Page 81 of Street of Dreams
“Is that why you woke me up?” Ben asked. “To tell me you hurt your arm?”
“No. Something happened tonight. Something bad.”
Ben sat with his back against the headboard, now fully awake and eyes round with worry. “To Henry? Or Danny?”
“No. It’s Bruce.” Jake paused. “He got shot. And he died.”
It took a few seconds for the news to register, and Ben’s forehead slowly wrinkled. “Dad’s dead?”
“Yeah,” Jake said softly, resting his hand on his brother’s leg. Ben’s eyes watered, and two fat tears fell down his cheeks. Jake felt like a piece of shit. He brought this heartache on his little brother, a kid who shouldn’t have to know pain and loss at his age, and it broke his fucking heart. “I’m sorry, buddy. Don’t worry about anything. It’s going to be OK. I’m going to take care of you. I’ll always take care of you.”
Ben wiped his eyes with his fists and then rubbed at his nose. “I know. You always take care of me. Henry and Danny too.”
“That’s right.” It touched Jake’s heart to know that Ben recognized that he was the parental figure in the kid’s life. Even the twins were more of a father than Bruce was to the kid. He leaned over and gave Ben a hug. The kid smelled like soap and a fresh shower. “Do you want to talk about it or ask me anything?”
Ben shook his head, then pulled out of the hug. “I know he did bad things and wasn’t nice a lot of the time, but it’s going to be weird without him here.”
Jake nodded. “It’ll be different.” He smiled a little, as if recalling a fond memory, but there wasn’t one. “It’ll be quieter, that’s for sure. No more yelling.” A pang of melancholy filled his heart with thoughts of a different life and a better side of his old man that may or may not have existed. He cupped the back of Ben’s head tenderly with reassurance. “We’re still a family. Me and you and Danny and Henry.”And Mac.“Hey, there’s someone downstairs who wants to say hello. Someone you haven’t seen in a long time. Do you want to see who it is?”
Ben climbed out of bed, took Jake’s hand, and they descended the stairs together. When they were about halfway to the first floor, Mac’s voice became audible from the living room. “Can you guess who it is?” Jake asked.
Recognition made Ben’s eyes light up. He pulled out of Jake’s hand and ran the rest of the way down the stairs and across the room. When Jake caught up to them, Ben had both arms wrapped around Mac’s waist, while Mac wore a huge smile and patted Ben on the back.
“You came back,” Ben said. “Because my dad died?”
The smile slipped from Mac’s face and sadness dimmed his bright green eyes. He struggled to answer the question. After a significant pause, he said. “I’m sorry about your dad.”
Henry and Danny immediately went to Ben and hugged him, offering reassuring words and asked him if he was OK. Watching the twins reach out to console Ben and act like responsible older brothers filled Jake with pride. This house had been a source of hate and ridicule for as long as he could remember. He took the brunt of it in order to protect his brothers. He tried his best to show them that love was a better way, but he had no idea if it was sinking in or if he was doing the right thing. He had been a kid raising kids. Now, watching the twins come together for Ben made him realize that he really did make a difference in their lives.
