Chapter 15: I would have felt nothing

“I’ll miss you brother….”  Hope muttered.

“What are you talking about now?  Don’t tell you’ve been sipping again…  This early in the morning…”

“I might’ve…. My head began to throb, brother.   I needed some relief.”

“Where did you get it?  I threw it all out!”

“This is Blackwater, you know how easy it is to get here…”  Hope said with a slight chuckle.

“This isn’t funny Hope!  You’re killing yourself!  Who gave it you?”

“Just a friend…”

“It was the Hedonist again, wasn’t it?”

“It doesn’t matter...You can throw it out all you want.  I will always get more.  As long we live in Blackwater, I will never run out.”  Hope said.

“I’m getting us out of here…”

“How are you going to do that?  You don’t have enough money to just up and leave.”

“I-I’ll find a way…. Mother did leave us this house, and father died a long time ago…. But I’ll find a away!”

“Brother… what was father like?”  Hope asked.

“He was a good man, Hope.  He just couldn’t show it.  He was always working, especially when mother was pregnant with you.  He had to find a way to pay for more food.”

“Food for me…?”

“You WERE a mouth to feed little brother… We were struggling as is…. Adding another mouth was too costly.”

“Then why…. Why did mother have me.  Why didn’t they just get rid of me…. While they had the chance?”

“They tried, little brother….”  

“And it didn’t work?”

“Nope…”

“But how?”

“Father spent bundles of gold and silver on the Elixir, but it didn’t work.  You were coming into this world no matter what.”

“Oh…”

“You would have wanted it to work?”

“Your life would have been different without me…. It would have been better…”

“How do you know that?”

“Mom would still be alive… I know that for sure.  I know you still resent that, and I’m sorry.  I know you still want her around…. And I took her from you.”

“No you didn’t hope.  Just stop talking about mother!”  Hope’s brother said with tears beginning to flow.

“I wish the Elixir worked…”  I wouldn’t have felt it….  I would have felt nothing.”