CHAPTER EIGHT - TRUCE
Brian watched B’s face nervously as the boy registered him. His palms were beginning to sweat and turn damp. He took one last quick look about the room to check that everything was ready. He knew B would not be happy staying underground and he had done his best to make B’s room comfortable and homely.
Sammy rested his hands upon his brother’s shoulders. “I’ll leave you to settle in BB. See you later.” For a moment the blonde’s eyes met Brian’s and he smiled encouragingly at Brian.
Brian weakly returned the expression, fidgeting anxiously with his hands. It had been Sammy’s idea for him to share a room with B, and Brian just hoped that the teenager would not be upset and angered by it. Sammy seemed to believe that if he could just lock them up together, then things would somehow untangle themselves to return to order. If only it were that easy.
B turned his head to watch his brother leave, his eyes glaring at his back. Brian knew exactly what was going through the kid’s mind – traitor. He turned back to Brian but remained silent as he looked at him.
“How are you feeling?” Brian asked as he carefully approached him, not wanting to scare him off too soon.
B’s eyes stared distantly at him and Brian felt something deep stabbing into him in pain as he realised how far away B and himself had grown apart. He knew life with a teenager could sometimes be difficult, but he had never imagined anything like this happening.
B shrugged. “I’m out of the medical centre at least.”
Brian bit his lip slightly. “I came to see you a lot but you were asleep.” So many times he had arrived to see B, but every time the boy had been ‘asleep’.
“You weren’t there when I woke up,” B accused.
Brian’s eyes flickered for a moment as he thought of the conversation with Darren. He still had not spoken to B about what they had talked about.
“I’m sorry. I was there for you every minute while you were unconscious but then Darren wanted to speak with me. I didn’t know you would wake up. I’m sorry.”
“It doesn’t matter. You were never there when I was a kid, why should it bother me when you’re not there now?”
Ouch. Not a good place to try to start to improve things between them.
But B was right. He had never been there for him… he had been too busy slaving away for the Gerai when he should have been there for his little boy. But God he had tried so hard to escape. Didn’t B realise?
Brian turned away from him. “I’m sorry.”
“No…” B paused for a moment. “I’m sorry. That was harsh. I didn’t mean it.”
“You’re right though,” Brian said, trying to prevent his voice from shaking and blinking back the tears that had suddenly appeared in his eyes. “I should have been there for you.” He turned back to him. “You’re right B, I did let you down and I’m sorry. Believe me, if I could possibly have been there, I would have been. How many times do I have to say that?”
“It won’t change anything. No matter how many times you say it, it will still be the same.”
“Do you know how much that hurts me?” Brian whispered. “How do you think it makes me feel now that I can be with you and all you do is yell at me!”
“I yell at you? You’re the one who’s always yelling at me!” B screamed.
“What? I’m just trying to protect you and…” Brian broke off and laughed in grim humour. “And here we are again, arguing and yelling at each other.” He fell back down onto one of the two beds and ran his hands through his short, curly hair. “This obviously isn’t going to work. I’ll um, I’ll ask Sammy to find a new room for me.” If B was going to have to stay here for a while, then he might as well be happy. That wasn’t going to happen while he was here.
B folded his arms. “Don’t you want to be around me anymore then?” he asked sourly. “Am I not a good enough son for you?”
‘You’re perfect,’ Brian thought miserably. He was perfect because he was Brian’s own. It didn’t matter how he acted, Brian wouldn’t change him for anybody else in the world.
“Hasn’t Sammy told you that we have to stay here?”
“Yeah, because the Gerai are after me again.”
“No they’re not. It’s because Sammy and I want to help.”
“Liar.”
“It’s true,” Brian lied. After all, they did not know for absolute certainty that they were after B… heck who was he kidding? “Look we’re gonna be staying here and I know you won’t like it so the leats I can do is stay away from you. It’s what you want isn’t it?”
“No,” B whispered suddenly.
Brian’s eyes flickered open slowly. “What?” He sat up and looked across at B who was still uneasily standing by the door. “You want me to stay here?”
B was silent for a moment as he sat down on his own bed. “Well, um, it will be a lot of… trouble for Darren to find another room for you.”
“I guess,” Brian murmured. Lousy excuse, but he would take it. Maybe it was still possible to reach B somehow. He stole a glance at the boy, still finding it hard to believe that after years of toil in the Gerai mines that he was finally rewarded by being granted the rest of his life to watch B and Sammy get on with their own lives. And maybe, just maybe, all hope was not lost at winning B’s respect and love again.
B lay back on his bed, rubbing his face against the pillows. “This is a lot better then my old room here,” he said eventually.
“I tried to make it comfortable for you,” Brian replied. He’d found a colourful duvet and blanket for B’s bed to brighten up the room and Sammy had brought in a rug to pattern the hard, dusty floor. They were now both acquiring things for B such as books and clothes since they had lost everything in the fire. “Lance gave me the comic books for you.” He pointed to the pile of brightly coloured books on the table.
Lance was a very close friend of B’s. They had something in common since both of them had lost their mothers when they were little. Darren had found him wondering the hills alone once and had deposited him in Brian’s village for everyone to look after. He was similar to B. He was two years older, but a shared, tragic childhood seem to bring them both together. Brian was just a little sad that B would often spend more time with Lance then he would with his own father.
“Cool. I haven’t seen him. Is he all right?”
“Yeah.” Brian frowned slightly. “Actually I haven’t seen him for a few days but I know he’s around. You’ll have someone to talk to. Howie and his daughter are staying as well.”
“When this is over, will we go back to a village?” B asked hopefully.
“If that’s what you want then sure. I don’t like it here much either.” He could feel the weight of the rocks pressing down above him and the air smelt slightly dry and dusty in certain parts of the base. When it stuck to his throat, he thought of the mines. Many did not survive for long in the hazardous working conditions but Brian had forced himself to.
“I’m sorry,” B said again.
Brian turned towards him. “What for?”
“For faking sleep whenever you came to see me.”
Brian smiled at him. “Don’t worry. You were angry and I let you down. I’m sorry for not being there.”
“Was the meeting with Darren important?”
“Yeah, they’re planning on how to get rid of the Gerai for good.” Then maybe finally B could have a peaceful life and Brian need not to worry every time the boy vanished from his sight.
“Okay.” B glanced over to him. “Even though there are Gerai, will I be able to go outside sometimes? I don’t want to be locked up down here.”
“We could go for a picnic,” Brian suggested. “With Sammy like we did before.” It would be one step closer to achieving a happy family.
“That would be nice,” B replied. “When can we go?”
It could be like this sometimes, Brian and B could just talk and do things together. He’d often took the boy out of the village to the stream, but at other times it would be a war between them.
“I’ll talk to Sammy,” Brian promised.
“Brian!”
Both of them turned at the frantic voice and found Nick gasping in the doorway, out of breath after an obvious run. “Bri!” he cried. “The Gerai are attacking another village!” He lowered his head for a moment and Brian froze as he saw that tears were dribbling down Nick’s face. Nick gave a slight sob and he wrapped his arms about him as if to comfort himself.
Brian ran to him in concern. “Nick? Nick, it’s okay! We’ll rescue them like you rescued everyone form my village!”
“Bri, it’s the village where Aaron is!” Nick’s voice croaked.
“Hey.” Brian placed his hands on Nick’s shoulders. “We’ll save them. You helped to save my family and I’ll help yours!” he said determinedly.
Nick nodded and clasped his hands. “Thank you. You’ll come with us? We’re leaving in a few moments after we’ve rounded up enough people to help.”
Brian nodded and turned to B. He had to go with Nick. Nick had looked after B and Sammy and Brian could not let him down when he needed him. “BB, stay here okay? I’ll be back soon.”
“How bad is the attack?” B asked nervously.
“I don’t know,” Nick cried. “I – I just… Bri, please come with us. I’m so worried. The rest of my family is dead. He’s all I have.”
“I’ll come.” He hugged Nick reassuringly and both of them headed for the door.
Brian turned back. “B, promise you’ll stay.”
B nodded, slightly unnerved by Nick’s tears. Brian gulped slightly, wondering if this rescue would be as dangerous as the last one. He looked at B and then ran forward and embraced him tightly for a moment, wanting to hold him just before he ran off into danger. To his surprise B did not struggle and he accepted the embrace. Brian smiled slightly, his eyes closing in happiness. Even when they did argue and scream… there was still love there.
B finally pulled away, but he did not meet Brian’s gaze. He gulped slightly. “Make sure you come back,” he mumbled.
Brian smiled and held B’s hands for a moment, staring at the boy’s face and trying to will him into making eye contact. “Tell Sammy where I’ve gone okay?”
B nodded and finally looked up into Brian’s face. “Okay.”
Nick smiled weakly at both of them. “I’ll bring him back to you B,” he promised.
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B watched Brian leave with Nick, begging that they would both be back. He slowly sat back down upon the blue bed and gazed about the room Brian had prepared for him.
“I’m a terrible son,” he thought dismally. Brian had done all this and he hadn’t even acted grateful. Why is it sometimes so hard to make things right between your family?