Listen, Only if U Can Hear

Introduction:

"KAREEM hurry up, were gonna miss the bus our first day!," I said. My brother Kareem, has always been late to every occasion known to man. Granted he does put 3 pounds of hair product,  and takes longer showers cuz he thinks it substitutes his missed days. Without any regard to who is late somewhere, he'll hog up the shower for an eternity. That's my brother for ya, 18, depressed, without a care in the world. But I still love him unconditionally, yes, even when he pours the milk before the cereal, bites a King-Sized KitKat whole... and applies toothpaste only after wrinsing the brush. Bet his gums are all cut up, would explain his foul mouth...literally & figuratively. Even Aunt Betty knows how to brush correctly,  and that says a lot given she is 82 years old. But he's my best friend, always has been. Its just the 4 of us now. Me, Kareem, my Mom & Dad. Sounds, simple but its actually way more complicated then that. You see, my Mom had Malik first... He was the oldest in my family. I say was because, after the day he came back from school... he was nowhere to be found. Yep, he left quicker then Jesus on that "The Fosters" show. Huge let down by the way... I mean don't get me wrong, Noah Centineo was hot when he first debuted on the show. But he is no Jesus Foster, I mean the name doesn't even fit him. El es blanco, no sabor... tasteless. But yes, one minute hes downstairs playing Mancala with my grandma. Next minute he vanishes, for what feels like forever. I asked my Mom and Dad every day where he was. Not because I wanted to relive the day he left forever. But because Malik was my big brother, and we did practically everything together. I still think till this day that hes gonna pop up with a Pokemon collection, and a PS5 for my birthday. Its literally in 25 days but hey... one can dream right?

   My mom took the abandonment the worst. Yes I said abandonment, because he decided to get up one day and leave. Left me, my Mom, Ru, and my dad all alone... not even a goodbye. I used to get lost in all the "why's" or "where'" abouts. But it was really deteriorating my mental health, my brain could'nt handle it. Suppressing thoughts didn't work in my favor either. Eventually, it will all just bottle up and implode...everywhere. Like Coke & Mento's. So I did what every other Gen Z teenager is forced to do when their family is concerned they're depressed. I paid someone money to tell all my deepest darkest secrets. And my worst, most tragic experiences. Yes... my parents made me get a shrink. Not going to lie, I was really fucking scared at first. There was NO way, I'm gonna tell a complete stranger that I smoke weed, take acid, and pop adderall like candy... to a rando stranger. Nononono, are you out of your mind? Two weeks later go by and i eventually told her everything. Yes, even that one time my babysitter coerced me to have play sex with her. No you didn't just misread that, it was traumatizing . It was weird, a very long awkward silence ... But we still pushed through. Just gotta keep breathing right?