did right! If he really loved the man, he never would have done anything to hurt him. That story was what truly stopped me from going through with my uncle’s plans. Sure, Brutus' words had made me hesitate. Him hugging me as I sat there crying my eyes out like a little baby also helped, but it was when he gave me the flower that I truly decided that I couldn’t do what Uncle Tony wanted me to. If Uncle Tony truly loved us, he wouldn’t have killed Damian. If he truly loved us, he wouldn’t have sent us on this stupid job just so we could be a part of his little gang. If he truly loved us, he wouldn’t have pressured us into dropping out of school to join his gang in the first place. No. He didn’t love us, and I sure as hell didn’t love him. I glanced up from the flower briefly to look at the people now walking beside me. The people that I had tried to kill not too long ago. I didn’t know all their names. The other two besides Brutus might’ve introduced themselves, or maybe they hadn’t. I hardly heard a word of what they were saying. Everything just sounded dull and muffled now. The lady with the long gray hair had a hand on my arm, slowly rubbing it up and down in a comforting way. Brutus still had his arm around my shoulder, urging me to keep walking and directing me towards the police station. I wasn’t sure what the little Latino guy was doing. He seemed so on edge that it honestly looked like he was ready to fight anything that moved. At one point he actually did take a swing at a leaf that flew by. He looked back at us, his face slightly red with embarrassment, and then returned to staring down anyone that walked by us. I looked back at the purple hyacinth as a sentence of Brutus' resounded in my head. Family... they should only care that you’re there. I wanted Damian here. I wanted my brother to be there for me as I stood up to Uncle Tony. I wanted him here to laugh with me over the fact that we had been chasing the wrong guy all night, because at this point, I was absolutely positive that Brutus could not be the awful man we had been told to kill. I wanted him to be here with me like he had been my whole life, but I knew that wasn’t going to happen. Instead of him, there was this odd group of people: an overly sensitive linebacker, a shoe-throwing grandma, and a tiny ball of rage. Everything about what they were doing told me that they cared that I was there. From the woman’s gentle comforting, to Brutus' guiding arm, to the oddly comical death glares the short man was giving everyone. I didn’t understand why they were doing this. I didn’t understand why they were comforting me and protecting me and helping me. I just didn’t get it. But even though I had just met these people, I cared that they were there Page 94
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