Ethan
Bending down onto my knees, I started shoveling out the soil from the flower pot that was placed beside the door, as we used to keep the spare key hidden in there. I heard the clicking of metals as the key came to sight. Picking it up, I tried opening the lock but it wouldn't open. Probably because no one has come here after we had left the place, so the door might have gotten jam.
Finally, after several attempts, the door swung open and the dust from above the doorway caused me to cough. The house was still the same, except for the white walls that had turned grey due to the dust. There wasn't much furniture as we took most of it with us to our new house.
"Welcome to my past, Leah," I said and walked inside the house, trailing my hand across the wall to locate the switch as the gloominess from outside caused darkness inside the house. The single bulb that we had left, lit up dimly but it was enough to figure out what was what.
A wave of nostalgia took over as I was suddenly transported back to my childhood. I could see a little boy with a brown flop on his head running around the house, chasing after a similar-looking elder boy.
Suddenly, the scene changed to a younger boy holding a baby in his arms whereas the elder one was singing the other baby to sleep.
I could hear the chatter coming from the dining room as all the members of the family sat together for dinner.
"Ethan, " Leah started, resting a hand on my shoulder, "you don't hav-"
"No, Leah, I have to. Maybe this is what I need to do to fully let go of Nathan, to accept his absence." I didn't bother to wipe the tear that had rolled down my cheek. There was no need to hide it from her. There was no need for pretension. "I need to do it," I whispered and squeezed my eyes shut.
"You are not alone, Ethan." Her hand found mine and laced our fingers together. "We'll do it together." I couldn't even describe how good it felt to hear those words coming from her. Her being present with me while I relive all those years was enough to keep me sane.
I took the stairs and Leah followed behind, not once leaving my hand. The doors to all the rooms were left open. The first room on my right was mom and dad's.
"Where mom always picked my side, Nathan was always dad's favourite." A memory of dad's proud face whenever Nathan won a football game came in view.
We walked towards the twins' room. Mom was getting them ready for their first day of kindergarten and Nathan was standing in the doorway with their bags.
"Nathan was always this protective brother, for all of us." I chuckled at one of the memories from school. "There was a boy in my school, a year older than me. I was a quiet kid back then. Fighting was like a sin for a ten-year-old me." I laughed at how naive I was. "So this boy had tripped me during the lunch break and he and his eleven-year-old cronies started laughing at me whereas I just sat there staring at those boys. Out of nowhere, Nathan stood in front of me, and let's say that bully-boy wasn't fast enough to run away from the scene and received a black eye from my brother. Because no one messes with Nathan Adams' siblings." It felt as if all this happened just the day before.
"From that day onwards he would take me to self-defense training. You know why I always workout at six in the morning that too with loud music?" I asked looking at her.
"Because you like to annoy me?" She smiled trying to lighten up the mood and I smiled back at her.
"Good try." I chuckled before continuing, "That and the fact that Nathan used to do that and I'd tag along with him in the basement where his speakers used to blast with different genres of music. He would laugh and say that I was too young for workouts, so he would just ask me to do jumping jacks."
We were standing in front of my room now. Growing up, honestly, I never thought I'd be leaving this place ever. This room holds so many emotions. While leaving this place, I'd decided to never come back here. Strange, isn't it, how something that was once dear to you, now have you just loathing it.
"My nightmares were the worst part of this room but at the same time, this room was my safe haven."
Instead of going into my old room, I shut the door and walked down the hallway towards the room that I dreaded the most. Nathan's room. It was painted grey.
"Grey was his favourite colour. Because he used to believe that black was associated with evil and white with virtuous. He used to say, 'It can't be completely good or completely bad.' I realised how much truth that one statement holds." I smiled as I brushed my fingers across the grey painted walls. It hurt to smile. It was painful.
Leah wiped across my cheek and brushed my hair off my forehead. The reason I hadn't lost it yet was because of her. I don't think I would have done this if she weren't here with me. In fact, I wouldn't have even opened the lock if it weren't for Leah holding my hand through it all. I know I'd have backed out the moment I hit the brakes of my car.
"Are you sure you want to continue?" She asked me in a light whisper.
"I have to let it out." My voice didn't rise even by an octave than her's.
"But are you ready for that?"
"I don't think I'll be able to talk about it if I keep on pushing it. So yeah, I think I am ready. You sure you want to listen? Because the past two days had been rough for you. I don't want to add on it."
"Ethan, right now, it's about you. Don't worry about me. If you are ready to let it out, then I'm ready to take it in." God, this girl, and how well she comprehends me. But I guess that's what I wanted. Someone who would not only listen to me but truly understand how I felt. And maybe that's the reason why I feel better whenever I talk to her.
"Let's go outside, yeah?" I asked and she nodded her head at me. We walked downstairs and sat on the doorsteps. It had become gloomy outside, the sky was almost covered with grey clouds.
"Do you know about the news of a couple of teenager boys from Eugene who helped in rescuing the victims of human trafficking, precisely around five years ago?" I asked and her eyebrows pinched together in concentration and then her eyes widened in realisation.
"Nathan was one of those boys?"
"Nathan was one of those boys," I confirmed and saw her face morphing into confusion. "Nathan was amongst those bunch of teenagers who helped the cops in rescuing the victims of human trafficking that took place in Eugene."
"A new student had joined their high school, Mason Morris. He would always cause some trouble in school, always showing up in lectures in a stoned state."
"How did the teachers even allow him?" She asked with her eyebrows furrowed.
"His father was a politician and had an influence over almost every damn thing in this town."
"Uh-huh."
"So one day, one of Nathan's friends was passing through a deserted area of the school parking lot and there he saw Mason talking with someone, who wasn't from their school. So he went near them and hid behind a car and eavesdropped on their conversation. The conversation went something like 'don't let them get sober. Give them a higher dose.'"
"Oh my God." A gasp escaped her mouth as she covered it with her hand.
"So Nathan and the boys decided to tell the professor and he helped them to track this Mason down to his brothel, after school, of course after informing the police. They tracked him almost every other day up to his brothel which was located in the deserted part of Eugene until they had solid proof of Mason being involved in human trafficking and drug dealing. Later, the police caught the case and the traffickers were sentenced to life in prison for twelve years and a hefty fine. It was all over the news." I sighed and folded my hands on my knees and rested my head on top of them, my head turned towards her.
"But what does it have to do anything with Nathan's..." she paused to look for the right word.
"Death?" I helped her.
"Uh yeah."
"Mason had an elder brother, Elijah. He was the person behind all this trafficking, you know, giving instructions, supplying the drugs, all those illegal things. When he came to know about his younger brother being put behind the bars, he went out for revenge."
And not just from Nathan, but the entire Adams family received the end of it.
******
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