"I'm Keeping My Brother" - a new short story

By Amazon Kindle Author

My New 1955 Monarch

Bill Russo © 2015

I'M KEEPING MY BROTHER

 I am in the city hospital of a town called Beverly, a few miles North of Boston.

 I am 12 years old. I cannot speak or move, but I am awake and I am alert.

The Giant Maple Tree

I can hear them talking about me. They are saying things like - 'Depressed skull fracture. Lucky to be alive. I don't know how he survived that crash.'

I do not hurt. There is no pain at all. I feel pretty good. I don't know why I cannot move my arms. I wonder why I am not able to speak.

I have to think about what happened to me. I will try to close my eyes and play back my life like a movie.

I see me now. I am on my bike. I am riding at breakneck speed down Prospect Hill. Faster than I have ever gone, I am speeding to the bottom. I should go straight. I will be fine if I go straight; but for some reason I have to turn left onto Monroe Street. I slam on the brakes and turn my handlebars and try to make it.

The shiny black 26 inch 'Monarch' is simply going too fast. The front wheel hits the big Maple tree on the corner. That old hardwood is so big that the branches spread all the way to the other side of the street and beyond; forming a leafy canopy that blocks out the sun.

As the front wheel slams into the bark, I am launched from the saddle of the bike just as if I were rocketed from the ejection seat of an F-15 fighter jet. There's no parachute to drop me gently to the ground – only the rock-hard wood as I splat headfirst into it.

There's not a lot of blood. I am on my feet just a few seconds after the crash. I pick up the bike and try to get on it but I fall down and wake up in this hospital bed.

My Mother is standing over me, tears flying down her face like runaway roller coaster cars.

The doctor comes in.

“The x-rays are back,” he tells my Mom. “It's a depressed skull fracture. The skull bone has been pushed right into the brain. We are going to have to do something to relieve the pressure. If we don't act quickly, he has no chance. I will need your permission to operate. The good news is that he is alive at all. He hit that tree with such force that I am surprised he was not killed instantly. It's almost as if he had some sort of a cushion or a safety hat on his head.”

I try to talk but still cannot. I am getting sleepy. It is getting hard to stay awake, but I can't give in. I am afraid that if I do, I will never wake up.

I am fighting it. So tired. Weary. Maybe I can sleep for just a minute.

"Wake up 'B'. Wake up!!! Come on. It's six a.m. The guys will be here soon. We gotta pack up our lunch. Did you forget that we are riding our bikes to Slippery Rock today?”

It's my twin brother, Bob. My name is Bill but he always calls me 'B'. I call him 'B' too. Everybody called us the 'Bees'.

"Yah Bob. I will be ready in two minutes. No I did not forget. This will be the first time we have really had a chance to ride them since we got them for our birthday".

We make two Marshmallow Fluff sandwiches each and stuff them into our knapsacks along with a canteen of milk and some cookies. We meet the guys at our front door.

It is late August and we do not want to think about having to go back to school in two weeks. The sun is shining and 'cheffing up' almost 80 degree weather and we wheel to Slippery Rock. It is about 20 feet high and shaped like a staircase, with a large, flat table at the top. Instead of stairs, a granite ramp leads to the top. We put our beach towels down on the warm surface and bask in the sun. There's plenty of room for all eight of us.

As the morning gives way to noon, we eat our 'Fluffernutters' and ignore motherly advice, by going swimming in the nearby Danvers River. There is a tire swing hanging from a branch of a Maple tree. You can swing out over the water and jump off in the middle of the water.

The afternoon sun is getting stronger and we are pretty sure we are getting our last sunburn of the season. My brother and I love sunburns. Not the burn itself, but the peeling of the dead skin. We have a contest to see who can tear the longest piece! It's late now and all of the other boys are leaving. The “Bees” decide to stay a little longer.

We take turns on the tire swing.

"Let's have a 'cannonball contest", Bob suggests.

We jump from a ledge on the riverbank into the deepest part of the river, trying to make as big a splash as possible.

Bob decides to climb even higher on the ledge. He is at the very top.

“No Bob, don't jump from there. It's too high.”

He ignores me and launches himself into the air. Hunched over with his hands clasping his knees he hits the water yelling, “CANNONBALL!!!!!!!”

The sound of the splash is always thrilling. It's a big kerplunk followed by an excited scream of delight. But after this jump, Bob's screams are of pain. I see the foamy water turn red.

He must have hit a rock. I jump in. I have him in tow. I drag my now unconscious twin to the shore. I don't think he is breathing.

“Help. HHEELLLLLP!”

There's nobody around. I have to get help. I jump on the Monarch and race for home.

I am at Prospect Hill. It's a 45 degree grade. No kid has ever been able to ride a bike down this hill without keeping the brakes on all the way. I have no time for brakes.

I pedal that Monarch furiously and flash down the hill like a race car. At the bottom I have to take the hairpin left turn to get to our house on Monroe Street.

I slam on the brakes and pull hard on the handlebars. I don't make it and smash headfirst into the huge Maple tree.

I wake up in the hospital. My Mom is standing over me, tears streaming down her face like cars jumping off the roller coaster tracks.

I find that I am now able to speak. “Hi Mom”.

“He's awake. He's awake. Nurse! Nurse! Get the doctor. My son's awake.”

“Never mind about me Mom we have got to get Bob. He is hurt bad. He hit a rock or something while we were swimming at Slippery Rock. Hurry Mom.”

“What are you talking about Billy?”

“I am talking about my brother, Bobby. He's hurt....”

“You don't have any brother. You are an only child.”

“No. What are you saying? I was with my brother this morning. We took our bikes to Slippery Rock.”

“Billy. You are my only child. This is crazy. I have not thought about this for years. You don't have a brother, but when I was pregnant with you, there was a twin, but he died in the womb. He was absorbed by my body. I never really even considered him a real baby.”

“He is real Mom. His name is Bobby. And he loves 'Fluffernutters'.

I guess, somehow he was absorbed into me. I got to meet him today. And now that I found him, I am keeping him.”

The Unofficial State Food of New England