5Part 1
"Fred, Barak's on the phone! Better hurry he's at the airport and doesn't have much time!"
I race to my stepmom, Mia's side and quickly take the phone. My heart pounds a mile a minute. She shakes her head and walks off smiling. I stick my tongue out after her and put the phone to my ear.
"Hello?"
"Hey little sister. What's up?"
"Not much. You getting ready to leave?"
"Yeah. I'm at the airport just waiting until it's time to board my plane. I thought I'd give you one last call before I go."
"Thank god you did. I was going crazy."
"Going?"
His deep laugh echoes through the phone. I roll my eyes. Typical Barak.
"All right smart ass. Just remember, I keep track. Better watch it when you get home. I'll get you back."
There's a pause on the other end. I can hear him sigh. My heart turns cold and my voice looses all kiddingness in it.
"You're coming home, Barak. Don't even think that kind of thing. You're coming home."
"I know. I'm just thinking about who's gonna keep you outta trouble while I'm gone."
I smile softly. That's my Barak. I can hear a woman come over the loud speaker at the airport that the plane is now borading.
"That's me Kid. I gotta go."
My heart sinks. But I know he's right. Sucking in my breath I force a smile.
"Ok. Well call me as soon as you can. You've still got my im and email right?"
"Of course. Don't worry Kid. I'll see you soon. Promise."
After saying goodbye, I hang up and sigh. Quietly, I slip out of the house to the woods out back. I know exactly where I'm going. Toadstool Clearing. A bunch of busted up stumps of trees that Barak said looked like toadstools in the middle of a clearing. So here I sit, alone in the wet quiet of the woods. I come here to think. Mostly about Barak. He's leaving. My friend. My brother. The marine.
Most people say I should be ashamed not to be proud of him. But I am. If they only knew. Barak isn't really my brother but not many people know that. He's a friend I met online because of certian conditions that he and my father both suffer from. Within a matter of months we knew that we were brother and sister more than anything else. We were each others escape. He'll always be "B" to me and I'll always be "Kid" to him. He's the only one that ever got away with calling me that. Guess it comes with the older brother package.
I smile slightly at the thought of this. But it quickly fades with the thought that comes next. What if he wasn't coming back? He said he was but no one can be for sure. He would be gone for 6 years. That's a long time to keep yourself in one piece. I sigh and shake my head. Standing I start jumping from stump to stump. He usually yelled at me when I did it around him because he thought I was going to get hurt.
Suddenly a noise startles me. I spin around to see. I miss the next stump and fall, scraping my leg bad. But my only thought is the noise.
"Barak?!"
It's not him. Just a bird. He's on his way to basics camp in California. Sighing, I look at my scuffed up leg. It's pretty bad. Wiping as much dirt from it as I can, I head back to the house. Mia is going to have a field day with this one. I glance down every few steps. It's bleeding pretty badly. Damn. I can almost hear Barak cursing and feel him trying to stop the bleeding. I smile as tears mist my eyes. No tears though. Not for him or the pain. Holding my head high I clear the woods and walk up the steps. Taking a deep breath, I open the door and head inside. Mia instantly sees the blood and goes nuts.
"What the hell did you do?! You're bleeding every where!"
I don't even stop to look at her, just keep my head down and eyes set on the kitchen sink. The sooner I get it cleaned up the better.
"I'm fine Mia. Just slipped and fell." I grit through my teeth.
She continues to bitch fit while I clean my leg, biting down hard so not to cry out. My dad calmly comes in after Mia's gone into another room and quietly examins my leg.
"Should be fine," he says in a soft voice. "Just keep it clean and don't let Mia bother you. It's just one of those days."
I nod silently and look at him carefully. My father wasn't the one to take sides against Mia. The fact that he was picking me over her made me weary. He glances up at me and smiles.
"Just can't stay out of trouble while he's gone can you? Well, I think you'll be ok. Just hang in there. He'll be back before you know it."
Kissing my forehead, he walks out, leaving my more confused and unsettled than ever. Sighing, I hop off the counter and clean up the blood that now covers it. Once that's done, I go into my room and pull out my laptop. After turning it on, I turn on my sterio while the laptop boots up. Finding the CD I want, I turn back to the screen. A picture of me and Barak wrestling on the trampoline, both of us laughing and me(at the time) winning, stares back at me. Ouch. Pulling up my journal entry document, I start typing furiously. The words I write don't even make sence but they tell me everything I'm feeling. Hurt, pain, abandon, alone, lost, confused, angry, miserable, the list goes on and on.
When I look up again, it's dark outside. The day has flown by. Finding myself, unsuprisingly, not hungry, I open my im messager and chat room. No one that I feel like talking to is on. Sighing, I'm just about to sign out when some thing catches my eye. Notices flashes on my screen.
Barak(Marine4Life) has just joined chat.
Barak(Marine4Life) has just signed on AIM.
My heart skips a beat and my eyes become glued to the screen. A message appears in chat.
Marine4Life-Hey Kid. Whts up?
Part 2
My cursor blinks as I try to suddenly forget how to type and speak. I can't believe what I'm seeing. This has to be a joke. A sick one at that.
Marine4Life-U there?
My mind races back to me suddenly and my fingers start to race, stumbling over the keyboard.
DarkPrincess-yeah i'm here. sorry. little suprised 2 see u on. Where r u?
Marine4Life-basics camp. was suprised they let us have comps here. can do anything we want w/ them in our free time.
Marine4Life-bunch of the guys told me i could even chat if i want 2. i thought of u
DarkPrincess-thts great B. U think u'll like it there or r u ready 2 come home yet?
My heart secretly hopes for the second. I wait while he types as he is much slower than I am. Finally his message appears on the screen.
Marine4Life-No i think i'm gonna stick it out here 4 a while. lol the guys say hey
DarkPrincess-lol tell them i said hey back. they can join chat if they want and its ok w/ u
Marine4Life-kk hold on and i'll tell them
I laugh softly and wait for him to come back. I still can't believe it. It isn't a joke. It's really him. Really Barak, my Barak. Even all the way from California, finding a way to keep an eye on me. Suddenly a bunch of messages pop up.
RockHard-hey there beautiful. this is tony. ur bro showed us a pic. ur hot!
Wicked98-can't u go 1 minute w/o hitting on the 1st girl u talk 2. hey sweetness this is austin. don't mind tony he's all talk
XkissXtheXdirtX-and ur any better? hi. i'm jay
LadiesMan76-move over boys and let ladies man david have a try. how u doin sweet thing?
Marine4Life-stay away from the little sister guys. she's only 16
I laugh, watching them fight. Barak multitasks, defending me and sending me pictures of all of them at the same time. They each have their defining points and are very cute. Finally they notice I'm still there and apologize for their stupidity.
XkissXtheXdirtX-sorry about tht. we tend 2 get carried away
Marine4Life-tell me about it.
Wicked98-o shut ur face newbie. ur sure 2 get in it just as bad as the rest of us.
DarkPrincess-lol. its ok. just make sure u dont give B 2 much trouble. he tends 2 bitch when u do. lol
Marine4Life-watch it Kid.i am coming home and i will get u
DarkPrincess-oo i'm scared
LadiesMan76-ooooo she gotta mouth on 'er! i like her newbie
Marine4Life-dont. even. think. about. it.
DarkPrincess-o B he's fine. relax. dont b so over protective. u keep worryin like this and u'll get wrinkles
DarkPrincess-sorry guys. he's always like this. he's not even my real brother
Wicked98-but i thought u said...oh! i get it now. brother and sister but not. got it
RockHard-duh dumbass. jeez ur slow.
DarkPrincess-alright boys thts enough. its ok austin. it gets people all the time
Wicked98-haha tony. she likes me better
RockHard- :P
Marine4Life-just b/c ur not my real sister doesn't mean i can't look out 4 u like u were
DarkPrincess-yeah yeah yeah i hear ya.
Marine4Life- brat :P
DarkPrincess-toad. lol. i'm headed 2 bed boys. night
Wicked98-did she just call u a toad?
LadiesMan76-bed? its only 6:30!
XkissXtheXdirtX-shes in NY stupid. it's 10:30 there
DarkPrincess-yes i did austin and yes it is jay. night all. it was nice talking 2 u
A flood of goodnights and byes fill the screen before I sign off. Changing into pajamas, I get ready for the night and then slip into bed. I smile to myself in the dark, thinking about the guys fighting over me. If they only knew. Shaking my head, I slowly drift off to sleep.