He woke up. His eyes were red and blue. He had dark purple circles under his eyes and he looked like he hadn't slept for days. He stood up and walked to the window of his bedroom. The room was way too big. He gazed out at the landscape, watching thousands of cars fly past the window. He looked puzzled. He could not decide whether or not he was dreaming. It was just one of those weird feelings people get sometimes, like déjà vu or something. From across the room his cell phone starts ringing. He walks over to the nightstand and picks it up.
“Hello?”
“Uhhh. Ethan, is that you?”
“It’s me.”
“Oh. Man…It’s Kyle.”
“Kyle?”
“Yah. Kyle from Texas.”
“Of course, how have you been?”
“I’ve been better. You?”
“I’m hanging in there.”
“Yah…”
“Yah. So.”
“Well, I just wanted to thank you man.”
“Oh. Really? For what?”
“You saved my life.”
“Oh. That.”
“Modest asshole.”
Grins, “Ha. I’m so glad I could help you. You’ve been one of the good ones, Kyle.”
“I don’t feel too successful lately.”
“Yah, I know things haven’t been going well with you, with the trial and everything.”
“Yah, about that. I kind of wound up somewhere.”
“Where?”
“Prison.”
“Shit. For what?”
“Murder.”
Sighs, “Who was it?”
“The parents.”
“Did you do it Kyle?”
“Yah.”
“Why?”
“I couldn’t stop myself. I just felt so much pain. It was all I could think about. I guess I felt like they stole me from my parents. I don’t know why I stabbed them. I loved them.”
“Oh, Kyle.”
“I’m sorry that I was a bad brother.”
“I’m sorry too.”
“Goodbye Kyle.”
“Goodbye Bro.”
He folded the phone and put it in his pocket. He sat on the bed. Ethan laid back down on the bed, pushing back a small tear from his watery eyes. He really couldn’t believe what he heard. Kyle was his brother. His work was almost completely lost. Ethan stood up from the bed and grabbed the keys off the counter. He walked out of his apartment, stopping to lock his front door. He walked to his car, jumped inside and started the engine. He put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking space.
He drove for hours. The sun was up when he started, down when he arrived. The prison was huge. There were 10 foot fences, with barbed wire crowning the top. Ethan walked through the rubber hallway, where the floors looked like the walls which looked like the ceiling. The hallway got smaller and smaller until he finally reached a doorway. He heard the locks slide and move as metal ground against metal and the door popped open. He saw his brother on the other side of thick glass, holding a telephone up to his ear. His brother smiled, held up the phone indicating to Ethan for him to pick up the received. He picked up the phone and on the other end he heard a somewhat feminine voice say, "Hi, thanks for coming to see me Ethan."
"Yah Kyle."
"It's been a long time man."
"I know it's been a really long time."
"Why did you leave us?"
"I didn't leave you Kyle. I just couldn't stand that life anymore."
"I don't blame you, even though it is your fault."
"What's my fault?"
"That I killed the parents, it's your fault. If you would have been the big brother you should've been, they would still be alive."
(Ethan sat there, uneffected.)
"Kyle, you know that's not true. You did what you did and I had nothing to do with it. You had a break down, probably from the years of abuse you suffered when we were kids."
"You know I was abused!! You know Mom would take out all her anger on me! You know it happened!."
"Whatever happened, happened. I just came to see you one last time Kyle. I'm not going to come visit or see you ever again. I want you to remembed this also, you brought this all on yourself. Have a good life brother, I wish I could've have helped you more."
"Fuck you Ethan, you better come see me. You can't leave me alone in here! Ethan please I'm scared. I'm your brother Ethan please don't leave me here alone. Please God Ethan I'm so fucking scared, they are going to kill me in here. I'm sorry Ethan, I'm sorry!"
(Kyle had jumped up on to the table and was beating on the glass, pressing his entire body against the glass, tears cascading down his cheek.)
Ethan arrived back to his hotel room. He scratched these words into a green notebook he pulled from his backpack:
That was the last time I saw my brother. I try and forget everything he did, just try to remember him as a kid. How much fun we had. How much I miss that and how much I'll never get it back. Seeing your family fall apart isn't easy. They unraveled, bit by bit, like a sweater. One little string of sanity at a time. By the end it was chaos. Everyone hated everyone, I think I was the only one to make it out alive. It's scary when your on your own, when you realize the only person you can depend on is you. But that's life.
Ethan capped the pen, stuffed it and his notebook into his bag. He pulled the handle from his suitcase and slung the backpack over his shoulder. He stepped out of the room. He went to the motel office, gave the worker his key, then got into his car and drove away.

The 1st two editions, the praiser and the dreg: introductions are now available for purchase online! We are doing it through a self-publication website and will only make a .42 profit on each book, the rest are just the cost of printing. So, either start sharing the books, I'll buy a few copies if you want me to send you one just email your name and address and I will ship you one free, but you have to send it on!!
Thank you bye.
-B

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