My funny side wanted to extend my ear and clean it to pretend like I didn't, but I knew there was something very strange here, so I stopped myself from playing. I looked at my mother's face, hoping to see any indication that she was playing, but seeing the sincerity in her eyes, I didn't know what to say.
"Um ... Okay, I'm going to apologize to him."
I could only answer that. If I insisted that I didn't understand, she would probably call my dad into the discussion so that he can "put some sense on my head". God, I love my parents, but I hate the dynamics of this house.
Listening to my agreement, my mother patted me on the shoulder and headed to the back of the house to continue her gardening. I stood there, not knowing what to do. Today is April first? Did my mom and brother get together to make a joke?
No, it's September ... If this is all a joke, this is very mean. They never made fun of my appearance, not even my grumpy brother. What was going on here?
I need to check what was going on, and I knew exactly how to do it. If my mother and brother were in some kind of collusion to deceive me, my father would certainly not be together, he hates pranks.
I went looking for him around the house and saw him watching television in the living room. In his right hand, he was holding a can of beer ... How strange. Beer in the morning? For a start, he doesn't even drink.
Okay, this is even stranger than what my mom and brother said.
I approached and saw that he was watching a replay of some football game on premium tv. This is certainly not strange. My father is a football fanatic. If it weren't for my mom convincing him, I would be playing football at school today.
"Sir ... Are you drinking?"
He looked a little guilty when he heard what I said, but he kept the strong front that he always kept in front of us.
"Yes, any problem?"
"But you never drink."
He raised his eyebrows at this but responded impatiently when he realized that the game was at an important moment.
"I drink almost every day. Don't you have a school to go to? Go have your breakfast."
It reminded me that I have to go to school. I originally didn't have much time, and now I have even less. It also reminded me that Max is probably in his room by now. Should I apologize to him? But then I won't have time to go to school.
I also need to check something with my dad...
"Sir, can I ask for your advice?"
Upon hearing this, my father's behavior changed completely. He turned off the television almost instantly and turned his full attention to me. His gaze was so intense that I was intimidated.
"Sure. What happened?"
...
I was unresponsive for a few seconds when I remembered how I acted with Max earlier. When he vented to me about his personal problem, I reacted more or less in the same way ... I think that, just as I want to be a good brother to Max, my father wants to be a good father to us...
If I had any doubt that he was my father, it disappeared at that moment.
After I calmed down, I told him what happened to Max, our entire conversation, in as much detail as possible, and my father seemed incredibly focused and interested while listening. At the end of the explanation, he put his hand on my shoulder and said.
"Just go over to your brother's room and apologize."
"Why?"
"Do you want to make it up to your brother?"
"You know I want."
"Then go upstairs and apologize."
"But sir..."
"Now!"
I didn't even know what else to say, so I just turned and went up the stairs, wondering if I was going to be able to get to school on time. I haven't even had my breakfast yet.
Upstairs, I went to Max's room at the end of the hall and knocked on the door.
"Max, can I speak to you?"
He did not answer. I was silent for a moment, thinking it might be a good idea to go to school and talk to him on the way back, but remembering my father's previous seriousness, I knew there was no escape.
"Max, are you listening to me? I want to talk to you, but if you are not going to open the door, I will talk behind the door anyway."
I was silent and tried to hear anything from inside the room, but I couldn't hear anything.
"I'm going to speak, okay? Listen well."
"I know that we haven't had a good relationship in the last few years, and it's something that I regret very much. I should have tried harder. I want us to have the good relationship we had in the past, but for some reason, we ended up distancing ourselves."
"So, if you can talk to me how you've been feeling in the past few years, I'll listen. Please give me a chance to fix our relationship. I do not want to lose you."
At the end of my words I gasped a little, I almost cried just saying that. It was years and years of holding those words, and now I finally said them. I saw my brother's ice, the distance he put between us, and it always hurt me a lot.
I love him very much, he is my younger brother, I have always taken care of him since he was little, there is no way I can hate him. I would do anything to go back to how we were before.
I can spend the whole day here talking about how he who distanced himself from me, but as an older brother, I knew that if anything had to happen, it had to come from me. I am the oldest, the most mature, the most independent.
He would never take the initiative to fix our relationship, I know him well enough to understand that. So, in a way, we are just like this today because of that, because I failed as an older brother.
I held my cry, I didn't want to cry. I always cultivated an image of a strong brother in front of Max, I don't want to lose that image now. While I was holding back crying, however, the door opened.
He looked at me, and when he noticed the tears I was wiping, he hugged me tightly and started to cry out loud.
"WAAAAHHH!!"
I returned the hug and finally, my tears stopped. My brother needed me. I put my hand on his head and let him cry.
After a few seconds, he finally managed to hold the crying long enough to calm himself. He seemed to want to say something, but the sobs wouldn't let him.
"I ... thought ... you didn't care about me anymore ... because I'm ugly..."
"But well ... deep down ... I knew you never ... distanced yourself from me ... it was all my fault..."
"You never ... cared about how I looked ... you always were ... very much like Dad..."
He took a deep breath to hold back the cry that was threatening to return and continued.
"I always felt ... that I shouldn't be by your side ... that I didn't deserve to be by your side ... so I walked away from you, I was cold with you, said rude and mean things. I'm so SORRY, BROTHER!!"
I couldn't understand what was going on, but when I saw the pain in his eyes, I knew I couldn't question it. I hugged him again, and he was crying silently on my shoulder for a while, my mind in chaos.
What does he mean by being ugly? I wanted to ask, but feeling his tears falling on my shoulder, I didn't have the heart for it. Now, that was not important. The important thing is that I finally got my little brother back.
...
After a few minutes, I pulled him into his room, and laid him on the bed, he was already asleep. What he said to me must have been a huge burden on his heart, he cried himself to sleep.
I sighed as I watched him sleeping with his peaceful face. What exactly is going on? Nothing is making sense.
I went downstairs and found my dad standing at the kitchen door with a small smile on his face. Without saying anything, he simply came over and gave me a tight hug.
"Very well, son."
Separating from me, he gave a big smile and said.
"I know you would never belittle your brother because of his appearance. It's in your blood."
He then gave my shoulder a firm squeeze and returned to the living room with a smile on his face. After my dad, my mom left the kitchen with tears in her eyes. She came over, kissed me on the forehead, and hugged me tightly.
"Thank you, son, I knew you could do it, you are your father's son!"
"In the past few years, I have come to think that your appearance had gone up in your head, and that is why you had started to belittle your brother, but in the end, you are your father's son."
She then separated from me, fixed my hair a little, and went to the living room to see my father. When I followed them, I saw her sitting next to my dad on the couch and snuggling into his embrace.
What?