Pain. Loss. Grief. Anger. That was what me and my brothers were feeling at the present moment. My name is Kendall Morales. I always figured myself that I was an ordinary teenager. My mom left the four of us when we were young and my father had to be both parents. I had expected him to be there for my graduation. But he was taken away from us. Now I stood with my brothers in a graveyard saying my goodbye.
"I can't do this," I said as I turned around from the gravesite. Riley and Lex sighed as Damien chased after me.
"Kendall, wait," Damien said grabbing my arm. I turned around. I had tears in my eyes.
"Damien, I can't do this," I said to him. "I'm not ready to say good-bye to dad."
"No one is, Shadow," Damien said calling me by my nickname. "This is so unexpected but we have got to say good-bye."
"Even if we don't mean it?" I asked him. Damien was my twin brother so I know he could tell I was deeply hurt.
"Just stop acting like a fag and get back over here," Riley said to me. I looked at him hurt.
"After everything that happened, you still want to down me for being gay?" I asked him. I looked at Lex who quickly looked away. "You all fucking suck. I'm out of here."
"No, wait," Damien said. "I will come with you. You don't need to walk the streets by yourself, hermano."
"I'll be fine," I said turning to leave. Damien watched as I walked through the entrance and headed to wherever I needed to go. He turned to face Riley.
"Why do you always have to say something against him being gay?" He asked him. Riley shook his head.
"We are here to say good-bye to our dad," Lex said to Damien. "Now is not the time."
"When is the time?" Damien asked. "Kendall is our brother and we have no one else we can depend on. Our mom took off when we were kids and our dad was fucking killed. He is our brother and you push him away." Riley laid his rose on the gravesite.
"If you two want a ride then you need to hurry up and let's go," He said turning to head back to the car. Lex looked at Damien who glared at him.
"Go ahead and be like him," He said hurt. "Dad wouldn't want us to be like this. We are falling apart and he has only been dead for a week."
"Yeah, he wouldn't want a gay son either," Damien said placing his rose on the grave. "I bet he is rolling over in his grave at the thought of his son taking it up the ass." Damien sighed as Lex walked past him to the car.
"Are you coming, Damien?" Riley asked looking out the window. Damien sighed and placed the rose on the grave.
"I'm sorry, dad," He said wiping his eyes. "I promise to take care of Kendall and not let anyone hurt him for being gay. I love you and I miss you." He kissed his two fingers and placed them on the tombstone. Then he stood up and headed back to the car.
I looked down and saw that I still had my rose in my hand as I walked down the streets of San Bernardino, California. It wasn't safe to be out like this by yourself. Especially crying and carrying roses.
"Dad, I need you right now," I said aloud. "Where are you?"
Five Days before...
"Dad, can you please drive us to school?" Lex asked Dad as he and Damien sat in the kitchen finishing up our breakfast.
"Sorry boys," Dad said to us. "I have a meeting with one of my clients and I am about to be late. Here is fifteen for your lunch to make it up to you."
"You would think with all this money we could move out of San Bernardino," Damien joked. Dad pinched his neck.
"Hey, I'm from San Bernardino and I will never leave here," He said with a smile. "We are here for life. Or at least till you boys turn 18 then you go wherever the hell you please. Until then, I will see you boys later this evening."
"Bye dad," They said with a laugh. Dad walked outside to see me sitting on his car.
"Kendall what are you doing out here so early?" Dad asked me.
"Dad, do you think you should be going out so soon after that guy just got out of jail?" I asked him.
"Look, I can't live my life in fear," Dad said. "And neither can you. So you need to tell your brother's your secret."
"No, dad," I said shaking my head. "They already think I am weird because I listen to The Pussycat dolls and Destiny's Child. I don't want them to hate me."
"Shadow," He said calling me by my nickname. "They are your brothers. They will never hate you."
"I'm just not ready yet," I said to him. He sighed and shook his head.
"Love you son," He said with a laugh as he got into his car.
"Love you too, Dad," I said to him as he shut the door. I waved as he pulled out of the driveway.
"Kendall," Lex yelled out from the sixth floor. "Where did you put my weed?" I Sighed as I walked into the house.
Lex sat in the boy's bathroom with his friends Garrett and James.
"Dude, this shit is whack," Lex said getting up. "I am not even fuckin how."
"Me neither," Garrett said. "That's what I get from buying read from Orientals."
"Shit, y'all might not be high," James said taking their bags from them. "But I'm high as a Motherfucker."
"Light weight," Lex covered up with a cough. Garrett laughed.
"Shut up," James said to them. "So what we got planned after third period boys." They never stayed passed third period and their teachers never said anything.
"I am getting laid," Lex said with a smiled. James looked at Garrett.
"Damn, G, I didn't know your mom had any openings," James teased. Garrett pushed him.
"Dude's lying," Garrett said. "We got to go work on that project for Ms. Molinaro's class. If we fail the project we fail the class and then we fail the ninth grade."
"You know, Lex, only fat Motherfucker lie about having sex," James said taking another hit.
"You would know," Lex said and they all laughed.
"Kendall," Damien whispered to me as we sat in Government and Leadership. We were taking a test. I pretended like I didn't hear him. "Kendall Damien Morales!"
"What?" I hissed at him. He looked at his paper.
"I need the answers for 25-28," He whispered glancing to see if she was looking.
"I don't cheat," I said in disbelief. He knew I didn't cheat. "Come on I didn't study," He said to me. I shook my head.
"Not my problem," I said with a shrug. "Now do your own work."
"The Brothers Morales," Ms. DeMatteo said from the front of the class. We both looked up at her. "Please come up to my desk. And bring your tests with you."
"I hate you," I said as we walked over to her desk.
"Hate you more," He countered. We stood in front of her.
"Cheating on a test?' She asked us. "Well, I will give you both zeroes."
"Wait, I wasn't cheating," Damien said to her. "I was just letting Kendall know how much I love him." Ms. DeMatteo gave him a look that sent chills down my body.
"Well, no communicating with anyone and since you did you both get zeroes," she said with a smile.
"This is unbelievable," I said to her. "You are the most arrogant piece ofâ^À¦" The phone rang interrupting me.
"Hold that thought," She said with a smile. She answered the phone.
"I can't believe this," I said to Damien as we stood there. "This is complete bullshit."
"I know, right," He said to her. "Why is it so hard to believe that I love my brother?"
"It's your fault that we got into this mess," I said rolling my eyes at him.
"Kendall and Damien," DeMatteo said hanging up the phone. "You two need to go the office immediately."
"I can't believe you are writing us up," I said throwing my hands in the air. Damien sensed something was wrong.
"Kendall, come on let's go," He said to me. I flashed Ms. DeMatteo a dirty look as we walked into the hallway.
"I can't believe we are getting in trouble for do something we didn't do," I said with a sigh. "That bitch has it out for us."
"Kendall, I have a bad feeling," He said to me. I looked at him pointedly.
"Yeah, the inevitable suspension we are gonna get is kinda working my nerves too," I said to him.
"Ri?" Lex asked as he walked into the office. Riley flashed him a small look.
"Been smoking that marijuana, hermano?" Riley asked him. Lex could tell something was up.
"Yeah, I guess," He said dismissing it. "So what are you doing here?"
"Um..." Riley began as Damien and I walked into the office.
"So glad we did not get suspended," I said flashing Riley a confused look. Damien could tell that Lex was worried about something.
"Um...I have something to tell you guys," Riley said to us. "But I don't think I can say."
"Just say it," Damien said antsy. Riley shook his head.
"It's dad isn't it?" Lex asked him and we all looked at him.
"Yeah," Riley said with a sigh. "I got a call just a little while ago that Dad is...dead." My mind was swimming as I analyzed the thoughts. I didn't realize that I had fainted.
"Kendall," Damien said catching me as I fell.
"Are you okay?" Jude asked me as he fell through the window.
"Are you okay?" I asked helping him up. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I have always wanted to go up a fire escape," He said. "So I did that instead of going to your door."
"Riley is home isn't he?" I asked him with a smile. He nodded.
"How are you holding up?" He asked me sitting down beside me.
"I'm...It..." I didn't know what to say. He engulfed me in his arms.
"Hurts," He finished for me. He kissed me softly on the lips. I kissed him back a bit stronger. "Kendall, what are you doing?"
"I need to get my mind off my dad for a little while," I said to him. He looked at me.
"But Riley might..."
"Shut up and kiss me," I said climbing on top of him.
Lex pushed Damien into the apartment. Damien had a busted lip and a black eye.
"What the fuck happened?" Riley asked him as they looked at on another.
"I got into an argument with Tony Daniels from school and Tony wanted to fight me for dissing him," Lex said. "So Damien decided to fight him instead and Tony did a number on him."
"Damien, you hardly ever fight," Riley said walking over to his brother. His eye was worse than a black eye. It was swollen shut. "What is different now?"
"I don't know," Damien said. "It just seems like I was angry at this whole thing and then Tony and Lex were arguing and I didn't want anyone else to hurt my family. So I got my ass kicked for him."
"Thanks Chico," Lex said giving him some dap. He looked around. "Where is Kendall?"
"I told him to go lay down after he fainted today at the school and then again at the morgue," Riley said. "I knew I should not have allowed him to go down there."
"Want me to check on him?" Lex asked him. Riley nodded and Lex walked towards the bedroom.
"Can you get me some ice?" Damien asked Riley. "After all, I did save our little brother from a beat down." Riley smiled and headed to the fridge.
Lex opened the door just as Jude was getting close to cumming.
"Shit," Jude said jumping up. I looked up from giving him head.
"Oh my god," Lex and I said at the same time.
"Lex, I can explain," I said covering my mouth. Jude hurried and pulled his pants up.
"Riley!!! Damien!!!" Lex yelled out. Jude stood behind me scared.
"What the hell is going on here?" Riley asked looking at me.
"I just walked in and saw Kendall sitting on the ground like some bitch sucking a goddamn dick," Lex said. Riley looked at me. He raised his fist but Damien grabbed it.
"Don't," Damien said nervously. He was weak but he couldn't let them both gang up on me.
"You are a fucking fag?" He asked me. "You turned my brother into a fag?"
"Just let's sit down and talk," I said trying to get this situation under control.
"Forget that shit," Riley said. "You two have thirty seconds to get the fuck out of here or I will throw you out."
"Ri, he lives here too," Damien said. Riley shook his head.
"Not anymore," Riley said. "Now it's 20 seconds." I looked at Lex.
"Fifteen," Lex said to me. I sighed and grabbed Jude's hand to pull him along with me. Damien followed me to the door.
"What? You aren't turning on me now?" I asked him. He shook his head.
"You are my twin brother and we share a bond that they can't," He said hugging me. I wrapped my arms around him.
"What happened to your face?" I asked him as I touched the bruises.
"Took up for the brat in there," He said opening his wallet. "Here is 100 bucks that dad had given me for a date later tonight and my credit card."
"I can't take this," I said. He grabbed my hand.
"Look, I am your older brother and even though it may be by a minute I feel like I should protect you," He said to me. "Take the money and keep your cell on."
"Thanks hermano," I said hugging him again.
"Take care of him," Damien said to Jude who nodded. "And I will take care of them."
"Bye," I said opening the door. I felt like I was being torn away from my family.
But that was five days ago. I moved back home the next day but things were changing. And that was only the beginning. As I walked down the streets of San Bernardino, I thought about my life before Dad died. Before mom ran off. I couldn't remember much. But I would always remember when my dad was taken from me. I'd remember that I was a junior in high school who felt so tired of being hurt.
But now I had to move on with my life. I saw a guy at the end of the street. He looked kind of intimidating.
"Shit," I thought to myself. That was what I get for walking the streets by myself.
"Need a ride, Kendall?" A black guy asked driving up slow. I looked at him and I looked at the guy. I might would be able to get away from the guy ahead but it was a lot more work to get away from someone in a car. Wait, did he say Kendall?
"How do you know my name?" I asked him stopping. He smiled.
"I know Damien," He said to me. "He sent me to come get you and bring you home."
"Oh," I said stopping. "Well, I guess if you know Damien it's cool man."
"Yeah," he said with a smile. "I don't bite. Unless you're into that."
"I'm Kendall," I said to him. "But you already knew that. So who are you?"
"Tony," He said as I opened the door and climbed into the car heading to the night that would change my life forever.
What did you think of my story? I am the author of Taking of the Crows and Falcon Eyes and I wanted this story to follow a different path. However, I can not tell you the plot of the story until the second chapter. So read and send me some feedback.