Mrs. Young scrubbed the afternoon dishes with a tune in her head. One that craved attention, but not one she knew all the words to, so she hummed it instead. Angus knew all the words from hearing it on the family radio so many times every evening but he didn't have nightly sewing to distract himself. He learned it rather quickly. Of course, he'd never sing it aloud.

He drank the last of his milk, inhaling every last drop. His mother would always reprimand him, but it seems he never heard her. The humming stopped and a look was sent his way, but Angus only set the cup down when he was finished. The cup was set on the table and the straw fiddled with when Malcolm walked through the front door with his guitar case. A bundle of tissues was removed from his pocket and set in front of his brother.

"Really got me today, this one," Malcolm smiled. "Every last one of those, soaked."

"Fuckin' gross," Angus whispered, shoving them away from him. Taking a glance at his mother it was evident she hadn't heard his word usage. One by one the tissues were picked up and placed in the trashcan and the sink was now washing hands along with dishes. When he had finished, Malcolm returned to the table, resting his arm on a chair. "You go practice again?"

"Little bit," he answered. "Can't come up with one good song among us, it's like they have no experience whatsoever."

"It's your band," Angus replied. "Tell them to piss off and let you work it out." His brother scoffed and picked at the chair with his fingernail.

"I'd have done that by now if I wouldn't get my ass kicked."

"Malcolm," his mother warned. He turned his head.

"Sorry, Mum." Angus snickered at the look Malcolm gave him. "You've seen them all, right? Yeah well, I'm not gonna chicken out of a fight, but I ain't startin' one with those gorillas either. You though, you look like you could go for a match again. Your eye isn't as purple anymore."

"What color is it now?" Malcolm squinted as he gazed over Angus' smug face.

"Little yellow, little red."

"Red?" Angus asked alarmed.

"Glowing like a demon." A smile replaced his panic. "You may not have a band yet, Ang, but be glad you're not in mine. They'd drive you nuts."

"I wouldn't join your band if you paid me," Angus chuckled. "Though if you want to pay me anyway with your wages...any gigs soon?"

Malcolm moved the hair from his face. "No good ones. Just one at the club down the road and..." He looked behind him at his mother and leaned in. "the private school outside of town."

"But that's a girl's school-"

"Shh, I know. We're playin' a few songs, then leavin', as the girls have to get back to class."

"How'd you land that one?"

"Drummer knows a guy." An apple was taken from a bowl on the table and sneezed on. "Shit." Angus laughed. Malcolm took a bite anyway. "You goin' to Hannah's?" It was Angus' turn to shush his brother. "What?"

"No." His straw continued to be fiddled with.

"Why not?" A frown and a shrug. "Why not?" he pressed with a whisper. "You can tell me, Mum's not listenin'."

"Go away."

"Ang, why not?" Malcolm pushed away Angus' hands that attempted to wave him off. "It's Thursday, time's runnin' out-"

"What does Thursday have to do with anythin'?"

"If you talked to her, you'd know." The shoving got worse as neither boy gave up the fight. It was difficult to keep up the whispering as well. "Stop!"

"Why don't you tell me?"

"I want to, but it's her-job-let go!" Angus had taken hold of Malcolm's wrists and pinned them down upon the table. The sink had ceased to run, the occupant drying the last cup.

"Everything okay over there boys?" their mother asked.

"Yeah, we're just bein' dumb."

"Well, Angus is."

"Shut up!"

"Boys, stop that, I've had enough of tellin' you what you already know. Angus, let go of your brother. Malcolm, enough with the smart remarks." A second passed as Angus slowly let his brother's wrist out of his hand. Malcolm steadily pulled a chair out and sat down. Each boy waited patiently for their mother to finish drying the cup, put it away, and leave the room. The minute she did, the argument proceeded.

"This is not a thing to toss aside, Ang, just go see her today."

"Why? It's not like I have any feelings to announce, there's no need to rush."

"Maybe I was wrong, okay? Maybe you do know what you're feelin', I was just askin' you to think before you threw your emotions under the bus."

"I don't want your yappin' at me, I know what I'm doin'." Malcolm sighed and put a hand to his hair. "You ever have a girlfriend? Or someone you liked?" The boy sat silent for a minute.

"Sure. Yeah, I've had a few that I've considered."

"But have you ever had a serious relationship. Ya' know, one with meanin' to it."

"Yeah," Malcolm shrugged. Angus raised an eyebrow. "Well, there was one you never knew about. Mum didn't know, and I didn't tell you knowin' you would run that big fat mouth of yours. That was one girl she didn't need to meet. So to answer your question, yes. I have."

"But you didn't have real feelin's for her did ya'? Did ya'?" The boy rolled the apple between his hands in thought while Angus folded his in wait.

"I mean...she was nice enough at first, and yeah, pretty cute-but the more time I spent with her, the more I realized our relationship wasn't goin' anywhere. We really didn't need each other. I couldn't make her happy, and she certainly wasn't my idea of good company, so we ended it. Or-rather I ended it. I never loved her. Never told her I did. But I think she loved me, or at least thought she did. Seemed pretty upset when I let her off...worse than I was. Look. All I'm sayin' is I don't want my little brother confessin' to somethin' before he's ready. I don't want you gettin' hurt."

The table was silent save for the apple getting nicked by the grooves. Angus put his head in his hands and sighed. "If you were so eager for us to be friends...if you were so mad at me for chasin' another...if you were so desperate-"

"I wasn't desperate-I...Ang, who do you sit next to in class?"

"Hmm? Which one?"

"Doesn't matter. Maths."

Angus sighed with his lips. "I sit right in front...in the corner. Some bloke, don't know his name. Don't care to know his name."

"Science?"

"That class I sit in back. I'm usually fuckin' around, so I didn't pay attention. What's this got to do-"

"Hang on. Art?"

"Uh, God what's his name...Thomas? I think? Maybe Tony." Angus smiled for a minute in thought. "Hannah's in that class too." Malcolm gave a half smile.

"Angus, who do you eat lunch with?"

"Well last week and before I'd sit with the kids from the theater club. Kind of ironic that they don't start drama," he chuckled. "Once in a while I'd join Hannah an' her friends but they'd always be makin' weird faces at me. The friends, not Hannah. Or maybe she was, but then again that's jus' her face. I'm used to it."

"Who's in that club, Angus? You?"

"Certainly not," he retorted. "If I were in that club, Mum would not have known I spilled her perfume three months ago on the rug. You would have been the one in trouble. Anyway, uh..." The boy closed his eyes in pseudo thought. Both of them knew he had no clue who was in that club. Just a cute blonde, a tall exchange student, a red head with glasses and a couple of wannabe stoners. Angus wondered what kind of plays they could have possibly performed.

"They're the same group of kids since primary. Jean, Doris, Freddie, Luuk, an' Hudson."

"I knew that," Angus scoffed.

"Yeah."

"Well Smarty Pants, how'd you get so popular?" Malcolm shrugged.

"I never really knew them, hell. I've never spoken a word to them besides when Freddie borrowed my pencil and never gave it back. But I still knew them from class, an' I knew who I sat next to."

Angus crossed his arms and swung his short legs under the table. With a pout, he stared at his empty cup. "What's this got to do with anythin'?"

"Angus, have those kids ever talked to you? Have those kids ever considered you their friend?"

"Probably not."

"Have you ever hung out with any of them after school, or in between class?" Angus sighed again.

"No, I would always walk home with you. We'd go home to see George an' after George left...I'd always just hang out with you. I mean, after Jackass Johnny quit bein' your friend, we jus' stayed together. Hannah would come over, or we'd go out together..." Malcolm would never admit it, but he could have sworn his brother's eyes were wet. "You quit an' I didn't...Hannah only has one class with me an' we were separated for drawin' on each other..." He smiled.

"What about your first day of school?"

"What about it?"

"Who'd you sit with?"

"I tried to sit with you, but you made me sit with Hannah."

"Why?" Malcolm asked taking another bite of his fruit.

"She was new, I was new. Made sense at the time. But I certainly didn't want to." Again the room was quiet. "'M glad I did." Angus looked at Malcolm for an explanation for all the questions, but he was occupied with his apple. He decided to let him speak when he was ready.

"Surely if none of those, pesky, immature kids didn't get along with you, then you got along better with the adults growin' up, huh?" Angus couldn't help but laugh in disbelief.

"Surely they hated me, I was the pesky immature one. A real problem child everyone called me. You too, if we were honest. But I had a special way with my tricks, an' I wasn't afraid to get in trouble. A real, lock-up-your-mothers child I was, eh Mal?"

Malcolm leaned back in his chair and grinned. "Sure was." Several minutes ticked by. Angus didn't need to ask his question anymore. Instead he changed the subject.

"So uh, this woman of yours..." He inquired with a grin.

"Yeah?" Malcolm imitated the look.

"What's her name?"

"...Sheila."

"You're kiddin'."

"We both wish I were, me an' her. Surprised you never noticed her, after all, she was pretty cute."

"If she was a grade or two ahead of me I didn't get the chance to notice her. What's she look like?"

"Long brown hair, curly, two big brown eyes an' a little spot on her face right...there." Angus laughed as Malcolm poked him on the cheek. "Last I saw her of course. I was fourteen."

"Fourteen?" Malcolm nodded. "Wonder why I didn't suspect anything."

"Cause I'm jus' that good. Actually I think Mum suspected I was doin' drugs or somethin' 'cause she came to me one day an' asked me if that was a cigar burn on my neck." Angus waited with rapt attention. "Nah. Just a Sheila-sized hickey." Both boys laughed till their breaths were short, and looked around to see if any foreign attention had been roused. When the coast was clear they continued. "Told her you took a swing at me."

"I was just about to ask that," Angus answered. "What'd she do?"

"She said she'd deal with you later."

"Must have forgot, 'cause I haven't been dealt with. How uh-how'd it happen?"

"Angus I'm not tellin' you what you already know, an' besides, I'm not gettin' into that-"

"No! I meant-" Angus leaned in and whispered. "were you on a date or somethin'?" Malcolm hesitated to answer.

"Was at her house."

"In her bedroom?"

"Parents weren't home." Angus widened his eyes. How come he had never been notified of an event so risky yet still so enviable? "She invited me, I thought 'why not?'"

"Did you ever..."

"...no. I stopped it before it got worse an' she sent me home. Truth be told, I wasn't ready." The apple core was tossed toward the trash, bouncing off the rim into the garbage inside. "An' neither was she."

"She mad at you?"

"She sent me home, didn't she? Must have been a little pissed, I mean..." Malcolm sighed, reached for another apple, then retracted his hand. Angus grabbed it and offered it to him but Malcolm waved it off. The apple was in the bowl once more. Malcolm coughed something harsh into his hand then continued. "A few days later I told her, what was goin' on. We stopped seein' each other an'...that was that."

"How come you never told me? I mean...how come you're only tellin' me this now?"

"Eh, the situation called for it, I guess. An' you're fourteen now gettin' feelings for a girl. You're in my shoes, you'll understand better."

"I could have understood at twelve."

"Yeah, when just a year ago you let your dream woman get snatched up by the bastard of the school. He's still on your case, Ang."

"I know, I know. Man, he's hated me since primary." Malcolm sighed, wanting to say something but couldn't quite get the words out. "Fuck, what'd he have against me?" Looking into his eyes, Malcolm painfully spilled the truth.

"Johnny's little brother died in a car accident." Angus was silent. "He was your age."

"I-I, I never knew-"

"They were ridin' bikes down the street, his brother on a trike. A car came speedin' down the road an' Johnny swerved in time, but his brother couldn't steer very well. Johnny hopped off his bike an' ran to grab his brother but when he turned around there was this high pitched screech..." Angus couldn't speak. Malcolm animated the story with his hands keeping Angus' attention. "That was all he saw. His brother was in front of the car but had been sorta knocked to the side an'...that was that."

"Where...where were their...their parents?"

"Their parents? Well, his mother was inside the house, prolly cookin' dinner or somethin'." Angus swallowed.

"And...his dad?" Malcolm gave his brother a vacant stare.

"...He was drivin' the car."

Angus could not believe what he was hearing. After years of torment for seemingly no reason had suddenly begun to make sense. It may have been only his imagination, but his eye seemed to give a sharp pain, right where it had been punched. Reminding him of that torment. His hand, no longer bandaged, stung a little. His neck with the faded bruise, was still a little sore. But he'd be lying if he said his heart didn't hurt worst of all.

"He-he told you all that?"

"He was pretty open once he realized I wasn't an enemy. I came up to him, ya' know. 'Cause I saw him sittin' alone. Told him I had a little brother an' he seemed put off by that. Now you know why."

"Now I know why," Angus agreed, slowly nodding his head. Footsteps were heard a few rooms away but they kept to their own business and never disturbed the boys' conversation. Malcolm had sat calmly with his hands folded on the table while Angus was fidgeting with his own. His feet weren't swinging under the table anymore; they didn't have the energy. "That's-that's a lot to take in." Malcolm nodded. "Now I feel bad for callin' him all those names and-an' all that stuff I said about him-"

"Don't beat yourself up for that, okay? It's not your fault, you didn't know."

"Even then, I shouldn't have-"

"Hey, I called him a bunch of stuff too, I'm the one who picked a fight with him 'cause he was harrassin' you. I wasn't a great guy to him either."

"But-but you at least were his friend for a while, I didn't even-" Malcolm sighed.

"Look. He was an' still is a bastard. He does a lot of things he shouldn't. You really shouldn't feel so bad for callin' him out on it. I'm not tryin' to tell you his actions were justified, I'm jus' lettin' you know his life is just as real as ours."

All was quiet at the table for the longest time. Angus rubbed his eye with his hand and a wince on his face. Malcolm couldn't help but notice. "Hey, you want some ice for that?" Angus only nodded. The young man stood up from the table and opened the freezer where Angus had placed his prescribed ice pack. It had been carelessly moved to the back, behind the frozen vegetables and bread. Grabbing it, he closed the freezer door and held it up to his brother's eye until Angus grabbed it and held it there himself. His eye didn't stop hurting, it just got colder. "That," Malcolm pointed as he sat back down. "wasn't okay for him to do. No matter what's happened. You didn't deserve that." Angus didn't respond to that. Instead he changed the subject.

"What else are you not tellin' me?" he asked. Malcolm sneezed.

"What do you mean?"

"Two big-no, huge life events occur, and I'm just now hearin' about 'em. So. Anything else?" Malcolm rubbed his neck.

"Except Hannah's little thing she's got goin' on, no."

"Care to enlighten me?"

"How about you talk to her about it?" Angus sighed.

"I don't know. I don't fuckin' know."

"You still like her, right?" Angus frowned.

"Of course I do, what kind of question is that?" Malcolm shook his head.

"No, no, I mean, do you still...love her? You never really gave me an answer the other night."

"Honestly Mal, I don't know. I've been thinkin' about your advice, and hearin' all your stories today...I still don't know. I...need more time to think."

"It's Thursday, Ang, you don't have much time left."

"Why, what is so important about Thursday?" he asked.

"Just-do you promise me that you'll go talk to her tomorrow?" Malcolm asked with pleading eyes. "There's somethin' you need to know, and she really ought to be the one to tell you." Angus didn't answer. "Promise?"

"It'll have to be after she gets out of school tomorrow anyway, an' by then she may not want to-"

"She's dropped out of school, Ang."

"What...?"

"That fight with her mum? She got sick of livin' the way she was an' finally snapped." Angus was once again rendered speechless. "Told me yesterday on the phone while you were 'busy'."

"But-but Hannah would never drop out before the required age, even if she was sick of it. Was...she really that miserable?"

"I wouldn't say miserable," Malcolm chuckled. "I know part of it was annoyance at you for ditchin' her there after your night of fun on the dance floor."

"She wouldn't drop out of school for that."

"No, but it made her more inclined to snap at her mum." Malcolm wanted to ask his question, but decided to save it. Angus didn't look ready to answer it anyway. "If you talk to her about it, she'll tell you more than I can."

"I'm willin' to talk to her just to pat her on the back for finally breakin' free of that jail. Course, that means...oh shit."

"What?" Malcolm asked worried. Angus looked up with a sad smile.

"There's no one else there that I'm friends with." Both boys laughed a bit, but stopped short as they realized the reality. "I gotta hurry up and turn fifteen."

"Trust me, Ang, time does not need to hurry up right now."

"Wait, what is she gonna do if she's not in school? It'd be real hard to make University in her shoes."

"I don't know, but-I think it'd be easier if you went and talked to her yourself. If not today, then tomorrow morning?"

"Morning?" Angus groaned. "Mal, you know how I am with mornings..."

"Angus, you're gonna have to trust me on this one. You'll regret it if you don't." The look on his brother's face was determined and urgent. One who would stop at nothing until justice was done. Angus flipped over his ice pack.

"How much regret?"

"As much to last the rest of your life." A moment passed.

"Alright, alright. I'll talk to her tomorrow."

"Promise?"

"Promise."