Short+Story

Brothers By: Jerry Kim Another doctor, the same answer. “We don’t know what kind of disease your brother has.” Doctor Richards the best doctor in Detroit, but like all the other fancy and famous doctors that we have visited for the past 7 months, couldn’t find a cure for my brother or even indentify what he has. Hearing that, I was furious! “If you’re one of the best doctors out there, getting paid millions, why can’t you do something?” I said. With that I lunged at him, ready to tackle him to the ground and show him what I, the star pitcher of our school was made out of. Even before I could hit him, my dad grabbed me by the arm and started pulling me back. I’m not huge but I was surprised when my dad, a guy who doesn’t do much other than his work let only exercise started dragging me and restraining me. “Sorry Doctor Richards my son is a bit angry about this current situation and the fact that no one seems to be able to help his brother.” Said Dad The doctor turned and gave me a look of sympathy and said “You must really care for him, well here’s something that I’ve never told anyone but I think you should know.” Hearing that I quickly listened up. “There’s a rumor that in the heart of New York there’s a fountain of youth that can cure anything but listen closely if digested in too great of an amount you will turn a great deal younger. I was quickly intrigued, my dad seeing my face and knowing that I would do something rash, he thanked the doctor and we left. As we were walking towards the car all I could about was this fountain, I kept thinking only if I could get there, I could save my brother. My dad opened up the door for me and my brother; we got in and started driving towards the airport for a flight back home to L.A. As soon as the plane took off I fell asleep. Well here’s a little bit about myself, I’m Mark, age 15, born in L.A and still living in L.A. I’ve been travelling around the world lately, visiting doctor, after doctor to find out what has happened to my brother. My brother Ian, two years older than me has contracted a weird disease that no one seems to know about, so our family, dad, Ian and I have been traveling to help him. Unfortunately our mom isn’t with us because she passed away a couple years back when she was jogging in the park and got caught in between a gang war. I would have gone after every single one of those gang members but my dad knowing that I would didn’t tell which gang killed her. I woke up, grabbed my stuff and got ready to exit the plane. As I opened the door to leave the terminal I got hit in the face by warm L.A sunlight. We got in a taxi and started making our way home. By the time we got home I was starving, I rang the doorbell and waited for our chef Carlos to open the door, when the door opened the scent of fresh tacos entered my nose. I sprinted in and started digging in. As I was about to start my fifth taco I realized my brother was eating them also, and without any problems. I started hoping that maybe my brother was starting to get immune to this. I believed if anyone could do this it would be him because he’s the toughest guy at school, the star quarterback and just plain awesome. After the meal I went in to my room and searched up the fountain of youth. After four hours of research I learned that I the beginning people thought that it was located in Florida but nowadays more people believe it’s in New York. I was so absorbed with my research I didn’t realize it was late until my dad shouted “Mark get to sleep, you have school tomorrow.” “Crap” I quickly grabbed my books and shoved them in to my bag and went to bed. I laid in bed hoping that school would be cancelled for some reason. I don’t have any problems at school but I just hate it. For a week it was the same cycle school, baseball and thinking about the fountain of youth. On the eighth day it all changed, my brother who has been hanging on so well and who has seemed to get better, had a terrible change. He’s health turned worse, his fever was blazing and worst of all he couldn’t move without our help. That’s when I realized I had to do something to help the guy who has always helped me, who has always been there for me and who taught me everything that a normal kid would have learned from their dad. I went to my room and grabbed my wallet. Thankfully it wasn’t empty but it didn’t contain enough for me to get to my destination. I didn’t feel good about what I was going to do next but I knew it was necessary. I went in to my dad’s room and looked around for some cash. I looked underneath his bed and found pictures of mom. I was flooded with emotions. “What would mom say about this” I thought. I pushed that thought out of my and found 300$. I quickly snatched it and left the house. I started walking and after a while I realized that I couldn’t walk all the way to N.Y. I felt crushed, I turned around to go home but my best friend was jogging in front of me and I cried “Spencer I need your help!” “What do you need?” He answered without hesitation. “I need a plane ticket to New York and don’t tell my dad were I’ve gone to.” I said. Spencer ran home and got his rich parents to buy me a plane ticket, a first class ticket! I thanked his parents and made my way to the plane terminal. As I boarded the plane, I started thinking about everything that happened today. I realized my dad would figure out that I left for New York but hopefully he wouldn’t come to stop me. As I opened my eyes I took in view of a million skyscrapers. As I was leaving the airport, I noticed that the city itself seemed to be faster then back home. As day changed into night I got pretty scared. I had no idea where I was going or where I would stay for the night. As I was thinking about that, I mindlessly wandered into a dark alley. That’s when I heard three guys coming from behind me. Dressed in all blue it was clear that they were the Crips. I was about to tell them I was her accidentally but even before I could speak, the Crip in the center said “Mark, it’s good to see you.” “Curtis?” I replied “Yeah man, how’s Ian doing these days?” Curtis asked. <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">I sighed with relief. Curtis was one of my brother’s best friends until he moved to New York to join the Crips so he can avenge the death of his family which caused by the bloods. <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 22pt;">“Ian is doing pretty badly; he’s got some sort of disease that know seems to know about.” I replied in a not so happy tone. <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 22pt;">Curtis’s face turned into one with worry. <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 22pt;">“Come with us and stay at our place. When you feel ready, tell us why you are here.” Curtis said. <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 22pt;">I walked with them for an hour and half and stopped at the fanciest hotel I’ve ever seen. As we were walking in I expected to get kicked out but no, everyone greeted us with respect and let us in. We took the elevator up to the 26th floor. I stepped into their room and saw 5 more Crips sitting there, watching television and basically enjoying themselves. As we sat down the Crips turned off the television and all focus was on me. It was dead silent for a couple of minutes until Curtis broke the silence by saying “Why are you here?” I told them everything, Ian being sick, us travelling around the world, me hearing about the fountain of youth and about mom dying in a gang war. Hearing the last bit of news the Crips were shocked. They started whispering amongst themselves. After a few minutes, they addressed me and said “Mark, Ian was a loyal friend to Curtis and helped him out when he needed it. So now we shall help you. We know where the fountain of youth is located and its owner is the Bloods. You should know that the Bloods were the ones who killed your mom.” With that piece of news I was furious and glad. I was glad because after five years I finally knew who killed her and I was furious because that they killed her. I put aside the rage for the sake of my brother and asked “So where exactly is this fountain?” <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 22pt;">“Like I said it’s owned by the Bloods, the sworn enemy of the Crips. It’s located in a back alley in Brooklyn where the Bloods like to stay.” Curtis said. <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 22pt;">I looked at the floor in huge disappointment knowing that getting the water would basically impossible. Curtis saw the disappointment on my face and smiled “Mark this is where we come in. We hate the Bloods and we’ve wanted the fountain for some time so now we’re planning on waging war.” <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 22pt;">I looked up in a shocked expression and said “Wouldn’t they win? They are on home turf.” <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 22pt;">“We have more members and we never lose.” The leader of the Crips said <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 22pt;">As the Crips organized a plan for their attack, calling fellow members and receiving help from allianced gangs, I slept. After a great sleep I woke up feeling refreshed. I took a shower and when I came out I saw that everyone but Curtis had left. He bought me a nice breakfast and we spent the afternoon cruising around shops. By six o clock everyone started arriving. I saw close to eighty Crips on the 26th floor and heard that another 70 will be coming from the east and another 80 from the west for our attack. Right before we left Curtis handed me a slender knife that he said to use only for emergency because he could see that in my eyes I was crazy for revenge. By eight o clock we all arrived at the fountain, the Crips drew their weapons and charged straight for the fountain. As we got nearer I saw a mass of people dressed in red guarding the fountain. Still the Crips kept charging without fear and ruthlessly began attacking. The Bloods oozing with confidence thought they won the fight but with a short crisp whistle all the Crips from the east and west piled out and joined the fight. Not long after they joined, the Crips were clearly winning. A sneaky Blood who was hiding in a dumpster leapt out with a curved jagged knife and ran straight for the Crip’s leader. Without thinking I ran after him and right before he could sink his blade in to the Crip I sank mine in him. The blood moaned and with that the Crip turned around. <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 22pt;">“Mark I owe you my life. That Blood would have killed me but thankfully you intervened. Thank You.” The Crip’s leader said. <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 22pt;">With that, all the Crips bowed down and thanked me. I was so embarrassed all I could do was mumble. I looked down at the ground and knew the fight was over. The ground littered with bodies of the dead and pools of blood everywhere. I felt sick knowing that I killed someone. I was shocked; I stared at my hands, the hands of a killer. Curtis found me looking at my hands and said in a kind and soothing voice “Mark it’s alright, it was for a friend and your brother.” <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 22pt;">With that I felt a lot better and walked on forward to the fountain. I grabbed my water bottle ad filled it to the top. As I took the water I felt fantastic, helping my brother who has always been helping me out. I got Curtis to buy me a plane ticket home and right as I was about to leave he grabbed my shoulders and said “Mark you are a true friend of the Crips and when you need help, we will be there.” <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-indent: 22pt;">I boarded the plane and in 6 hours I got home. I opened the door and walked in. As I entered Carlos saw me and smiled. “Mark you are home.” Carlos said. <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">I gave him a nod and walked in to my brother’s room, where he, my dad and a doctor were. “Mark!” Dad said. I shushed him and looked at my brother. <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">“Mark I was worried, it’s good to see you before I die.” Ian croaked. <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">“You won’t die.” I said in a quiet tone. <span style="font-family: 맑은 고딕; font-size: 11pt; margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt;">I handed him the water bottle. He gave it a glance and drank it all. I was worried that he drank too much and that he would de-age. Slowly the color on Ian’s face returned and he was able to move. The doctor gasped and quickly checked over Ian and he found out that he was alright. He left and I was left with my family. My dad started asking me a million questions; I looked up, met his eyes and told him everything. Expect the murder.