don’t have to rush, if you’re not feeling up to it. We don’t have to go.”

“Listen here twerp, I haven’t had anything to eat in ages! I’m going now no matter what, you shouldn’t have reminded me if you didn’t want to go. It’s free ice cream..if you don’t want it, it’s your loss.”

She got up and started making her way to the door, her sister jumped on the bed like a cat and said,

“Hey, wait up.... I didn’t say I didn’t want it!”

When it became clear to her sister that she wasn’t listening, Paige decided to grab a pillow and throw it at her,

“Hey why did you do that?......Heh you’re in for it now!!!” She took a small cushion and threw it right back at her sister's face.

Paigey caught it before it touched her face, she was always deceptively strong for her size.

They both looked at each other with bated breath, anticipating the other's next move.

After a few more seconds passed they both shouted,

““Pillow fight!”’

They waged war with each other as they threw one pillow after the other. Playfully laughing and hiding from each other as they traded pillows back and forth.

For Melissa it just felt good to feel happy once more.

When Paige hit her face with a pillow for the tenth time she didn’t feel sad anymore. Instead all she could think about was her brother and how happy he would have been at seeing them play.

She couldn’t help but think,

‘Dear brother, I hope you see that we’re alright now. I hope you’re not worried about me and Paigey. We have each other, remember? and obviously dad too! Don’t worry about us big brother… I’ll take care of her and dad. I guess I’ll have to fill in your shoes until we reunite again…Me and Paigey will miss you dearly until that day comes. I hope you know how much I love and miss you. From the deepest parts of my soul, my dear brother, thank you for everything.’