Chapter 8
“Zane, do you think that right now, at this very moment, Mom is staring at the stars as well and thinking about us?” I looked over at my brother as we lay on our backs and stared up at the sky.
“No.”
“I think she is. I think she’s most probably waiting for a shooting star so that she can make a wish. And she’s wishing that she can find us and come back to us and smother us with hugs and kisses.” I spoke wistfully and tried to ignore the tears that were creeping into the corners of my eyes. At ten years old, I still hadn’t perfected the art of not crying when I felt sad. Not like Zane had. He never showed any emotion.
“Then you’re an imbecile.” Zane turned towards me with a frown.
“What’s an im-be-ceil?” I asked him, not understanding what he meant.
“Nothing, Noah. Just be quiet.”
“I’m glad Dad let us go camping this weekend,” I continued excitedly.
“Dad didn’t let us do anything.” Zane sighed. “And we aren’t camping, idiot. We’re lying on bedsheets in the back garden. We don’t have tents or sleeping bags. We don’t have a bonfire. We don’t have anyone telling us scary stories. It’s just us lying here on a dirty bedsheet, looking up at some stars that we can barely see because of all the pollution.”
“It’s still fun, though.” I reached over and squeezed his hand. “I’m glad that it’s just us. We’re like two warriors staring up at the night sky waiting for the sun to rise and take us on our next journey.”
“Yeah.” He sighed but smiled at me. “We’re two warriors.”
“I’m Conan.” I growled into the air and shouted. “I’m Conan, so nobody better mess with me or my brother Zane.”
“Shhhhh.” Zane placed his dirty hand over my mouth. “Be quiet. If Dad hears us out here, we’ll be in trouble.”
“I thought you said he said it was okay?” I looked at him in confusion and yawned.
“Just go to sleep, Noah, you’re tired.” Zane shook his head and lay back, looking up at the stars. I was quiet for a moment, but I still wasn’t tired enough to go to sleep.
“We’ll always be brothers, right, Zane?” I spoke lightly, scared that I was going to upset him again.
“What are you talking about?” He rolled over and looked at me with his older brother frown.
“You won’t leave me, right?” I bit my lower lip and opened my eyes wide so no tears fell. I wanted to be a big boy. I didn’t want Zane to make fun of me and call me a baby. “You won’t go away like Mom?”
He didn’t say anything for a moment as he lay there staring at me. Then he reached over and hugged me and whispered in my ear. “I’m your big brother. You’re never going to get rid of me.”
“Never?” I asked hopefully.
“Never.” He let me go and stared at me. “We’re birds of a feather, Noah. We could be the same person. We have exactly the same blood running through our veins. We’re family. We are all we got. I will never leave you. You’re stuck with me.”
“Just don’t try and eat all my candy.” I lay back and grinned, everything all right in my world again. “We may be brothers and we may have the same blood, but all my candy is still mine.”
“I’ll think about it.” He laughed and lay back at the sky before pointing up to something quickly. “Look, Noah. There’s a shooting star. There’s a shooting star. Quick, make a wish.”
We both closed our eyes and mumbled our wishes. I wished that I would never have to go a day without Zane by my side. And then opened my eyes. “What did you wish for, Zane?”
“I can’t say.” He mumbled and his voice sounded hoarse.
“Tell me.” I pleaded. “Please.”
“I can’t tell you, Noah. If I tell you, it won’t come true.”
I spent the next week making plans for the documentary and trying to call Skylar back. Unfortunately, her phone number was now disconnected and I had no other way to get in contact with her. Well, I had one way, but I knew that nothing good could come from going that route. So I threw myself into my work and tried to avoid Zane and Lucky as much as possible. I didn’t want to deal with their questions or concern. I knew that they meant well and I knew that Zane just wanted some answers, but I still wasn’t sure how I was going to deal with everything. I also hadn’t spoken to Robin either, even though I had been thinking about her every day since the dinner. I wanted to call her so badly, but I didn’t know what to say. “Hey, I think I like you. I know I want to kiss you and make love to you. But I’m kind of f**ked up in the head right now, and I’m scared that I’m going to hurt you and you’re going to break like shattered glass.”
So I didn’t call, but every night I saw her face haunting me in my dreams. However, I didn’t dread going to bed anymore. Not when I knew that I would have visions of her and her green-brown eyes sparkling at and teasing me. I had finally decided to give her a call when I got a call from an unknown number. Skylar immediately popped to mind and I answered the phone eagerly.
“Hello,” I gasped, scared that the other person was going to click off.
“Noah, mon cheri?”
“Mom?” I walked to my bedroom door and closed it before going back to sit on my bed.
“Noah.” Her voice sounded emotional. “You haven’t called me.”
“I haven’t had anything to say.”
“I heard you’re back in Los Angeles.”
“How did you know that?”
“Your father.” Her voice was light and pained.
“You spoke to him.” I frowned. I had no idea that she had been in contact with my dad.
“Oui, I mean yes.” She sighed. “His last two checks have been late. I had to call him to make sure that he wasn’t going to stop providing me with my means to live.”
“You mean the hush money?” I said coldly into the phone.
“It’s not like that, Noah. I need this money. It’s how we live.”
“What do you want?” I said impatiently, not wanting to talk to her.
“Your father says he hasn’t heard from you since you’ve been back.”
“He hasn’t rushed to see me.” I laughed bitterly. “You’d think he’d want to see his dead son back from the grave.”