Brotherly Love

(Don)

The game seemed to last forever. I didn’t know how J.D. could just go out there and play like nothing had happened. Man, Richie and J.D. had been tight forever.  I stood off back on the sidelines, hoping I was obscured and tried to melt into the shadows. Tears pooled in my eyes, so I angrily swiped at them with my shoulder them away. I’d heard rumors before the game that something bad had gone down, but discovering Richie bit it in ‘Nam wasn’t what I expected at all.

Finally, the whistle blew signaling the end of the quarter. We’d won at the last minute, but it didn’t seem to matter much. Excitement wasn’t You couldn’t describe anything about this night as exciting.  I jogged over to catch up with J.D. as he hastily fled the crowded field.

“J.D., wait up!” I shouted as I crossed closed the last few yards between us. I reached for grasped his arm and asked, “How ya holding?”

He gazed off His eyes avoided mine, “Don, seriously man, I don’t want to discuss this right now. Do you understand?” He tossed his helmet up in the air and caught it as it clumsily tumbled fell toppled towards the ground. “I’m headed over to Richie’s house to be with his dad. He shouldn’t be alone tonight, and if I’m not there, he will be. Richie was all he had, and now…” His voice trailed off as he quickened his pace away from me.

This conversation was  At that moment, whatever tenuous bond existed between us faded. I knew; I just felt it like a physical jolt. J.D. had always held me at arm’s length from his life. I never fit in with his group of friends, so I never fit in with him.

I trudged off towards town hoping to run into catch up with a few of the other players guys. My thoughts had turned dark like the this unremitting night, and I couldn’t shake them. All I could think about was Richie. People described Richie as heavy-duty, sturdy, or a solid guy. It was hard for me to imagine anything happening to him, much less him dying. I hated the freaking war, and what it had done to almost everyone I knew.  Six years, maybe more of fighting and dying, and for what. War had slowly emerged from the depths and consumed everything in sight. It was totally incomprehensible to me.

Ghostlike shadows arose near the Dairy Queen, and the orange glow of cigarettes appeared here and there. A lanky figure materialized out of the darkness and called out, “That you, J.D.?”

A sigh of frustration escaped me as I retorted, “No, it’s Don. J.D. didn’t come.”

Any ideas for revisions… any thoughts on characters or plot? I’m open to suggestions because everything written so far in its infancy. The characters are just developing, and they still don’t know exactly who they are yet.