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He backed out and drove around front where his mother was waiting on the porch. Getting out, he helped her stand and get hold of the rail. She struggled, taking one step at a time down to the side door of the van. When she was settled, he went returned to the porch, folded the wheelchair, and put it in the back of the van. One day he hoped to get her an automatic chair lift.
Climbing back into the driver’s seat, he headed out the lane.
“Nice day for our visit, Momma.”
“It is. I so enjoy our time together as a family. A day like this makes it all the nicer.”
The driveway was a quarter mile dirt trail leading out to the county road. Their home was an old farmhouse on seven acres, located ten miles east of San Antonio. It was white with a green roof, as was the matching garage. There was an old barn that was just barely standing. It, too, used to be white but hadn’t been painted in years.
They had moved here right after Billy died. In fact, neither Do
“I made us some ice tea to enjoy while we visit.”
Do
“That’ll be nice.”
The cemetery was just a few minutes from home and they arrived just after three in the afternoon. Do
As usual, they were the only ones there. He followed the dirt track to the back, around to the west and stopped in front of several stones indicating the final resting place of the less fortunate. Do
He removed her wheelchair from the van and put it where she could get into it. Holding her arm to steady her, he got her seated, and pushed her over to Billy’s grave, stopping where she could reach the headstone. She leaned over, brushing the leaves away from her son’s name, before laying a single red rose across the stone.
“Hi, Billy. We’re here. I missed you this week.”
Do
Today, Do
Today’s visit was short, they had been there just ninety minutes, when his mother turned to him.
“I’m ready to go.”
She looked back at the rose and her son’s name.
“Bye, Billy. See you next week. Love you.”
****
When they arrived home, Do
“Don’t you want di
“No. I’ll make a sandwich later.”
Shutting the door behind him, he descended the stairs. Switching his computer on, the password request window loaded up and he typed in ‘Brothers’. A file popped up with the names of four people listed across the top. Do
Another screen opened with a full biography of his brother’s former girlfriend. One of the first tasks Billy had given him, in their early talks, was to start a file on each person present that day at the Russian Roulette game. Do
It had taken Do
Billy had not given him his mission yet, just to gather the information, but Do
Chapter 2
The sun had set by the time Do
“Just go
He would be out the door before she could ask who.
For many, a cemetery is no place to be after dark, but Do
“Hi, Billy.”
Do
“Billy, I need to know what the next step in our plan is. I’ve got the files complete and update them regularly, just as you asked, but I’m sure there’s more I could be doing.”
Do
“Okay.”
He reached into his pocket, pulled out a pencil along with some scrap paper, and began to draw. In the low moonlight, his picture was poorly drawn, hardly recognizable but he felt he knew what Billy was saying.
“I understand, Billy. I’ll begin immediately.”
He finished the drawing and looked back from the paper towards his brother’s name on the stone.
“No, I won’t tell mom. It’s just between us.”
He tucked the pencil back in his jeans and folded the sheet of paper up, sliding it into a shirt pocket.
His face turned sad. It always did when the time came to leave his brother.
“I gotta go, Billy. I’ll be back in a few days. Miss you.”
Do
He started his car and turned it towards the exit.
****
“Where have you been?”
“I told you, Momma. You know you don’t have to worry about me.”
She was sitting in her chair watching ‘America’s Fu
“You’re either off ru
“Oh come on, Momma. I’m 22. I’ve got things to do, people to see, worlds to conquer.”
She refused to smile at his joke.
“I never see any friends come over, the phone doesn’t ring. Whose worlds are you conquering?”
Do