I Hate My Brother (editing!)

48.

He was there for me when I was lost and helpless about my brother's condition and always knew how to comfort and distract me from the upsetting stuff.

"Do I even want to open this?" Wayne sighs, putting the box down on the counter.

I shrug nonchalantly. "As you wish."

"Fine." He rolls his eyes and we wait patiently as he fiddles with the wrapping paper. Frankly, it was a dilemma whether to give it to him. I'd chosen a pair of navy blue boxing gloves and a matching pair of boxing shorts. It was a little worrying whether he'd be put off with the gift, but I figured it was time we stop avoiding the subject.

We know he has come to terms with not being able to box on a professional level anymore. But that didn't mean that he had to stop boxing as a whole. We knew how much he loved the sport and I genuinely just wanted to bring him back to it, to remind him about something he was once so passionate about.

Wayne kept quiet for a bit, staring at the box. His hands slowly felt the leather of the gloves, then he picked it up in his hands. There's a little part of me that expected him to throw it against the wall or dump it in the trash.

Then I hear him let out a breath. "Are you an idiot?"

I glance up at him, wide-eyed. Damn it. I made him mad.

"This isn't even my size." My brother throws one each of the gloves at Zac and I. Startled, I manage to catch it. "I wear a 16oz. This is 10oz. You should've asked, dumbass." But he pulls the both of us into a hug anyway.

Finding the situation funny, I burst out giggling and so does Zac. Wayne pulls away, an easy smile on his face. "I appreciate it. But go and get this shit exchanged or buy me a new one!" He chuckles.

———

The week after, Wayne and I decided that it's finally time for us to make a visit back at our parent's. It is long overdued since we have been constantly brushing them off ever since his car accident. Being stubborn as he is, he still keeps constantly reminding me not to let it slip.

"Remember, tell them it was a slip and fall. Just a slight fracture." Wayne repeats in the back of my car.

I roll my eyes, munching on the pack of Lays chip during our two hours drive back to Connecticut. Zac offered to drive and of course I'll gladly let him do so.

"Damn it, I know. Stop nagging!" I throw another packet of chips behind to shut my brother up.

I don't entirely support his decision to keep his accident a secret from our parents, but I can understand why. Mom would freak out and likely demand for him, or even us, to move back home.

Zac pulls up at my family home shortly after and mom's already at the driveway. She pretends like she's watering the plants but Wayne and I both knew she's been waiting for our arrival.

"Momma," I say in a sing-song voice as I hop down from my car. She looks good, in fact a lot younger now with her hair dyed brown and trimmed into a short, edgy bob.

Her grin is magnified when I enter in her vision. "Kelsey, darling!" Her arms open up for me to hug her.

Damn, it's really been so long.

Zac turns off the engine and bring down our bags while Wayne takes his own sweet time to alight. I guess he must've known what's coming for him.

"How're you, momma?" I smile at her, inspecting her new haircut. She even wears much more modern clothes now instead of those oversized blouses she used to don.

"I'm great! I'm good now that you're here! Lemme see!" She spins me around in a circle. "Gosh, darling. You've lost so much weight. Have you not been eating?"