Jake
“So I’m heading out. You can order pizza. I left my credit card,” Jake said. He didn’t know why he was trying to be the one to make the peace offering with Brian. He stared at his nephew’s back, curled up under the comforter with ear buds pressed tightly into his lobes. Only ears and bed hair poked out from beneath the comforter, with steady breathing lifting Brian’s frame the only telltale that his nephew was actually still alive.
Not knowing if he could even hear him from the blaring of the music, Jake jotted down a note with his credit card and left it on the dresser and quietly closed the door. On days like this, he didn’t want to think about what would happen next year when he let his Brian loose on the world when the kid started college.
Jake tried to put his game face on. He
