I waited for my brother Darius to leave the room with my arms crossed and leg up against the wall. He walked past me, and I tapped him. "Thank you, I owe you one."
He looked at me with a blank expression and replied, "Just repaying your favor from before."
I went in to shake his hand, but he ignored it. It was clear that he was harboring a sort of resentment towards me after the altercation we had just had. Father, watching us both, called us in. We obeyed his orders, and he told us to sit down and listen.
"Listen, boys, when I was your age, me and my younger brother always got into fights."
Pftt, like I haven't heard this story a hundred times. It's almost a cliché, but I get where he's coming from. He's just trying to do his job as a father. Darius pointed at me and told Father that I wasn't paying attention because I was too busy chewing my nails and zoning out.
"See, Father, he's not listening to a word you're saying."
Father gave the stern look he always gives me after I disobey his orders. Without a fuss, I stopped my activities, sat up straight, and began to listen.
My father looked down at the floor, fidgeting with his hands and a melancholic expression in his eyes. "Like I was saying before your brother interrupted me, me and my brother got into many fights. In fact, before he left home to go and join the knights of Esturia, we got into a big one. He told me that he never wanted to see me again, and this was his way of saying goodbye."
My brother went up to my father and went in for a hug, calmly reassuring him, "Your brother still loves you, Dad. I mean, what brother doesn't? It's unconditional love, you know."
Forced tears of joy ran down his eyes. "That's my boy for ya." I rolled my eyes and scoffed at the remark, commenting, "You giving Father advice? That's rich."
"Oh, and you are always going on about how Father's advice is bullcrap," blurted Darius.
I could tell my father was hurt; what man wouldn't be after hearing his 6-year-old son blurt that out? But obviously, Darius was twisting the truth like usual. What I simply meant was that blindly following our father's advice wouldn't be necessary, but he always has to reiterate how being the most perfect son in front of our parents would help us get more points to eventually reach heaven. Now, of course, he's not wrong. What I said was extremely rude, and I should have worded it better. Scratching my head and giving out a nervous chuckle, I thought of what to say to cheer Dad up.
But nothing came to mind. The feeling of guilt persisted, and it was stuck in the back of my thoughts like a bug stuck in the spider's nest for the rest of the day. I tried my best to distance myself from my father after that. The silence between us lasted for weeks on end until finally my brother Darius had enough and brought us both together. I felt like if I apologized too quickly, I would seem superficial and like I was forced to, and that's not the type of person I am. So that's why I held off on apologizing or even speaking to Father for the past two weeks. But truthfully, I was just scared. Back in my past life, I always made excuses not to admit my wrongs, like 'They were the ones that started it,' or 'They're just saying that because it's me.' But it was quite the opposite. I was the one who always got into these altercations.
Now, we were all seated inside the dining room. Father scoffed at me, and I didn't bother to hold eye contact with him. Darius cleared his throat as if to attract all of our attention.
"Now, brother, you owe Father an apology for what you stated about him."
I chuckled with malice. "What are you, a mediator now, brother? This is between me and Dad; it isn't your business."
Darius's expression immediately changed from pride to disdain. He quickly fired back with a response, "I'm always cleaning up your messes, even outside family disputes. If Father knew what you were up to behind closed doors, then we wouldn't even be having this conversation as of now."
Father slammed his hand on the dining table, the sound ricocheting throughout the room. "Enough of the bickering!" He roared like a lion in front of its pack.
His long silver hair covered his face, and he began to tie it back whilst we all stayed quiet, not a sound from our lips. Whenever Father turns serious and shouts at us, both me and Darius seal our lips and wait for it to pass. I mean, who would want to be included within his rage? We sat there silently as he left us in this room and told us not to move until he said so. As we sat there, we both exchanged dirty and undignified looks at each other. As moments passed, the persistent amount of times that Darius had fidgeted with his fingers had got to me.
We quite literally had to break the silence now and then, or else I'd go mad from the tormenting deafening silence! I was the first to open my lips, knowing that my brother wouldn't because of how snarky and arrogant he is.
"So... what? You're a telltale now?" I asked sarcastically.
But his expression didn't nudge one bit. I knew, of course, it was a disguise to seem more mature than me. He always does that. In moments like this, it's like Father's presence watches over him, so he puts on his golden boy costume and performs to his heart's content, but he sat there, not a word drawing from his mouth.
"Fine, you don't want to talk, let it be that way. Fine by me, I suppose."
He cleared his throat and responded, "I'm sorry."
Surprise came over me. I couldn't believe that Darius had apologized first. Normally, I would have to guilt-trip him or reaffirm what he had done to me to even warrant a response like that, but this time, it was silence that did him in. Father is a genius, making us sit out here in a confined space. Of course, it would make my brother change.
"Wait, wait, am I hearing you correctly?" I said, giggling under my breath.
He let out an annoyed puff. "I'm sorry for turning Father against you, and I'm sorry for bothering you this whole time."
This has to be a different person; he even highlighted the things that he had done. But to be honest, he was wrong. He didn't turn Father against me. I was telling him negative stuff about the man behind his back, which is messed up knowing the fact that he does everything he can for us. Although most of this comes from my heart, it's also the guilt I feel whenever I see my parents' souls crushed by the actions that I have performed.
"You're wrong, Darius," I proclaimed.
He looked back at me in confusion. "Excuse me?"
I maintained eye contact and responded, "This was a lesson for me. I was the one who was in the wrong. Talking behind my parents' back is wrong."
Just as I uttered that, Father walked in and grabbed a seat from the table and sat down with us, putting his chair in the middle. He sighed and looked at us both.
"You know, boys, this wasn't a lesson. I was just trying to get my kids to mend things up. It hurts me too when I see my two sons fighting each other. It reminds me of what me and my brother would do, and you know what? Both of us were in the wrong."
Those words hit me deeply. In your mind, it's always one side is wrong, and the other is right, but people almost every time forget that there are two sides to both stories, that it isn't just as easy as wrong vs. right but much more than that. Every side counts.
"You're right, Dad. Thank you for this advice," I said, opening my arms and leaning in for a hug.
Me and Darius exited the room and made our way up the steps towards our bedroom with Father's words instilled in us. We both felt like we had learned a lot today. I can't say this deepened our bond in some drastic way like it used to in reality TV, but I can say it feels nice knowing that both me and Darius share this same thing.