The Little Prince

4. Home

I've been observing Elijah since we picked him up at the police station. It's still shocking to me how we were reunited with our unborn baby brother sixteen years later, and even more to see him in the state that he's in. For a teen his age to be this short and skinny, specially in our family, is concerning.

Father and his side of the family were all tall and relatively built, and mother wasn't a short or bony woman either.

'Was Jones strict on him because of his marine and bodyguard training? Is that why Elijah's so quiet and jumpy? Would mother even allow that?' I'm pulled out of my thoughts as our driver parks the car in front of our building.

Miguel and I get out first, helping our younger brother step out of the vehicle and grabbing his bag. 'Is this really all he has?' I pounder. "sniff sniff." 'And is that... tuna?' I look over at Miguel slightly confused, but he just shrugged his shoulders. Slowly walking inside with Elijah, who stares at the tall and dark building in awe.

We make our way inside, towards the elevator. I quietly watch as our little brother admires the expensive and modernly decorated lobby. 

"Ding!" The elevator arrives, causing Elijah to instantly back away. 'Has he never been inside of an elevator?' Brownsville isn't exactly a big and modern city like New York, but I'm certain that they also have escalators. "...have you never seen an elevator before Elijah?" I speak up, surprising both my older brother and myself from my sudden chatty mood. But our shock gets washed away as our baby brother answer.

"An e-elevator?" He shakes his head no. I step inside, holding the door open for my siblings. "It's not as scary as it looks, see?" He curiously looks at me. "We use it to get to our home, it's all the way up." I explain, trying to ease his worries. Which surprisingly works, as we successfully make our way up to our floor. 

From the corner of my eye I can see Miguel glancing over at me with a proud look on his face, making me turn slightly red in embarrassment.

"Ding!" The platform doors opened. It still scares me, but I feel a little bit safer with Leonardo and Miguel next to me. 'Will my other brothers make me feel like this too? I really hope so.' I wish to myself, while we all walk out of the elevator. And as we do, I'm greeted with a massive living room and kitchen. 'Solely this floor is even bigger than my entire house...!' I stare, open mouthed.

But my attention is quickly stolen by Miguel. "Welcome to your new home Elijah." 

'My new home...? Am I really allowed to live in a place like this?' I fight back tears in disbelief. 

Leonardo gently hands me back my bag, walking towards the kitchen. While Miguel makes his way to a flight of stairs. "Follow me Elijah. Leo wants to startup on dinner." He commands and I follow him without second thought.

We walk up the many stairs, leading us to a long corridor filled with multiple doors. Some slightly decorated while others remain blank. We come to a stop in front of a blank one. "This will be your room." Miguel says to me while unlocking the door. 

As he opens it I'm once again in awe. This room is way bigger than the storage that Paw would make me sleep in back at the house. It has a nightstand next to a huge and comfy looking bed and a great seated window near it, with an alluring view of the outside world.

"The bathroom is down the hall." My brother says, but I'm too blown away to even answer. "Go wash up and get comfortable, I'll call for you when dinner's ready." He instructed and walked away, closing the door as he left.

I look around. 'Is this room really... mine? But I don't think I did anything to deserve something so important.' While putting my bag down I come to a conclusion. 'My brothers are too kind... so I should be good and do as I'm told, so that I never burden them.' 

Listening to my own advice I grab a change of clothes and carefully make my way to the end of the hallway, where I was told the bathroom would be. Before daring to open the door, I listen to make sure that nobody's using it at the moment. Once it was clear I stepped inside, locking the door behind me.

After I'm done admiring the interior, I wash away all of the dirt and some dry blood that was still stuck to my body and hair from yesterdays event. Careful not to cause more damage to my already bruised body. The warm water hitting my skin is something that I haven't felt in a very long time. We weren't very wealthy and Paw had to take a lot of odd jobs to keep the house, since ma wasn't able to work. So having hot water or even just showering at all was a privilege to me. 

When I finally stop reminiscing, I'm cleaned and dressed. Barely even recognising the boy looking back at me in the large bathroom mirror. But more afraid of getting caught, I swiftly tidy up after myself and head back to the room that Miguel showed me. 

Unsure of what I'm supposed to do, I rest on the window seat. Quietly gazing at the night city sky.

𝒜 𝒻𝑒𝓌 𝓂𝑜𝓂𝑒𝓃𝓉𝓈 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇...

"KNOCK KNOCK." I'm drawn back from my thoughts and seat as my older brother calls out to me. "Dinner's ready, come down Elijah."

I compose myself, standing up and walking to the door as I hear his footsteps getting farther and farther away. 

While opening the door I listen for any other sounds, making sure it's safe before I leave and shut the door. Once I'm out I make my way down the same hall, reaching the landing of the staircase.

I freeze as I look down, a heavy lump suddenly emerging in my throat. I can feel my heart loudly pounding up in my ears and my eyes brimming with tears.

"Who the fuck are you." I flinch, nervously looking back at the tall dirty blond male standing behind me.

"I think I asked you a simple fucking question."

⎨"𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓁𝒶𝓃𝒹𝒾𝓃𝑔" -Is the area immediately at the top of the staircase.⎬