Thorns & Oranges

Just Oranges

Chapter Three

I slowed down when I got to the driveway and wasn't surprised when I saw Dom sitting on the front porch with a glass of orange juice next to him along with my black pouch. He was smoking a cigarette and smiled when he spotted me looking at him.

"Have a nice run?" I nodded. "Did you test your sugar before you left?" I nodded again. "Should've eaten something first. I know the run is supposed to be good for you but..."

"You worry too much." I huffed in air as I walked up and sat next to him. "Besides, how do you know I didn't eat anything?"

"Because you never do, even when you ran track in high school."

I smiled and picked up the pouch. "You know me too well. That or you checked my meter."

He just shrugged and let out a lungful of smoke. "I've watched you go from rosy cheeks to a rock bottom, sweaty mess. Knowing you need a glass of orange juice in the morning is second nature to me. Heck, it took me two weeks after you left to stop pouring you a glass. Same thing when you went to rehab."

I propped my chin on his shoulder while I waited for the thing to beep and smiled at the side of his face. "You're a good guy, Dom. Why haven't you settled down yet?"

"Your brother needs me." He took a drag off his cigarette and turned his head to blow the smoke away from my face. "Besides, I'd be nothing without him. Wouldn't know how to act."

"Just like he'd be nothing without you, I know. I've heard your mantra. Brothers for life, right?"

He looked at me for a moment as I glanced over the numbers. Even after my physical activity, I needed to eat something and take my insulin. It wasn't getting worse but it wasn't exactly getting better either. I took what I needed and packed everything back up. That orange juice was looking very tempting so I picked it up off the concrete step and drank some of it. I glanced over at Dom who was still watching me. The cigarette was held between two of his fingers, the letters E-L-I-N-A tattooed from thumb to pinkie. Just like my brother, he had it inked in after I almost died the first time. I've had multiple brushes with death. Several due to drugs but the first time was contributed to my diabetes. I was nine, one year after being diagnosed. I went through all the normal testing and the week before, the doctors told my parents I needed insulin but they didn't have the money for it. I tried to control it like they instructed but once they say 'You need the insulin, the medication isn't working' you do what they say. Unfortunately, when you're poor, things aren't always done the right way.

I went to sleep one night and the next morning, my brother couldn't wake me up for school. Both of our parents were at work and trusted him to take care of me, get me up and to school on time. He was fifteen, not needing the weight of worrying about his little sister on his shoulders. He should've been worrying about girls and which naughty magazine was best to jerk off to in the morning. But no, he was consumed with how many times I'd tested my blood sugar that day and taken my meds. If I was eating the right thing versus how much physical activity I'd had. Then the added stress of the insulin dosages the doctors said I needed to keep me normal and the fact my parents couldn't afford it.

Dom lived next to us and heard my brother screaming at me to wake up. So he rushed over and called 9-1-1, searching for my insulin in the fridge while my brother tried desperately to continue to wake me up. Dom never found the insulin because it wasn't there.

No one had the money to fill the prescription.

It took the hospital a couple hours to stabilize me.

It took the Spanish Thorns five seconds to enlist my brother.

The leader at the time, Marco, recruited him personally and mentored him. He told Vince as long as he did what he was told, I would get my insulin every month without fault. My brother's only stipulation was that he was home long enough to walk me to and from school, make me dinner, and help me with my homework. When I got to the level where he couldn't help me anymore, he had Michelle take over, causing me to see him less and less. So like Dom, but when I was old enough, I pledged just so I was closer to him.