“Alex!” He ignored me. ”Alex!” He stayed where he was, his eyes blank, and looking at the blankness in front of him.
“Alex!” I stomped across the boardwalk and grabbed his arm. ”We’re going now!”
He looked up at me, his eyes wide like the lake, and impenetrable like deep water. He looked sad and it made me irrationally angry.
“What’re you doing, we have to leave,” I spoke firmly, driving my words at his head so they bolted understanding in place.
Without a word, Alex took my hand. I rushed him across the boardwalk, and across the grass and across the road towards our home.
“Can we come back tomorrow?” Alex asked suddenly, his voice quiet, and breathy as he tried to keep pace. I felt bad for making him rush; his sudden question reminded me of how small he was.
I slowed down to a stroll. ”No, I don’t think so.”
“Why?”
His question made me mad again. ”We just can’t okay? Look, Alex, dad’s not going to come back no matter how long you stand on the boardwalk so just stop it.”
Alex’s hand dropped out of my hold. Before I could catch him, he began running down the hill back to the water.
“Alex!” I shrieked and ran after him. ”Alex, stop!” I caught him halfway down the hill; my legs were longer.
“Let go of me!” He kicked and hit me, but I held on.
“Stop it!” I shouted, and grabbed his face, squishing his cheeks. Alex started crying, so I let him go. Then I knelt down so I was at his eye-level. ”I know you miss dad, but waiting isn’t going to make him come back, okay? And I know living at grandma and grandpa’s house is different, but you need a place to sleep.”
He continued sobbing. ”Do you hear me?”
Hiccup, hiccup. At a loss of what to do about my brother, I sighed and sat down in the grass, waiting for him to lower himself into a kneel once he was tired of standing and crying.
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