Chapter three
The old lady beside me handed me a kerchief I used to wipe the liquid spooling down my eyes. I saw a few others do same as well. Despite the fact this happened over fifteen years ago, thinking about me made me cry like I was seven again.
"So…" I shrugged. "We lived on. But yes, life was hell for us afterwards and my brother and I took responsibility over the farmland. Uncle continued to squander the profits in liquor. But of course we'd snuck a penny or two for ourselves."
I chuckled in nostalgia and sniffed again. Perspiration set in as the next part of the story began.
" But soon," I turned solemn again. "Uncle Tim began to die very slowly. His health was worsening day by day. To be honest, we weren't exactly sure whether or not to be happy about it. At least he stopped hitting us due to his lack of strength."
I leaned back in my seat and took one knowing look at all the nearly twenty people listening to me."
"We stopped stealing from the profit when there wasn't enough to carter for my Uncle's meds. So…we continued to starve so we could save his life. But still, the money was never enough. We were afraid and confused. Until one day…Noah got himself into something illegal just to feed us."
***
Autumn began and harvest wasn't exactly fruitful. I worked alone most of the time. Uncle was still I'll and Noah began to stay away from home more often.
I was not exactly sure how but he made a good deal of money daily.
The medications were taken care of and we had enough food to spare. But I kept the uneasiness I felt about all that to myself.
Everything had a limit though. It all happened when Noah got me a priceless leather jacket one day and I couldn't just help but ask. "Uhh Noah?"
As he grinned down at me, he tapped my cheeks. "What's on your mind Lil Jones?"
I hesitated with a frown on. But when the question almost burned my tongue, I let it out. "Where do you work?"
His smile faded for a second or two. When it returned, it was too bright I knew it was fake. "Uhmnn. So a man just moved in to uhh…to the hometown next to us. And he uhh…he opened a store! I sorta applied for a job there."
His broken sentences made it obvious he was lying. If not that, then because of the look he gave me to confirm if I was convinced.
When I continued with my frown, he knelt to reach my height. And slowly, he reached into his pockets and pulled out a necklace. Two necklaces actually.
One and a half?
Hanging from two round strings, a heart shaped wood shone in all flares of polish. Pulling it slightly, it separated into two vertical halves of a heart, each hanging from a different string.
After having hung one around his neck, he lovingly put the other half heart around mine. "So I got this on my way back. For the love to remain, it means we'll always have to be together." He fixed the the half around my neck to the half around his so the grooves fit in perfectly to form the whole heart again. "Just like this Jeffery. I'll never leave your side; and you'll never leave mine because all we have left is each other."
I wasn't aware of the sudden emotion filling my eyes. I put my arms tight around him and let the tears out.
Noah was God sent. He wouldn't leave me; and I believed that.
I trusted him so much that I believed no matter the hell we passed through; as long as he was with me, and I with him, we would survive.
Until one day, my suspicions just heightened.
Noah was becoming more distant as the days went by. Before Uncle Tim fell bed ridden, I remember he used to hit Noah now and then for getting involved with a bunch of friends from the community. I wasn't exactly sure why but I know it was something about…something about drugs.
Now I watched him whisper to one of those friends just at the front door. His tone was pleading…almost like he was asking -no- begging for something.
Being a child came with its ups and downs. But eavesdropping…was just born into us.
"I'll pay you everything I swear," he muttered. "My Uncle needed meds, my brother needed shoes. We needed food!"
Tears were in his eyes and that…I didn't like.
The African American young adult he spoke to bumped him on his shoulder in a threatening gesture.
"You have one week Noah. One week, or else…" he slid his thumb across his own throat in a way that made me shiver mildly.
And without thinking, I screamed at him. "Leave my brother alone! You'll do nothing to him."
As soon as Noah heard my voice and recognized my presence, he rushed to me and stood protectively before me. Then he glanced back at his "friend". "Don't listen to him Max. He's just a kid. Leave him out of this please."
Max glared at me angrily for some time just before he stumped away.
Then lovingly, my big brother knelt before me. I was just about to ask him a million questions about what was going on when he interrupted. "Can you make me a promise Jeff?"
Slowly, I nodded as genuinely as I could…even though I knew I wasn't going to like this.
" Whenever Max and I are talking," he started calmly as he struggled to keep his voice from shaking. " Please stay out of it."
Something was suddenly wrong with him that I was not comfortable with. He was growing leaner, sadder, more distant. But nothing hurt more than the fact that he shared none of these problems with me.
Watching him walk away, he looked sick. The happiness I thought we had was just too good to last. Just when I thought everything was getting better, a new dilemma came into my life that I never saw coming.
***
"It was a while later I understood Noah was on drugs," I shrugged and kept my eyes down. It was one of the most painful parts of my life. Shifting in my seat, I plunged forward. "I caught him one night injecting heroine into his veins while crying quietly."
"The sight brought tears to my eyes. Not because I knew what he was doing then. But because I was sure it was the same route that led to my Uncle's condition. Of course I didn't want that for my brother. So one night, I summoned up courage and decided to talk to him about it."