TEARS OF RAGE

Chapter 43

"Wake up, Chad... Please. I'm in trouble."

Stirred awake by the soft shaking of his shoulder, Chad rolled over with a groan of disorientation.

The terrified features of his fifteen-year-old twin brother filled his vision like an alabaster mirage, amidst a silhouette of darkness.

"What's wrong?"

"Man, I messed up... Dad is going to kill me, Chad."

His brother emitted an exhale of frustration.

"What are you talking about?"

His gaze went to the rain-soaked clothes, that Brad was wearing.

His hair was matted over his head as if he were fresh out of the shower.

"What the heck happened to you?"

A look of concern finally came over Chad's face, as his brother stood before him, shivering like a wet poodle.

"I don't know what the heck I was thinking," Brad lamented, his eyes blurry with tears.

"Cassie and I were talking on the phone, and one thing leads to another... The next thing I know, she mentions something about how she wished I were there to hold her, and you know...I was in mom's car, heading to her house."

"No way." Chad gushed in awe and excitement.

The grin that spread across his face was an indication that he was enjoying the thought of his twin brother sneaking out of the house, to chase a taste of Cassie Wallace's juice box, a lot more than he should...

And the fact that he had stolen their mom's car to do it, only exacerbated the situation, he appeared to be thinking.

Chad had to fight hard to refrain from laughing.

"Man, this is serious," Brad exclaimed, his body trembling.

"On the way home, this car came out of nowhere, and hit me," he whispered, looking as if he had been kissed by death, and escaped to tell the story.

"It was totally his fault." Brad insisted.

It was at that moment that Chad finally understood his brother's full dilemma.

"So where is mom's car?"

"The road was so wet that when the car blindsided me, mom's car veered into a ditch; about four miles from here." Brad began to pull at his hair, restless with worry.

"Before the cops could get there, I took off running."

"Are you serious..." Chad exclaimed and scrambled from his bed. "Did the driver see you?"

Brad dropped his head in misery.

"Yeah. She tried to call me back."

Chad was flabbergasted.

Brad was the one that their parents considered to be more responsible.

He was the one that appeared to be more goal-oriented, in the eyes of their parents.

Unheard of, Chad appeared to marvel.

"What are you going to do about band camp, next week?" Chad asked, knowing that his brother had been looking forward to his summer getaway for weeks.

Cassie Wallace was supposed to be going on the same summer retreat.

Chad could only imagine what his brother was feeling.

Brad gave a forlorn look of devastation.

"Dad is going to kill me, so band camp is the least of my worries at the moment." he lamented.