Good morning and Happy Hump Day! If it's Wednesday, then it must be time for more flash fiction from the Wednesday Briefers! We're a group of authors who bring you our finest flash fiction every week, 500 to 1000 words, inspired by one of our prompts.
Chan and Evan spend the night at Chan's late parents' house, in order to take care of Chan's siblings. The next day begins the aftermath. Chan has his siblings to take care of now, will that change anything with Evan? See what's going on in this week's chapter of Super Trooper. Don't forget to look for the other Briefers and see what's up with them! Their links follow my tale! Enjoy!
The morning sun roused Chan from an unsatisfactory
slumber. If not for the security of Evan’s arms, he wasn’t sure he’d have been
able to sleep at all. Too many painful thoughts and emotions swirling through
him, keeping him awake. One question leading to another, and none of them
answerable… at least not in the middle of the night.
For one horrible moment, the thought flitted through
his brain that this was his Saturday to work and he was going to be late. But
then he remembered he’d texted his manager the night before and explained to her
what had happened. She’d told him she was sorry, and not to worry about
anything, and she’d talk to him later. Evan had done the same, despite Chan’s
telling him that wasn’t necessary. But Evan had insisted and Chan wasn’t about
to complain. Evan had said he would have to go in later today, just briefly, to
take care of a little paperwork, but there was no rush. Chan found his presence
on the other side of the bed beyond comforting. He wasn’t sure he could get
through this without Evan, to be honest.
The room they slept in had been his, once upon a
time, before he moved into his own apartment. The furniture was new, as his
mother had insisted he take everything with him. She claimed she was just
looking for an excuse to redecorate the new guest room, but Chan knew she was
trying to keep him from taking on the expense of buying a new bedroom set. She
was thoughtful that way. The best mother ever.
He was going to miss her so much. And if he didn’t
stop thinking about her, he was going to cry again.
Chan felt the bed shift. He hastily wiped at his eyes
and pasted a smile on his face for his lover’s benefit. From the look in Evan’s
eyes, he hadn’t been fooled.
Evan reached out and cupped Chan’s cheek, searching
his eyes. “Did you get any sleep?”
Chan nodded. “A little,” he replied honestly. “You?”
“A little,” Evan echoed.
They lay together for a long moment. Chan was
reluctant to move. In the back of his mind, he vaguely thought that if he
didn’t get up and start the new day, things would be the way they always were.
Nothing bad would have happened, and life would go on. But even as he thought
that, he knew he was only fooling himself… and not doing a very good job of
that, either.
A noise from the other part of the house only drove
that fact home to him. The children must be up. He should make them breakfast.
For himself and Evan too. Plus he just wanted to be with them, try to ease some
of their heartache, if he could.
“I love you,” Evan said.
“And I you.” Chan leaned toward him and kissed him
carefully, fully aware he hadn’t brushed his teeth yet. Evan didn’t seem to
mind. Of course, he hadn’t either. “I’ll go see what’s in the kitchen for
breakfast and let you know.”
“Anything is fine. Let me help,” Evan replied.
They took turns in the bathroom before getting
dressed. Chan finished first and padded into the kitchen. He was surprised to
see all three children at the kitchen table, bowls of cereal before them. Even
Madhu was seated in her booster seat. She smiled at him as he walked in.
Laksha looked up from the book she was reading.
“Morning, Chan. Want some cereal? I’ll get you some.” She started to rise but
he shook his head. He’d stopped eating cereal some time ago, especially not the
sugary kind kids seemed to prefer.
“I was going to cook something,” he said. “I didn’t
expect you to be up yet.”
Despite the smile on his sister’s face, Chan
couldn’t help but notice the dark circles beneath her eyes. As for Kamal, he
looked positively unhappy… and rightfully so. Only Madhu was her usual cheery
self. But then again she was probably very unaware of what had happened. No sense in tearing apart her little world any sooner than
necessary.
He saw Laksha glance past him, just as he felt
Evan’s hands about his waist.
“Morning,” he greeted them.
“Good morning,” Laksha replied, but Kamal said
nothing, never looking up from his food.
Madhu began to push herself back from the table and
wriggle from her seat. Laksha caught her before she had a chance to fall.
“Where you going?” she asked.
“Maa,” she
said simply, continuing to extricate herself from Laksha’s hold.
“Maa is—”
“Maa is not
home right now,” Chan cut in smoothly. Laksha gave him a perplexed look.
“She won’t understand what death means,” he said
apologetically to his sister.
Laksha opened her mouth, as if to object, then
thought better and nodded instead.
Chan’s heart ached for his siblings. He didn’t know
what to say to make anything better. He felt helpless and afraid, especially
knowing he was responsible for them. How would Evan feel about that? He had no
idea, but he couldn’t afford to think about that right now. Not like he had a
choice. He was their brother, and it was his job to care for them. Somehow.
“How long are you going to stay?” Laksha asked.
“As long as you need us to,” Evan said.
Chan gave Evan a startled glance. He didn’t think
Evan fully understood what was happening. He couldn’t leave them. Not now, not
ever. Not until they didn’t need him anymore. They would have to discuss the
situation, but in private. He turned back to his sister.
“Do you know where they kept their papers?” he
asked. Hopefully, they’d left a will of some kind. He half remembered his
mother mentioning one, but he had told her she was too young to worry about
death. Little did he know.
“Maybe in their closet?” Laksha shrugged.
Well, that was a start.
to be continued
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