My Brother's Keeper Read online

  My Brother’s Keeper

  Tim Miller

  Copyright © 2015 Tim Miller

  All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

  Author’s Note

  Thank you everyone for reading my book, “My Brother’s Keeper.” I wanted to give some quick insight into this story. First, for my regular readers, this story is a psychological horror story. It does not contain much of the extreme torture you’ve grown accustomed to in my other work. That, however doesn’t make this book any less terrifying.

  I had the idea for this for quite some time, but had held off for a variety of reasons. One of them being this was just too heavy of a subject for me to commit myself. Though, anyone who is a writer knows, occasionally, your characters keep screaming at you in your head until you tell their stories. So, I decided to tell this one. I will say of all the stories I’ve written with all the madness and mayhem, this one took the most out of me and was by far the most difficult.

  There were days I couldn’t write at all, I just needed to put it aside and take a breather. This story deals with child abuse on some pretty serious levels, so if that is something you are sensitive to, then please proceed with caution. My hope is this story will have the same impact on you, the reader, as it has had on myself creating it. Thank you once again and please enjoy My Brother’s Keeper.

  - Tim Miller

  Chapter 1

  Today might actually be a decent day. Since her husband died, Nadine had done her best with the boys. Raising an autistic six-year-old and an angry twelve-year-old wasn't easy for two parents, let alone one. There were many days she didn't feel equipped at all to handle them. Most of the time she longed for her husband to return and lend some kind of hand, but he wouldn't come. He checked out a long time ago. Now it was all on her.

  Thankfully, Simon hadn't had any fits for a few days. She hoped it was something she was doing right; it could have just been dumb luck. Since her husband's death, the longest he'd gone without an epic tantrum was a week. They were approaching a week now. Maybe he was starting to grow out of it. The doctors said there was no growing out of autism, she at least hoped some of his behavior would change.

  So, today she decided to bring the boys to the pharmacy with her. She needed some refills on her Xanax, and the boys hadn't been out in a while. It wasn't a huge outing, but it was a change of scenery, and she needed things. With a boy like Simon, trips to the park were a chore. Forget going to a theme park or the zoo. Too much stimulation caused him a lot of stress, which just set him off.

  The whole drive to the store, Simon and his older brother Bobby sang songs in the back seat. For as pissed off as Bobby acted most of the time, he was always good with Simon. Part of her was jealous of the bond those two had. She never felt that bonded with either of them, especially Simon. It was hard for her to not blame her husband's death on Simon. He had always been incredibly difficult. There were times as a baby he would cry non-stop for days on end. She felt like her sanity was at stake a few times.

  Bobby had his own set of problems. He regularly got into fights at school. He didn't like anyone mouthing off to him at all. After his dad's death, he broke a kid's nose at school; the kid had made the harsh comment of Bobby's dad not being able to stand him, so he killed himself. Bobby didn't hesitate to attack and was ultimately was suspended for two weeks and spent some time in juvenile detention.

  Thankfully, that was a while ago, and he hadn't had any incidents since then; at least no major ones. She smiled at seeing them so happy, especially since Simon had been grouchy earlier in the day but seemed to have settled down. Once they arrived at the store, they headed inside. Simon hugged her tight as they got out of the car.

  "I love you, mommy. Thank you for taking me to the store."

  "Aww thank you, honey. I hope you have fun." She said without telling Simon she loved him also. It hadn't occurred to her that she hadn't told him she loved him since his father's death. They headed inside to look around. Right away Simon's eyes went wide at all the colorful displays and shelves with magazines, books, toys and games lined through the store.

  He immediately let go of Nadine's hand and ran over to a toy. It was a large sock monkey doll. He hugged it tight and carried it to Nadine.

  "Mommy! Look what I found!" he squealed.

  "Yes, I see, sweetie." she said. However, she hated sock monkeys. They were the creepiest things ever invented. Why a child would want to keep one is beyond her.

  "Can I have him, mommy?"

  She checked the price tag. The doll was bigger than most sock monkeys, not the standard twelve inch. This one was more like thirty-six inches, almost as big if not a bit bigger than Simon. He always loved the oversized toys. Gazing at the price, it was twenty-nine dollars. Simply, out of the question.

  "I'm sorry honey; it's too much. Maybe we can find you a smaller one."

  "But I want this one!" he whined. Great. Don't panic. She could sense he was getting agitated and didn't want him to lose it right here in the store.

  "Simon, honey. I don't have the money for that. Please? Maybe Bobby will help you find someone else."

  "No! No! No!" He screamed as he threw it on the ground and began knocking things off the shelves. Several other customers began staring at them as Nadine looked around before trying to stop Simon. She grabbed his arm, but he pulled away and kicked at her. She grabbed him again, and he threw himself onto the ground and began kicking and flailing as he screamed. The noise made her head hurt.

  "Is there a problem ma'am?" a man said. She turned around to see one of the store managers behind her.

  "No. I'm sorry. He's special needs. We tried for an outing today, but he's not handling it well."

  "Sorry to hear that ma'am. We do have other customers who he is disrupting, so could you please get your child under control?"

  "I'm trying! Did you not hear what I just said?"

  She was sure he did hear, but he either didn't care, or it just didn't register.

  "I did, but you're not the only customer here."

  She turned back to Simon as the man kept talking. She ignored him and knelt down with Simon. When he was like this, she had no idea what to do. She never had adjusted to his tantrums and in public the embarrassment only made it worse for her.

  "Simon! Please! People are watching! We can just leave ok?" but Simon ignored her as he screamed louder. The louder he screamed, the worse her head pounded. For some reason, any time Simon screamed it was an instant headache, the longer it went on, the worse it got.

  "Stop throwing a fit! Let's go!" She tried picking him up, but he put his legs up kicking her away and swatting at her with his hands.

  "Stop it! Just stop being a little brat!" she screamed. By now, the whole crowd of people was watching while Nadine wished she could just fade away.

  Chapter 2

  Bobby tried to look like he wasn't paying attention. He told his mom that Simon wasn't in the mood to go out, but she insisted on bringing them to the store. Simon was six and had mild autism or level 2 as they called it. He could speak and communicate, but he was developmentally lacking. Often, Simon couldn't process what people were telling him and in return couldn't express what he wanted or cope with not getting something. As a result, tantrums were common.

  Neither boy cared for social settings, but they handled them different. Bobby would often look down or away from people and withdraw. Simon threw all-out fits. The fits neve
r bothered Bobby so much, but their mom, which was another story.

  Bobby had walked to the comic book rack and began flipping through a magazine while his mom tended to Simon. The instant they walked into the store, Simon began screaming. They weren't even sure why. Many times his fits didn't have a purpose, or at least none that his mom could decipher. Bobby usually knew what he wanted. At twelve years old, he'd grown very close to his brother.

  Their dad had committed suicide when Simon was three. However, it wasn't just over Simon. Bobby had his issues too, anger issues. He stabbed a girl in the foot with scissors in the first grade and hit a teacher with a whiffle ball bat during gym glass. Between that and Simon's tantrums, their dad had enough and checked himself out.

  Their mom held on, but Bobby wasn't too sure how much longer she could last. Simon was often up all night screaming while their mom began taking Ambien just to knock herself out. There were many nights Bobby went to Simon's room and lay down with him, which usually helped calm him, but wasn't the best way to get some restful sleep.

  Looking over, Simon was now on the floor in all out tantrum mode. He was screaming while hitting and kicking the ground. Everyone in the store stood around watching as their mom stood over him yelling.

  "Stop that! Now! What the hell is wrong with you?" She grabbed Simon's hand and tried to pull him up, but Simon leaned up and bit her. She screamed as she reared back to slap him, but thankfully Bobby had stepped in and grabbed her hand.

  "Mom," he said. "Let me see him."

  "You baby him too much! The little brat needs his ass kicked good!" Mom screamed.

  "All these people mom. Remember how embarrassed you say this makes you? You want all these people to watch you hit him too?"

  Bobby knelt down as Simon kept screaming. Simon noticed Bobby and began to settle down as Bobby took Simon's hand and began talking to him.

  "It's ok buddy," he said. "I know you're mad. Mom won't hurt you. I know what you want. You saw the crane machine didn't you?" There was a vending machine in the corner, one of those games with the crane where you try to grab the plush toys. Simon had trouble saying what he wanted, so the fits often came quick and often. Bobby knew Simon loved stuffed toys and figured that's what it was about.

  Simon stopped screaming and nodded his head.

  "Tell you what. I have a dollar. How about we find a stuffed toy you'll like, ok? You can pick anyone you want. They have a whole bin of them up front."

  That got a smile as Simon nodded.

  "Ok, buddy. Come on." He helped Simon up who hugged him. Bobby was tall for his age which helped in these spots. He picked Simon up, who squeezed his arms around his neck as they walked to the front of the store. Bobby ignored the strange stares from bystanders while holding his brother. As he walked away, he could feel his mom's hateful gaze burning into the back of his head.

  Chapter 3

  Where is Bobby? Where is he? Simon frantically ran up and down the sidewalk outside his school. His brother always got off school and headed straight over to pick Simon up. He'd done that every day of the year so far, without fail. Every single day. Except today. Where could he be?

  "Bobby!" Simon screamed. "Bobby! Bobby where are you?"

  "What seems to be the problem?" Miss Henson asked. She was one of the teachers, but not his. Simon didn't know which class she taught.

  "My brother Bobby isn't here to walk me home. He walks me home every day! Something must be wrong. I'm really worried."

  "Oh, I'm sure everything is fine. You only live a couple blocks away. You could be a big boy and go by yourself," she suggested.

  "By myself? Mommy says never to go anywhere by myself."

  "Maybe. You're in first grade now Simon. You're a big kid. It's better than screaming for Bobby all afternoon."

  What Simon hadn't seen was the vice principal telling Miss Henson moments before to find a way to shut him up. This was the best she could come up with.

  "Ok. You think I'll be ok?" he asked.

  "I'm sure you will. Now run along now. Your mom will be really proud of you."

  He turned and pulled on his backpack straps as he ran across the street and headed down the sidewalk. After a block, he was feeling pretty excited with himself. Maybe he'll make it home on time to watch Power Rangers. That had always been his favorite show. He skipped along excited with the idea of playing with his toys while watching TV. His mind was so pre-occupied, he never saw the boys running up behind him.

  The shove hit him hard, knocking him flat on his face. His hands caught his fall but scraped themselves open on the pavement. He turned and began crying as he sat up.

  "That hurt! Why did you do that?" He screamed. There were three boys standing around him. He didn't know who they were but recognized them from school. They were all fifth graders. He didn't know what he'd done to them, but they were looking awful angry.

  "Ow! That hurt! Hahaha!" One of them said as the others laughed. "What's wrong retard? Where is your brother? He get sick of your shit too?"

  "Leave me alone! I'm just walking home!"

  "Yeah we see that retard. You gonna cry some more?"

  Simon looked around, trying to figure out what to do. He was having trouble catching his breath as he tried to stop from panicking. Looking around, he jumped to his feet and began to run. The boys laughed some more as he ran away. Thinking he may be getting away, he made the mistake of looking back; two of the bigger boys were right behind him. One grabbed his backpack and flung him off the sidewalk and into a bush.

  Sticks and branches poked and scratched his face as blood ran down his cheeks. He rolled off the bush and onto the sidewalk. This time he shrugged out of his backpack as he tried to stand. Now he was getting angry. What would the Green Ranger do? He was Simon's favorite. He never took a beating like this. He always fought back. Simon was part of the Ranger club online. Bobby had signed him up for it. He had the membership card and everything. It was time to stop running.

  Pumping his fist into the air, he screamed.

  "It's morphin' time!" As he ran at the nearest boy, swinging his leg up in an attempted karate kick. It landed but with no force behind it. He ran by each of them wildly throwing punches and kicks like he'd seen on TV. The boys just stood laughing before one of them had enough.

  "You want to do Karate? How's this?" the boy said as he threw a roundhouse kick, nailing Simon in the side of the head. Simon went sprawling, landing on his side. His elbow went into his ribs, knocking the air out of his lungs. Immediately he went to scream as he couldn't breathe. He layed on his back gasping for breath, eyes wide open looking up at the boys standing around him.

  "Aww, is someone having trouble breathing?" One of them asked.

  "Yeah, the tard can't breathe!" they all laughed as Simon lie there gasping for air. Every single breath felt like it would be his last. The other boys didn't care, One of them kicked his leg, which hurt, but he was unable to react.

  "He's faking," another said. "Come on! Knock it off!" he yelled "Get up!" But Simon could only take deep breaths. They got longer each time as his lungs began to refill with air. The boy bent down over him and slapped him in the face. The slap stung as the whole left side of his face began to throb. Simon let out a scream as he could now breathe. This time he couldn't stop it. The screams became loud, long and frequent as his fit came in full force.

  The boys screamed for him to shut up while taking turns slapping him across the face. Simon managed to grab one of their hands and bite, latching on while screaming and growling. He continued screaming as he ran to another boy and punched him in the nuts. It only hurt the kid a little, but Simon was in a frenzy of screaming, crying and snarling as he spun about kicking and biting at anyone that came near him. Anyone passing by may have thought he was a feral child right out of the wilderness.

  One of the boys let out a scream as he fell to the ground. Simon turned, and there was his brother Bobby. He'd punched the one boy and grabbed another by the shirt and punched him in t
he face. Blood sprayed from the boy's nose as he fell to his knees. The other two boys took off running as Bobby kicked the one with the bloody nose in the stomach.

  "You like fucking with little kids?" Bobby said as he continued kicking. Now he was kicking the kid in the stomach and chest repeatedly before Simon ran over to him and hugged his leg.

  "Bobby! Bobby! You came to save me!"

  Bobby stopped and knelt down as Simon hugged him tight.

  "Why are you walking home? One of my teachers made me finish an assignment after school, so I hurried as fast as I could. I'm sorry buddy."

  "The teacher told me I was a big boy and to walk home by myself. She said everything would be fine."

  Bobby pulled away and looked at Simon. The boy's face was streaked with blood, tears, and scratches.

  "Yeah, fine all right. What teacher told you that?"

  "Miss Henson. She said I'd be fine? Then these boys jumped me. I tried to be like the Green Ranger and fight back, but they were too big."

  "You did good buddy. You did real good."

  "We need to hurry home. It comes on pretty soon. We can't miss it!"

  Bobby nodded and picked up his brother, pulling him on his back piggyback style and took off at a dead run. Despite running as fast as his legs would carry him, he didn't make it on time for Power Rangers. Bobby hoped their mom wouldn't be home for the fit that was about to ensue.

  Chapter 4

  Nadine didn't want to open the door. The instant she pulled into the driveway, she could hear his screams inside the car. Part of her wanted to just back out and go out somewhere. Go to the bar and drown her pain. She was a horrible mother, and she knew it. How many mothers hate their own kids? Bobby had been a handful enough. At least he never through tantrums; he had always been insufferably angry.

  Even as a toddler, he'd rip the heads off of dolls for no other reason than pure demented amusement. In recent years, he had calmed down quite a bit, but she can tell the anger is just brewing below the surface. His contempt for her burned into her whenever she looked at him. She could only imagine the boy was like a rattlesnake, and one day he would strike at her. The only thing that seemed to keep him from totally losing it was Simon.