The Only Brother by Caias Ward Page A

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    HaveYouSeenMyPants: sleep well, dear
    A few weeks before the start of term, I got a call from a number I didn’t recognise. Turned out it was Buzz.
    ‘Namaste, Andrew,’ he said.
    ‘Hey Buzz,’ I said. ‘I’m not home right now, but if you lost my parents’ number I can give it …’
    ‘Actually, I needed to talk to you.’ He cut me off as politely as possible.
    ‘Oh, OK,’ I said. ‘What’s up?’
    ‘I’m going to be visiting in a few weeks, wrapping up the estate account, reading the will, things like that. It’s something we should have done earlier, but with everything being so stressful for your parents, I didn’t think it was a good idea to rush right into it. I need to meet with you beforehand, though.’
    ‘OK…’ Now I was wondering what was going on.
    ‘It’s nothing bad,’ Buzz assured me. ‘Just want to see how you are doing.’
    ‘I’m better. Working through stuff with the family. It’s not easy, you know?’
    ‘Yeah,’ he said, his New Jersey accent loud and clear. ‘I know. I know I miss William. I know your parents do.’
    ‘Yeah,’ I agreed.
    ‘I know you had problems with him, Andrew. And he had problems with you.’
    I paused.
    ‘It’s OK, Andrew. I know you guys didn’t click. Sometimes that happens. But we’ll talk about this more when I see you, OK? I’m going to call your parents and give them my flight info. Do me a favour?’
    ‘Um, yeah?’
    ‘Don’t tell your parents about me wanting to meet with you ahead of time, OK?’
    ‘Sure.’
    Buzz hung up, leaving me with a head full of questions. From what I know, Buzz is not much for secrets. They stay in touch, him, Dad and Mum, and for him to hide something from them it has to be something serious. I thought about calling him again to see if he’d just tell me, but thought better of it.
    Instead I headed over to Caroline’s to meet her parents. She’d warned them about the make-up and pushed that I was a working artist, so figured that I should go over well. Next week is her meeting my parents. I don’t have to explain anything to my parents, they are just glad that I’m bringing someone home.
    It was not turning out to be a bad life, all in all.

CHAPTER 9
Showing, not telling
    Buzz walked into a different Simmons family than the one he’d left back in April. We were talking to each other, for one thing. It wasn’t all hugs and sunshine, but at least I wasn’t locking myself in my room all the time, and Dad wasn’t getting in the way of my fist. Mum had dropped back into work, like she always did, and Dad spent half the time speaking to German people on the phone. But when we were depressed, or angry or confused, we talked about it. We’d found a family counsellor to walk us through things.
    That didn’t go so well. Dad’s not one to talk to people he doesn’t know, so it wasmostly him being quiet for an hour and then going on and on as soon as we walked out of the door. But at least he’s talking about stuff that’s bothering him, and not just Will’s death. It’s like someone’s opened a floodgate to let out things he’s kept bottled up all the time. The olds fight a bit more, but at least they get it out of the way and realise that they still like each other. Dad has also found a group for parents who have lost children, and that’s helped him a lot.
    And at least they now understand how I feel, even if they don’t agree with what I’m saying. Will never really showed that he cared much about me, and I’m fine with that. Like I’ve said, some people just don’t get along, and being related to them doesn’t make much of a difference. Will had a rough life, and lots of problems. I wish things had been better, and that he hadn’t resented me so much, and I wish I could have handled the situation better.
    But that’s all in the past. Nothing you can do about it, so you should look forward. Which is what we did. I started to researchuniversities, and I worked and got ready