Brother Forever
>It was after school and Todd and Esther had already left for home. A few piles of snow still lay strewn about the front of the building and Reggie was taking full advantage of their lingering existence.
>”You’ll never stop me Battle Snake Melissa! My icy winds of doom shall make you hibernate.. perrrrmanently! Muwahahahah!”
>”You’ll never get away with this Frosty Jack! RAAAARRRGGGHH!”
>Reggie had her dolls locked in vicious combat atop one of the piles of snow, oblivious to the world around her.
>”Hey look, it’s the freak.” Two of the older boys from school had approached her. She ignored the comment though and kept the fight for Battle Snake Melissa’s life going.
>The other boy knocked on the top of Reggie’s head. “Hey Freak we’re talking to you. Anybody home in there?”
>Reggie swatted his hand away with increased in her voice “Hey, cut it out. Leave me alone!”
>”Whoa whoa whoa there. Maybe we wanna play too. Isn’t that right?” He jabbed at his friend with his elbow and the boys shared a look. The second one just chuckled.
>For a split second Reggie wanted to believe them.
>The first boy reached down and grabbed Battle Snake Melissa out of Reggie’s hand. “H-Hey!”
>”What is this supposed to be, some kinda snake lady?” The two boys laughed as he turned the toy over in his hands.
>”Give her back! She’s not yours!” Reggie was standing now, on the outside her voice was full of anger but the boys could hear the worry lurking just under the facade.
>”Hey maybe she can fly.” They tossed the toy back and forth between them, each catcher holding her just high enough that Reggie couldn’t reach. Worry began to set it more as she ran back and forth back and forth between the two cackling bullies. Desperation stained her face. “Stop it! She’s mine. Just. Give. Her. Back.”
>They stopped tossing Melissa. The first boy held her aloft as Reggie clamored to reach her. “I’ve got an idea, let’s see how bendy snake lady is, shall we?” He began to bend Melissa’s leg backwards, grinning menacingly as he started directly into Reggie’s fretful eyes. His friend cheered him on.
>Reggie began to panic in earnest now. “What?! Stop! No don’t do that! You’re gonna break her!”
>The boys continued to laugh as Melissa’s leg was bent back farther and farther and farther. Reggie lunged at him but the other boy held her back at arms length, her fists swinging wildly short of their mark. “GIVE HER BACK!” Her eyes were getting misty now.
>Finally the strain was too much. Reggie gasped in horror as the leg finally snapped off. “NOOO!” Her anger gave way to grief as she collapsed to the ground. Her eyes began to flood. The older boy dropped the broken pieces to the snow.
>“Maybe it’s time for you to grow up.”
>”HEY!” The sharp exclamation cut through the chilly air like a blade. The two boys ceased their laughing to see Dustin marching towards them with purpose. “What the heck do you think you’re doing!?”
>”Oh look, it’s another freak come to play.”
>Dustin fast approached the bullies, putting himself between them and Reggie. “What gives you the right to pick on some little kid huh? Beat it!” His fists were clenched tightly.
>”Relax, we’re just messing around is all. Don’t get so bent out of shape over some weird little girl.”
>”That girl is my sister! Now back off!” Dustin gave the boy are hard shove, sending him reeling back into his companion.
>He stood up and got right in Dustin’s face and was confronted by raging eyes. The tension lingered for a solid minute, Dustin’s fists got tighter.
>The boy backed off with a hateful smile. “Come on, let’s just go. These two losers aren’t worth it.” They began walking back around the school. Dustin stood his ground until the two boys had gone out of sight.
>It was only then that he relaxed and turned to the broken lump that was Reggie on the ground. She was kneeling on the ground, pant legs soaked from the snow. She was crying outright now. Tears falling to meet their frozen brethren on the ground. In one hand she had Melissa, in the other the shattered limb. She tried futilely to put the pieces back together. “come on.. come on.. come on..” Her sobs and sniffles getting more desperate.
>Dustin got down on one knee to her level and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Hey it’s ok, those guys aren’t gonna bother you any more.” Reggie finally looked up at her brother.
>”Sh-she’s ruined..” Her lips were trembling. Dustin had never seen such hopeless and defeated eyes before. He looked down at the broken toy and frowned. It really was a nightmare. Her leg hadn’t just popped off, it was cracked and shattered at the joint.
>He pondered the plastic gore for a moment then smiled slightly, to Reggie’s confusion. “Hey, it’s alright. We can fix this”
>”We can?” Her sniffle said that she wasn’t totally convinced, but some hope had returned.
>”Yeah, I’d still got some modeling glue left from when I built that replica of the Roswell UFO. It’ll only take me like ten minutes to put Melissa back together.”
>Reggie smiled, tears still staining the corners of her eyes. She wiped her nose on her sleeve as Dustin smiled back at her. She threw herself at him, her arms around his neck. He wrapped on arm around her back.
>”Come on Reggie, let’s go.” He stood up and took her hand to help her up. They began to walk down the sidewalk. “You know, Mr. Abernathy who works the pretzel cart at the mall was abducted by aliens once.”
>”No way!”
>”It’s true. He just can’t talk about it much because the CIA is watching him.”
>They walked on in silence, Dustin’s arm around Reggie’s shoulders the entire way.