The Tide

Chapter 8: Where the fault lies

Marius

There’s no other love like the love for a brother. There’s no other love like the love from a brother. - Terri Guillemets

 “Your shoes, come here” Sage says and kneels on the ground.

She ties the strings hanging around my plastic boots into small delicate bows.

“I used to do this with Tyler all the time.” She smiles.

“Tyler?” I ask, remember the tattoo she told me about.

“My little brother, he got sick…” Sage trails off and starts to blink increasingly fast. Sensing her discomfort I change the subject.

“I thought Tyler may have been a previous lover of yours.”

She laughs lightly.

Many hours later.      

A high pitched sound rings through the lot of vehicles Sage and I are searching for one to drive. I clamp my hands over my ears to block out the noise. It continues to get louder and louder. Then it stops. It’s as if the whole world is eerily quiet.

“Marius!!” Sage’s voice rings out echoing off all the vehicles.  I find her moments later, hanging from a large gray truck.

“Look who found a car….”She sings.

“Well what are you waiting for then? Let’s get you home.” I wink.

Driving is an odd experience. It’s as if your body wants to swing with the motion of the car. But you can’t. Your body is restrained. The motion makes my stomach churn.

“Whoa. Marius are you okay?” Sage says her voice feels so distant. I place my head between my knees and slowly breathe. She rubs circles with her fingers on my back slowly and soothingly. The car slows down to a halt lurching us forward slightly.

“It’s okay. Just keep breathing. I have to start driving again in a few minutes. I’ll find a place for us to stay for a night or two. We have to keep moving according to the map we should be nearing some suburbs.” Sage says softly her hand never once leaving my back.

She starts the truck up pressing sharply on the gas.

“My brother used to get car sick. Once my father took Ty and me camping when he was just five. It was terrible we took an eleven hour drive to Colorado. We went into the mountains. Ty got so sick we had to pull over and sleep in the car. I swear he was as green. But Ty never stopped laughing as sick as he was he kept cracking silly jokes the whole ride. He and I would play iSpy and he would always make up the wildest things. Like he would spy something purple, and when I would run out of things to say, he would say I spy a big dragon with a purple nose, then fall into hysterics. Now that I think about it my dad may have given Ty too much medicine" Sage trails off, her voice getting smaller and smaller.

“Tell me more about him Sage.”

“We didn’t look alike, he was a spitting image of our dad. Light brown hair and hazel eyes. He was so smart. He was going to be a pilot one day. He would lay in the grass and watch the sky for planes. He said it was magic how planes could stay in the air. He and my father made model planes. He had at least two with him at all times. He always wanted me to play with him. But I didn’t. I was so busy. I had school and friends. I should have been a good sister and stayed home to be with him. But I didn’t.” She wipes a tear from her cheek.

Before I can say anything to comfort her she starts again.

“He never understood why I wouldn’t stay home with him. He’d watch me get ready to leave and plead with me to stay home and play. He’d tell me the wildest things. Like  I wouldn’t be coming home. I never realized until he was gone. He was afraid I’d leave and never come back like our father” her fist ball hard around the steering wheel her knuckles turn white. I sit up and watch her breathe heavy and hold back tears.

“I’m sorry” she whispers, but I know she isn’t talking to me.

I don’t say anything. I’m not sure if she wants me to speak. But I can’t think of any words. Merpeople never really die. We live for an extremely long time. And when we do eventually die. It isn’t a sad process like how humans mourn. It’s a celebration of their life, remembering the happiness they brought to everyone they met. Our young don’t die in their childhood. It’s unspeakable. Not when we can heal. I don’t know the sadness and pain that is inside Sage. I’ll probably never understand it. But I do know one thing, she blames herself for the death of her brother. I’d do anything in the world to take away her pain. And eventually I'll be able to.

We sit in silence for what feels like hours. Then we come across a paling yellow house. She drives into the yard and parks the car. I rush out and get my feet on the ground. I collapse weakly. She ignores me laying on the ground and kicks the door open. I crawl to the porch and sit on the cement steps. I can’t believe I’ve gotten into this mess. She probably thinks I’m a too weak for this. What if she just leaves me here? No she couldn’t do that. She has to feel some sort of bond with me like I do with her. She would never leave me. I’m the only one who can save her. Okay that’s not true, she can most defiantly save herself. She was doing fine before I met her. I have to prove to her I’m strong enough to stand by her side. But if I can’t even handle a car ride. How can I prove anything.