Game Over, My Dear Brother

Chapter 3

Once, Leo was a proud and spirited young man. After school, he would curl up with me to watch cartoons or play our favorite game called "Red Light, Green Light."

But one afternoon while we were playing downstairs, his friends called him away mid game for basketball. I stood frozen and waited until my legs went numb. Then a stranger's arms yanked me into the shadows.

I thrashed like a wild thing, and the sound of a thud echoed as my skull cracked against something jagged. They dumped me like trash. When Mom and Dad saw my scrambled mind, their marriage shattered too. Only Leo with his lanky frame shouldered the weight of raising me. But even with my crossed wires, I knew that none of this was his fault.

Leo should have been that boy who rode the wind with dreams at his fingertips, not shackled by me and too terrified to even whisper his love. I knew that if Molly had not reached for him first, he would have kept watching her from afar and choking on unspoken blessings.

My chest burned as the wind chimes tinkled above us. When I saw tears glinting on his lashes, I swiped at them, but my fingers grasped only air.

Thank the heavens for Molly. "Leo, let's build a home together. Just you, that's all I'll ever need. But I need more."

He whirled around and crushed her against his chest. "I can't even keep the stupidest promise. Mae comes first. She is broken because of me. I'll spend my life atoning for it."

'Lies. All lies.' I shook my head hard enough to rattle my teeth. 'Sure, my wires were crossed, but I was not helpless. Teach me the stove knobs one more time, and I would make Grandma's oatmeal myself. Leo, don't you dare throw away Molly because of me.'

His sobs turned guttural, as if he were clawing his own ribs apart.

"Some nights I pray it had been me who was taken. Then this guilt wouldn't be eating me alive. That time Mae darted out, I wished the streets would swallow her whole. Molly, doesn't that make me a demon?"

I froze as the memory hit me. Back then, I never disobeyed. I never stepped beyond the gate. But that day, a mangy dog was savaging the stray that Molly loved to feed. In my heart, if Molly was sad, then Leo was sad too. And if Leo was sad, so was I.

To keep everyone from being sad, I sneaked out and chased that big dog away. But I wandered too far and asked for directions forever before I found my way home.

'So this was how Leo really felt.' My heart twisted painfully, but I quickly swallowed the pain. 'It was okay, Leo. Really. From now on, Mae would not be your burden anymore. Now that I was a ghost, I would make your wind chimes sing.' The sound was soft and sweet.

Thankfully, Molly calmed Leo down. They cooked a whole feast and laid it out on the table. Wiping his tears, Leo knocked on my window. "Mae, dinner's ready," he called softly.

'Wait, could ghosts even eat?'

There was no answer. He reached for the doorknob and then froze, spotting the lump under my blanket. As he walked away, I sighed in relief. Thankfully, I had stuffed a plush toy under the covers, so now he thought I was asleep.