Page 3 of Luckiest Love
He wanted the pain to go away. To not have those images in his head.
He knew it was something that would never leave.
That he would most likely always see the image of his sister flying through the air and Gage roared into the floor, taking his hands from his ears to punch the ground over and over and over.
His door tried to open, but he was in front of it and his dad’s voice said, “Gage! It’s okay! You have to move.”
Gage shook his head, his tears flowing down his cheeks and his dad finally shoved the door open, making him move as he did.
His dad picked him up like he was a child and cradled him in his arms.
“I’ve got you. I’m here.”
His dad held him tightly for over a half hour and Gage finally calmed and his dad lifted him from the ground, barely.
He put him on his bed and kissed his forehead and then tucked him in like he had when he was young.
“It will be okay. Someday. I swear. Right now it doesn’t seem like it, but it will be.”
Gage just nodded and his dad walked out of the room and shut the door behind him.
Gage shut his eyes and prayed that sleep would come.
* * *
Over the next few days, they arranged Renee’s funeral and Gage barely ate, barely slept and didn’t want to function.
But he had to do this for his sister.
He had to.
But when they went to the funeral home and shut the casket, Gage felt his soul die.
He didn’t cry. Didn’t fight it. Just felt himself die on the inside and when they lowered her casket into the ground, Gage knew he would never be the same kid he was.
His dad’s family came to the funeral and he remembered how his dad’s brothers were angry, how they all mourned and fought against her death.
And Gage wanted to care, but his soul was gone.
Over the next few years, he grew worse. He hated everything and everyone.
He didn’t like going to school and he didn’t talk to anyone.
Not even his parents, even though they tried hard to get him to.
He didn’t give a fuck.
His grades fell, and his parents fought with him to care about school and told him how important it was to succeed. And if he wasn’t doing it for himself, he should do it for Renee, and to get them off his back and to not bring up his failure of keeping her safe, he brought his grades up.
It was the only thing he cared about.
Doing homework took his mind off of everything because it was so menial, and so did working out.
He would be at the gym for hours after school, running, lifting weights, bench pressing, boxing.
Anything he could do to keep busy. To keep his mind off his sister.
His dead sister.
