Page 51 of Peach Tree Family

"I don't know about cool, but he was into video games. I want to give Ace as much of our dad as I can, things that he loved, things that made him smile. Our dad played this, his hands held it like this, his fingers pressed the buttons. I can still see him a little hunched over, explaining the game to me then letting me play while he cheered me on. Then he called out to our mom, 'He's a natural.' She said, 'Of course he is. Woo hoo!'"

"She sounds cool too," Seth said.

"She liked to play too, but she stopped after our dad died. 'It just makes me cry too hard,' she would say." Theo's smile was so unbearably sad. To lose both of them.

Seth wanted to reach out and hug him or at least put an arm around him but he didn't dare. "I feel bad not hugging you," he admitted to Theo.

"That's my own fault for overreacting before," Theo said.

"Sorry I reminded you of that friend of yours."

"No. I wasn't being fair to you. You're not like him. I shouldn't judge you on what some other guy did. Sorry. And I'm the one who went into your room." Theo then asked him, "How come you keep your door open? You don't like being closed up?"

"Just a habit. I got used to doing that because of my grandpa. That way I could hear him if he needed me or if he just started wandering around for no reason," Seth explained. "He had Alzheimer's."

"That must have been hard."

"When he didn't recognize me any more, that was the worst part. That's when I felt like I didn't have anyone. I was all alone." Seth remembered his grandpa treating him like he was an intruder, telling him to get out of his house, bringing back his fear of being tossed out, abandoned.

"Sorry," Theo said and touched his knuckles to Seth's.

"I still have family out there, just don't know where they are. I know you and Ace have it worse," Seth told him.

"We're coping." Theo said. His fearless posture wasn't easy to crack.

"That's because you're strong and Ace can count on you," Seth told him.

Theo was tough as nails for his little brother's sake. Because of Theo, Ace didn't seem anxious most of the time. Tonight Seth had noticed how Ace looked to Theo during his fearful moments when the noises of the storm scared him. Every one of those times, Theo always looked like he had everything well in hand. But it had to be hard for him.

Seth inched a little closer to him and leaned his shoulder into him. "I'm not hitting on you. I'm just leaning on you and you can lean on me a little too."

Theo laughed. "You're crazy." But he did lean on him.

---