Hey Lil Bro

It was a cold, snowy, winter day in Royal Woods as Bobby entered the Royal Woods Graveyard, carrying a pink box, a plastic bag, and a blanket with him. Bobby steeled himself for the whirlwind of emotions that he always felt when he came to this place.

He walked through the graveyard, passing the different gravestones of family and loved ones that have passed before coming up to flower laden stand and a name plate that was partially covered with snow, reading “Lincoln Loud 2005 – 2016”

“Hey dude, what’s up? You gotta’ be freezing out here!” Said Bobby as he wiped the snow off of the name plate, taking the blanket and wrapping it around the stand. “There, all warmed up now huh? I can’t leave a bro all out in the cold by himself now can I?”

“I visited your Mom beforehand and I got you some hot chocolate, I know you loved drinking some when it was cold and snowy.” Bobby took a plastic thermos out and opened it, pouring the drink onto the snow and melting it a bit. “You don’t mind if I have some myself do you? It’s always great to drink hot chocolate with your bro right?” Bobby poured himself some of hot chocolate and sipped from it before placing the cap on the ground next to the stand.

“Oh right, check it out, got you some donuts! I mean you can’t just drink some hot chocolate, you gotta’ have some donuts with it right?” Said Bobby as he opened the box of donuts and set it on the ground, picking up the thermos cup again and drinking the hot chocolate some more.

“I picked you up a couple other things; here’s the latest issue of Ace Savvy, it’s a great issue!” Bobby took the comic out of the bag, placing it in front of the stand while he reached into the bag again for his next item. “I also got you a hat from the monster truck rally I went to last month, man that was fun! I wish you could have been there to see it dude, they had some great trucks this year!”

As Bobby placed the hat in front of the grave he paused, staring at the flowers with a slightly hurt look on his face, he quickly changed his expression though, trying to force a smile for Lincoln.

“Man you know your sisters miss you; I mean we all miss you man. I miss you man, I mean you were like my little bro, the little bro I didn’t have.”

“…Don’t have.”

“B-But anyways, you know things have been good, just been going through the days. Lynn’s finally going to school again you know? Man she was so sad that she didn’t go to school; almost got your mom and dad in trouble!” Said Bobby with a laugh which felt a little hollow.

“But I mean, things are good, they really are. But you know, they’re just not the same anymore dude, especially with Lori. It took her forever to stop crying y’know? She misses you so much dude…” Bobby couldn’t help but sniffle a little bit. “It’s just hard for them, you know? You were their only brother; there was no one else like you…”

“...Man you know I miss you; you were my little bro, my amigo! We had a lot of good times didn’t we? Hey, remember that one baseball game where you almost got nailed by a foul ball? Man that was some funny stuff right there!”

“…Shit I miss those times man. “

Bobby sat down in front of the grave looking straight at the stand filled with flowers and flanked by hot chocolate and doughnuts.

“I’m sorry man but I gotta’ ask, why didn’t you say anything? If you were having problems man you could have just told me…” Bobby could feel his throat close as began to ask the questions that he wish he asked when his friend was still alive. "We were supposed to be brothers man; I would have helped you out, you didn’t have hold everything in. If you were having problems with school, or your family, or anything man, I would have been there for you. You had to know that dude, so why? Why couldn’t you have just said that you were hurting?”

Bobby could feel the tears starting to run down his face, quickly wiping them away only for them to be replaced. “Shit man, I know I shouldn’t be crying man, I can’t let my little bro see me cry like this. I-It just gets hard sometimes, not being able to just call you up and say ‘Hey man you wanna’ go hang?’ and then we just go wherever and just do whatever. I can’t do that anymore.”

“Man if I could just hang with you one more time bud, we’d have the best time ever! We’d go see a game, get some hot dogs and see who could eat the fastest. Or maybe we’d got see some more monster trucks, or go see a wrestling match or whatever.” Bobby shuddered as he continued to speak. “S-Shit man we could just hang out at the park and throw the ball around and it’d be great. Just you and me hanging out together, bros being bros…”

“Man just one more time…”

Bobby sniffled and wiped his eyes, trying to hold back the pain he always felt when visiting Lincoln. “Sorry about that, I just get all emotional and stuff when I see you because I can’t see you all the time like I used to. I’m sure you didn’t want to see me get all sad like that right?”

“Well anyways dude, I just wanted to come and see you again, I can’t just leave a bro hanging y’know? That’s why I’m always gonna be coming back to visit you, because if even if you’re gone now, we’ll be bros the end.” Bobby stood up, wiping the snow off of the gravestone.

“Heh I guess we can’t do our handshake can we? You just wait for me there man, when I meet up with you again up there, that’s when we’ll do our handshake.”

“Take care lil’ bro…”