Come Back to Me

Chapter 1 Present Day

"You sure know how to ruin a party, Zig," he had laughed and nonchalantly started pulling his pants on.

Covering my scarred-for-life eyeballs with my hands, I yelled at him. "This isn't funny, Riley! You said you were coming home to help me. Instead, you're just whoring around!"

My brother was what girls often referred to as 'hot.' With his dark auburn hair, athletic build, and easy smile, I suppose he was what some would call attractive. But as my brother, he was just a jerk that was constantly getting distracted by the next piece of ass offered up to him.

I sighed and shook my head at him, much like our father used to do when addressing us. "Just go back to Boston. I don't need you here."

"Oh, come on, don't be like that. I'm just trying to have some fun."

"No! You're trying to stay distracted so you don't have to deal with the fact that Dad is really gone and meanwhile, I'm left cleaning up everything and dealing with real life!"

He'd frowned at me, slipping his t-shirt over his head. "I'm well aware he's dead. Just like Mom. You don't have to keep reminding me like I'm an idiot."

"You are an idiot." I pouted until he came over to give me a hug. "I can't do all this without you, okay?"

"I'll stop bringing girls here, I promise. And you're right, I am avoiding it a little." He gave my forehead a quick kiss. "Let me make sure what's-her-face gets home okay and then I'll be back to help."

"You don't even know her name?"

"She told it to me. I just got sidetracked by other things."

"Yeah, like her naked ass in the air." I punched him in the arm when he kept laughing.

"I swear I'll be right back." Grabbing his keys off the nightstand, he ruffled my hair as he went past.

"Fine, whatever. Keep your pants on for once, will you?"

"Only because you asked so nicely." He paused at the door and gave me a grin. "Don't wait up, Zig."

Those were his last words to me.

When he hadn't returned home, I assumed his pants had not stayed on. It wasn't until the next morning - very early in the morning- when the cops had come knocking on the door that I knew what had happened to him. While walking what's-her-face to her apartment, someone had tried mugging them. My brother had refused, trying to fight the guy off, maybe not knowing he had a gun. The bullet had gone right through his heart, killing him instantly.

Nothing like that had ever happened in our town. The worst crimes the cops had to deal with were teenagers shoplifting or trying to race their cars along the straight stretch of road right outside town limits.

I felt they were woefully unprepared to deal with the case. The police had no leads and were unable to locate the girl he had been with. The only witness had been someone who overheard the scuffle from his balcony. He hadn't seen anything. And I couldn't provide them with a clear enough description of her to help. Based on my vague details—brown hair, thin, a little taller than me— no one at the apartment complex was able to identify her.

I clutched the photo in my hand, not caring that I was creasing it a thousand ways. I just needed to hang on to it for as long as I could. The sting of the paper digging into my skin was helping drown out all the noise from downstairs. There was a child crying, someone scolding them, followed by a deeper voice, then scolding the scolder. It was probably my cousin Ann Marie and her kid being lectured by my Uncle Rob. Her kid was a menace.

Footsteps thudded up the stairs and down the hall, stopping just outside the door. When the door creaked open, I didn't need to turn to see who it was. There was only one person who knew I was up here.