Joel jumped off the bus, his feet hitting the ground hard as he nearly ran home. He had watched Benji leave the classroom after being sent to the principal's office, and he could only imagine what Mr. Belford had done this time. The first time Benji had gotten in a fight, it was detention; the second time, in school suspension. After that, there were various detentions and out of school suspensions. He wondered when they would start assigning him to community service.

A faint smile touched his lips as he imagined Benji caring for the elderly, or picking up trash, with a scowl on his face. Joel hoped it wouldn't get down to expulsion. Nobody understood Benji's fierce pride, and inability to walk away from a fight, except maybe Joel, but he was able to keep that part of himself hidden away.

Joel walked up the driveway to his house, pushed open the door and dumped his book-laden bag on the floor. The house was eerily quiet, and as Joel stepped around the corner and as he moved to stand in the living room, his eyes got wide. His mother knelt by the couch, her hands clasped together, murmuring prays under her breath. His eyes traveled to Benji, and he sucked in his breath. His twin was curled up on the sofa, eyes shut and face white. A deep gash cut across his right side of his forehead; there was a wet, blood streaked rag on the coffee table. The left side of Benji's face was red and bruised, his eye a deep ugly purple.

"Oh my god," Joel whispered in one breath, and his mother jerked slightly, then turned to look at him. Joel ran over to the sofa and knelt by his mom. "Where...where's dad?" He asked slowly, trying to keep his voice level. His mother shrugged her shoulders feebly, and a tear slipped down her drawn face.

"He left after..." she turned to Benji, and touched his cheek lightly. Joel stared - it had been almost a month since his dad had gone that far. To his relief, he could hear Benji breathing normally. Joel could remember that one time when he had brought home an 'F' on his report card, and his father had kicked him in the chest...he remembered the feeling of panic when he couldn't breathe, the harsh burning in his lungs...he shook his head, trying to focus on Benji now, not himself.

He seized the rag and ran to the kitchen with it, shoving it under the sink and dousing it with cold water. He hurried back to the living room, folding the cloth as he went, and when he reached Benji's side he placed the wet rag on his twin's forehead. He kneeled back down on the floor, letting out a breath he didn't know he had been holding, and glanced at his mother. Her face was shockingly pale, even paler than usual. Her eyes were downcast, staring at the floor unseeing. Joel reached his hand out and touched her lightly on the shoulder. She looked up at him, and her eyes were blank.

"It's okay, Mom," he said, trying to sound upbeat, but his falsely cheery voice sounded hollow. "It'll get better. Benji will get better, we always do."

---

Hours later, after mother and son had gone to bed, leaving Benji on the couch covered with a blanket, Joel was awakened by the creak of the floorboards right outside his room. He sat up in bed, eyes squinted to try and make out the form standing in the doorway.

The figure shut the door quietly, and Joel saw that it was Benji moving slowly towards his bed. Joel shot up out of his own bed and hastened over to his brother right as Benji almost fell onto his bed. "Benj, man," Joel muttered anxiously as Benji rolled to face the wall, trying to pull the twisted covers over himself. "You...okay?" It took a few seconds for him to realize that his twin was half asleep. Joel peered at him. "Benji?"

Benji groaned into his pillow. "Man, lemme sleep." Joel looked down at his brother for just a moment before returning to his own bed; but it was hours before he slept.