Part 72 : Brendon's Secret

Seth stared at his friend in the cold darkness of the night. He knew what he just said but he was having difficulty comprehending it. “Could you . .could you say that again?” the young man asked.

“I killed my brother.” Brendon said, his eyes swelling up with tears.

“Dude,” Seth muttered.

“Brendon, what happened?” Mia asked, “ Did he force you . .to kill him?”

“In a manner of speaking,” the Asian man looked to the night sky, “I . .I remember it well. It was a cold September night. Unseasonably cold for some reason. I had just gotten home from work to find . . . to find my mother murdered.”

Shanna closed her mouth with her hands. Seth was in shock about what his friend was telling him. Mia just listened carefully. “After . .after I spent a few hours with the police, “ Brendon wiped his tears, “They told me the place had been robbed. My mother’s money savings, and the family sword which hung up on a wall. I tried to call my brother but he didn’t answer his cell phone. So I went looking for him at his gang’s hideout.”

“Gang?” Seth pondered, “You speaking figuratively?”

“No, an actual Gang, Seth. My brother was a part of the Rojo Dragons, a Mexican/Asian gang. When I got there, I demanded to see him. I had to attack two of his other men before I could see him. When I found him, he was in the middle of the room, snorting cocaine. And he . . .he had the sword right next to him.”

“The sword?” Shanna blinked.

“Wait, if he had the sword . .he . .” Mia then gasped, unable to finish her sentence.

“Yes. When I looked into his eyes and his pathetic smile back at me, I knew. I just knew, he had done it.”

“God in Heaven,” Seth whispered.

“When I demanded to know why he did it, he said because our mother refused to give him money. I told him, had our father know our mother gave birth to such a psychopath; he would have killed him on the delivery table. My brother just laughed at what I said. I then asked him what he wished to do with the sword and he said, he would give it to a pawn shop. I told him over my dead body and he replied, he had no problem with that. Then he pulled out a gun and shot me.”

Brendon then rolled up his sleeve and showed them the scar imbedded in his left upper arm. Seth had seen it before, when they were practicing their sword fighting without shirts but he never asked him about it. Mia and Shanna looked, seeing as his story was even truer. “But the gun shot didn’t kill me, “Brendon said, rolling down his sleeve, “Luckily one of the other gang members, a samurai wannabe, had a sword of his own. I immediately pulled it out of its scabbard and started to slice into the members of the gang. So . . .so much blood.”

Mia stared in absolute shock. She remembered seeing Seth in her dream, covered in blood. His story explains why that happened. Seth wiped his tears one more time. “When it was over, it was just me and my brother. He then picked up the sword and moved to attack me. He never . . .he never practiced as much as I did. He charged at me and I blocked it easily. I then twirled and ran him through with the other sword. As he collapsed to his knees with the sword stuck through his chest, his last words to me where . . .You’re no fun.”

“Oh, Jesus, “Seth said, then practically in tears himself, “Dude, I am so sorry. I had no idea.”

“No, you didn’t so don’t apologize, Seth.” Brendon patted him on the arm, “You could not have known how that phrase would have made me react.”

“Brendon, what . ..what happened after that?” Mia asked.

“The police investigated and my story matched their investigation. No charges were pressed against me, cause in essence, I was defending myself. In a strange manner, I think they secretly praised me for cutting down a notorious gang in half. I waited three months till I got the sword back from the investigation. But then, things got worse.”

“What do you mean?” asked Shanna.

“The remainder of the Rojo Dragons came after me. I killed two more of them and the police put me into protective custody after that. I only had one living relative, my Uncle. They suggested that I move away, so I could protect myself and him. The Dragons didn’t know I had only one relative left, so I moved to Australia after that. I was heading home cause . . .my Uncle recently passed away.”

“Brendon, “ Mia took his hand.

“He had left me his restaurant. I was going to go home and try to build a new life. But the plane crashed and the rest, as they say, is history. I have. .lost my honor. I should have found another way to stop my brother without killing him but the rage . . the rage took me over. I don’t . . .I don’t know what to do to get it back.”

Seth then took his other hand, feeling his friend squeeze it. The Asian man looked at his three companions, the tears flowing even more at that moment. “Thank you,” he wept, “This blackness upon my soul has been in me too long. I am grateful . . .to let it out.”

Seth then embraced him like a brother should have. Mia then go up and embraced both of the them. Shanna then got up and joined them. The four friends stood there in their group hug has Brendon continued to cry. The cry that let several years of pain finally out of him.