Part 363: True Brothers

June 26th, 2005

Claire gently rocked Aaron to sleep. The room that she was in belonged to Charlie but it in a different fashion; it was just simply where he stored his junk. However, he cleaned out the bulk of it to make room for Aaron. The young blonde was so thankful to Charlie for turning it into a nursery. She even watched him throw all of it away. The dumpster outside was nearly filled with fan letters, photos, magazines interviews, awards; all from his hay day with Drive Shaft. But he got rid of it all for them. Claire was so proud of him. He had come so far and now someone was threatening to bring him back into that life.

“Liam, you can run Driveshaft if you want,” Charlie told his brother, “But I am not coming back.”

“It’s not the same without you, baby brother,” his older brother told him, “You need to come back. This is your time to reclaim your glory.”

“I WILL reclaim my glory . .in my own time,” the musician sighed, “I’ve got better things to worry about, Liam.”

Claire rested her head on the doorway arch, listening to the two brothers in their conversation. Liam was doing his best to convince Charlie to return to Driveshaft but he wanted nothing to do with it. Charlie was content to take care of her and her baby; not to mention wait for when Seth and Shanna were ready. However, Liam was nothing if not persistent. “Charlie, listen to me,” his brother pleaded, “I’ve already told everybody else that you are coming back. They are expecting this.”

“Then you can do me the favor of disappointing them,” Charlie immediately replied, “You never should have told them that; not without consulting me. But then again . .you’ve never needed my say in anything anyway.”

Liam blinked. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” he asked.

“You were the one who forced me into the band in the first place. On your terms, Liam, not mine! It was all about the music and you corrupted it with the drugs! I told you when it was too much we’d walk away but you didn’t listen.”

“That’s in the past, Charlie.”

“NOT FOR ME!” the musician bellowed, “ I’ve had to live with it for the near past year, Liam. Why didn’t you come see me sooner?”

“I’ve already told you, baby brother. I was in massive press tours, Driveshaft is a big hit in Japan.”

“Then there you go, Liam. You don’t need me.”

“I was doing this for you, Charlie. All of has been for you.”

“OH, BOLLOCKS!” Charlie stood up and paced around, “You’ve never done anything for me. NEVER.”

“Charlie, calm down,” Liam held up a hand.

“Look, just forget it, Liam. When Seth and Shanna are ready, we are forming Turboshaft. We’ll be better than Driveshaft every was. You might want to get use to the idea.”

“Oh, Charlie, would you please stop that sodding non-sense?” the tall singer buried his face in his hands, “Turoshaft has got to be the stupidest name I’ve heard of, not to mention you can’t carry a band with only three people.”

“Watch us,” Charlie warned.

“Charlie, come back with me. Give yourself a chance before you embarrass yourself. And get wrapped up in the drugs again.”

“Excuse me?” Charlie hissed, “What the HELL makes you think I will get back in the drugs again?”

Liam walked over and placed his hands on his brother’s shoulders. “Baby brother, lets face it,” he whispered, “you couldn’t take care of a cat. How do you bloody hell expect to take care of this twitch and her kid?”

“HEY!” Claire screamed from the doorway.

Charlie quickly moved away from his brother to intercept Claire but she fought go get closer to Liam. “HOW DARE YOU!” she pointed.

“Claire, I got this.” The musician tried to assure her.

“You don’t have the right to judge, Charlie,” she barked, “He fought the drugs on the Island and became clean from them. He’s free of them! Not only did he take care of me and my son, HE SAVED MY SONS LIFE!!”

“Claire, please, go outside.”

“THE NEXT TIME YOU GOT A HAIL OF BULLETS ON YOU, THEN YOU GET THE RIGHT TO JUDGE CHARLIE!!!”

Charlie continued to walk Claire toward the fire escape. He slowly opened the window big enough for her to walk out. “Claire, please.” The musician whispered, “I’ll handle Liam.”

“He’s got no right to talk to you that way, Charlie.” She said, crossing her arms.

“I know,” he slowly smiled, “Thank you . . .for defending me.”

Claire’s eyes flashed toward the musician. It was that special look she reserved only for him. She leaned up on her toes and kissed him. Charlie held onto her for a few seconds and then they gently parted. The young Australian stepped out onto the outside stairway and sat down. Charlie didn’t close the window, giving her enough respect to hear the conversation as it continued. The young Australian tucked her hair behind her ears as they continued their shouting match.

Claire rubbed her eyes. She was thankful for so much from Charlie. Giving her and Aaron a place to stay considering she had nothing to go back to Australia for. The Australian woman slowly hugged her knees and as she did, she saw a truck coming down the street. She blinked and raised her eyes; realizing it looked exactly like the two trucks she and Charlie got from the corporations after they came home. The truck had a large orange tarp covering over a big object in the back. As it came to a stop, a young man got out of the drivers side and a young woman got out of the passengers side, then shortly followed by another young woman. Claire’s eyes lid up with joy considering she knew all three of them. “SETH!!” she laughed, “MIA, SHANNA!!”

“Hey!” the young singer smiled, covering the sun from his eyes as he looked up, “What are you doing up there, Claire?”

Claire didn’t answer immediately. She was just too happy to see them. She quickly made her way down the stairs on the metal staircase joined to the building and then immediately ran into the awaiting arms of Mia. The Lakota girl laughed as she and the Australian turned in their friendly hug. As they parted, Shanna hugged her as well; kissing her on the cheek. Then she hugged Seth who laughed, playfully picking up her. “Whoa, Seth,” she laughed, “I thought only those kinda hugs came from Hurley.”

“I guess the big man rubs off on me.” He smiled.

“It’s so great to see you, Claire,” Mia smiled, “Where is Charlie? We’d love to see him.”

“I know he’d love to see you guys but . . .I don’t think now is a good time.”

“Why not?” asked Shanna.

“His brother Liam is up there and they’ve been arguing about getting back into Driveshaft.”

Seth slowly looked up and sneered. “Is that right?” he whispered.


Within moment, the friends had road the elevator up toward the third floor and followed Claire down the musty hallway. She got to the door and opened it with her key. As they walked in, Charlie and Liam were still arguing but then they paused as the three new friends walked in. The bassist’s eyes lit up at the sight of his three favorite friends from the Island. Seth immediately walked into and headed toward Charlie. The two friends quickly embraced, with quick pats on the back. “It’s good to see you, Seth,” Charlie laughed.

“Seth?” Liam coughed, “Are you him?”

Seth looked at the taller man with a slightly bent eyebrows. “Yeah, I am Seth,” he immediately said, then looked toward his friend, “You gonna let me say my peace, Charlie or should we just tell Liam to leave?”

“You honestly think you can take my place with my brother?” Liam glared.

“Wise up, dumb ass,” the singer hissed, “I HAVE taken your place.”

“Guys, don’t do this!” Charlie protested.

“Nothing is stronger than the ties of blood, you twit!” Liam barked back at him.

“Let me clue you in, boy,” Seth retorted, “I was there with him. I was there in the muck and fire, helping him survive. There was a plane full of drugs that has crashed landed on the Island. I set it ablaze to take away his temptation. THAT’S . ..what a true brother can do, blood or not!”

“There is nothing you could do that I couldn’t do!” Liam yelled.

“Oh, yeah? How about correct your mistakes?” Seth said coldly.

Liam paused and then winced. “What are you talking about?” he reacted.

“Hey, Charlie,” the musician patted his friend on the back, “Come downstairs with me. I got something of yours.”

“Something . . .of mine?” the bassist said, following him.

Claire quickly got Aaron from his bed and brought him down with them. Mia and Shanna looked at Liam briefly then followed them out. The tall musician wondered what was going on so he reluctantly followed them.

After a minute, they finally made their way to the lobby of the apartment building and walked outside. The summer heat beat down slightly on their faces as they walked out into the street. Seth walked over to the back of the truck and started to undo the ropes that held the giant object down. Charlie looked to Mia and Shanna for some help in uncovering what the item was but they just shrugged their shoulders; smiling. Seth then grabbed the tarp and pulled it away. The bassist looked at it and saw that it was clearly a piano. Then he started to hyperventilate.

He looked like HIS piano.

Seth took his friend by the arm and guided him over toward the tailgate. He pointed to the side of the musical instrument, showing the crack in the side that resembled a small crater. “Is that it, Charlie?” Seth pointed, “You said, one of Liam’s friends were so happy Liverpool won the game, that he kicked his soccer ball so hard, it cracked the side of your piano.”

“It . . .can’t be.” Charlie was nearly moved to tears.

The bassist then grabbed the tailgate and helped himself up toward the piano. He quickly flipped open the key cover and looked to the far right. There was a small black burn mark, where his mother had accidentally let her cigarette drop. Charlie held his chest, trying not to cry. He then played a small note, letting his fingers fall to the C Note key. It played one cord and then it stuck. The bassist held his eyes; the key ALWAYS stuck. “It’s my piano,” he wept, “It’s . . .it’s my sodding piano.”

“Seth?” Claire gasped, knowing the full story, “ Where did you find it?”

“It was in a pawn shop in the valley.” Seth said, “I’ve had Mr. Chiles looking for it every since we got back.”

Charlie jumped down from the truck and immediately embraced Seth. The two friends held on each other, as the bassist wept on his shoulder. Liam looked at the piano and looked at them. All it did was remind him of his own shame. He sold the Charlie’s piano to get a plane ticket to Australia but what made him even more ashamed was the fact that he didn’t regret doing it. It gave him the means to save himself and in the end . . .that’s what this was all about. Liam slowly turned and proceeded to walk toward his car.

Charlie then parted from Seth and ran toward him. “Liam!” he said, catching up to him.

Liam paused and looked toward him. “Baby brother. . . .Driveshaft . .are you in or out?” he asked.

The bassist stared at his older brother as he wiped his eyes. “I’m out, Liam.” He whispered, “Unless you can apologize for selling my piano and not getting out of the band when we should have?”

Liam stared at him and then closed his eyes, allowing tears to form over his cheeks. Charlie shook his head, fearing that was indeed going to be the answer. He leaned over and hugged his brother. “Go home, Liam,” he whispered, “Be a father to your daughter. And let go of your glory. It’s gone. Please . . .please . . .don’t get in the way of mine.”

Liam continued to say nothing. He then kissed Charlie on the top of his head and then walked away. The bassist watched his brother get in his Sedan and drive away. He took a deep breath, and let it out as Claire came over with Aaron. The little baby grabbed Charlie’s sleeve and gently tried to eat it. The musician smiled as he kissed Claire and then Aaron. He then cracked his neck as he got ready to get the piano up the three flight of stairs to his apartment.


After the struggle, Seth leaned against the piano; sipping on the Gatorade. Charlie brought over a chair from the kitchen and sat it down. Mia, Shanna and Claire were laughing over pizza that they had ordered. Charlie slowly let his fingers glide over the keys; remembering what it was like to touch them. “Thank God this isn’t a normal piano.” Seth chuckled, sipping his Gatorade.

“You okay?” Charlie asked him.

“I think my arms might be sore but other than that, I’ll be okay.”

“Seth . . .I fear you may have burdened me with a debit I can never repay.”

“Oh, shut up,” Seth said, standing up, “ Just write a song about me and we’ll call it even.”

“Play us a song, Charlie,” Claire smiled.

Charlie looked to the love of his life and smiled. The way she said for him to play us a song it sounded just like the way his mother said it. It had nothing but love behind it’s statement. Charlie then closed his eyes and began to play a tune. It was soft and free flowing. Seth sat down on a nearby couch and watched as his friend played the tune. It was a special tune that Charlie wrote for Liam.

But today, he was playing it for Seth.