Page 6 of Six
But when my head touches the pillow and the dreamworld welcomes me, those soft green orbs follow me under.
Chapter 2
OLIVER
I adjust the backpack strap on my shoulder while I walk next to my brother, Sully, along the snowy sidewalk. The very early, bitterly frigid air is biting at my face, forcing me to push my nose down the neck of my hoodie. It’s so fucking cold. I pull the cuffs of my purple hoodie further down my knuckles. The black puffer vest keeps my torso warm, but my legs, arms, and hands are freezing.
Sully looks warm enough, though. That’s all that matters. His lanky body is engulfed in a too-big padded jacket, a yellow knit hat hides his short black hair, and the one-dollar rainbow wool gloves I bought from a thrift store cover his long delicate fingers. Thank God, he doesn’t care about fashion and that his best friend in school, Brad, is built like the Rock.
He suddenly slips on an icy patch on the ground, and I’m ready for it, reflexively grabbing his arm to halt his fall. His legs make a wild gliding dance, sneakers sliding, making him spin around and clutch onto my sleeves with a death grip. I widen my stance and let my shoes root more firmly on the asphalt, trying to stabilize him.
“Okay?” I ask while helping his body up into a straighter position. He nods but slips two more times before I slowly release him.
Sully is what people would call a klutz. The clumsiest and most uncoordinated person I’ve ever seen. He reminds me of aStan and Olliecomedy sketch I once watched in high school during social studies. Although, they were actors pretending to be graceless and ungainly, Sully is actually gawky and all fingers and thumbs.
He’s seventeen and a proper nerd. He goes to one of the best public schools on the west side, and it takes forty minutes by bus to get there, but it’s worth it. I walk him to the bus stop every morning before going to work. It’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make if it means it will get him out of West Garfield Park and Dick’s claws. Richard, or Dick as we call him—by name and by nature—is our father, or as I like to label him, the sperm donor and scumbag.
We return to walking when he says, “The bruise on your face, is it from the last illegal fight?”
I turn to look at him. His big, soft eyes are on me—one green, the same shade as mine, and the other light brown. It’s called heterochromia, but while I have a sectoral one, only a large part of one iris is brown, my brother has complete heterochromia, the color of his eyes are different. I read somewhere that it’s a genetic condition, and since Dick has light blue eyes, it has to have come from our mother—wherever she is.
I scrunch my nose and feel the slight sting caused by the hit I took yesterday in the ring. My side hurts as well, but it’s nothing I’m not used to.
“Look, I know you fought again. I heard Dick talking about it with Lenny and his other friends.”Friends…more like lowlife dirtbags. Lenny included.
“We need money to get out of here, Sully. I can’t get enough from my job.”
“Dick takes almost all the money from the fights, and it’s dangerous, Ollie. Those people you fight against are dangerous. Like that Hulk guy you think is so cool.” His voice is full of worry.
I might have talked about Hulk a time or two. “I could never fight against him. He’s too big.” His cock is as well. I didn’t imagine the long, thick outline that pushed against his sweats. Just thinking about it makes me salivate.
“I could leave school and look for a job…”
I don’t let him finish. “We already talked about this. Absolutely not!”
“You left college, so it’s only fair that I…”
I cut him off again, halting my steps and grabbing his arm. “They were night classes at the community college, nothing major. You, on the other hand, need to finish school. You’re a straight-A student and can get a scholarship to one of those fancy colleges.”
His lips tilt up for a moment before they tighten in a long line again. “I’m worried, Ollie. If something happens to you…”
I sigh and then lean my forehead against his and close my eyes. “Nothing will happen to me. You can’t get rid of me that easily.” I pull back and smirk, trying to lighten the mood. I raise my arms up, assuming a bodybuilder pose to show him my biceps, and I silently tell him with a smoldering gaze, “Look at these babies.”
He snorts and answers with a look that says, “You’re an idiot!” But he can’t stop from smiling.Mission accomplished.
He looks so young, younger than his age. Maybe it’s because of his pale skin, the delicate lines of his face, and big sweet eyes, in contrast with my slightly darker skin and angular features.
“You still lied to me,” Sully reminds me, and I wince, knowing what’s about to come. “I want my apology dance,” he adds, as I expected.
“No!” I resume our walk. One night, a couple of years back, I was three sheets to the wind and came up with the fucking dance idea whenever one of usmisbehave.
“Yes!” He follows me.
“No way, Jose. I already did it when I killed that spider the other day.”
Sully wants to become a vet, and therefore, every animal or thing that crawls or flies shouldn’t be harmed. Except mosquitos. I draw the line there.
“Ollie.” He adorably pouts. Shit! Cannot resist the cuteness. And the little fucker knows it and uses it against me any chance he gets.
