Chapter Four
When we woke up in the morning, the clouds sat heavy like scoops of ice creams in the valley where the Reece farm was. It was hard to see even five feet in front of me. The ground was soft and mushy and the water uncomfortably seeped over my sandal. Hunter, Cameron and I walked up to the house and the others left. The house was empty which surprised me because normally it smelled like eggs and bacon from breakfast. I noticed that the stove was cold. I sat at the kitchen table eating a bagel, when I saw a handwritten note on some lined paper. It read, "Boys, I took your father to the hospital, come when you get this."
"Cameron, come in here," I yelled.
He came down and read the note. The look on his face changed from a half cocked smile to a serious frown. He grabbed his keys and the three of us jumped in the truck. The twenty minute ride was eating at Hunter. He didn’t have to say anything but his eyes began to water. He loved his father in a very different way than his brother. Cameron locked his jaw so hard I thought his teeth were going to crack from the grinding. Hunter looked like he was at a funeral; Cameron like he was the man in the casket. We were silent and I could hear the bumps on the road underneath the truck bed rattling me out of a coma-like concentration.
We parked in the hospital front lot and walked inside where Dayna, the receptionist I knew from summer camp when I was seven, met us. She told us Daniel was in room thirteen and we headed up there. The anxiety was building in my friends, appropriately. As the door swung open I saw Carol crying hugging her husband tightly; I hadn’t seen them embrace like that for a long time and it scared me. The room was dark even though most everything was white or that light teal color. The blinds were drawn closed. Daniel had thin tubes wrapped around his large body which at the moment seemed very fragile. He had a bruise forming on the right side of his face probably where he had fallen and his normal slicked black hair was ruffled and out of form. I had never seen him like this, so vulnerable. Carol immediately straightened up when we walked in and whipped her face with her left sleeve; it had dark mascara marks on it. She took in a long deep breathe trying to be strong. The television was off.
"What’s going on?" asked Cameron.
"Boys, I have to tell you something," said Daniel with a long sigh, "I have lung cancer."
"What does that mean?" Hunter stuttered.
"Well, I have cancer and at this point, there’s not much I can do about it."
"There’s treatments and second opinions," Cameron said.
"I have spoken it over with your mother and we both think it is best if I just live at home and sort of see it out."
"What do you mean
see it out?" I asked.
Carol spoke up, "It has spread too far throughout his body. Your father wants to live the rest of his time at home with us, his family…and not here in the hospital, considering the chances of him recovering are slim…to none."
"Absolutely not," Cameron yelled..
Hunter slumped over in a red arm chair in the corner of the room and began crying lightly. He was overwhelmed; his brother was pacing the room hard like a basketball coach on the sideline, helpless and aggressive.
"You have to get help!" said Cameron.
"I’m sorry, Cameron, I am, but this decision is not up to you."
"Oh so you are going to refuse treatment out of spite for me?"
"You watch yourself now," said Daniel sternly.
"MOTHER, are you going to stand around and watch him deteriorate? Where’s your fight? Do either of you have any SENSE?"
"CAMERON!" Carol yelled, "I think you need to wait outside."
Cameron took a long angry look at his parents and stomped outside slamming the door. Carol was shaken and went over to console Hunter, partly because I think it made her feel better to hug her son. Daniel closed his eyes regaining his composure after Cameron’s outburst. I didn’t know what to say and I stood there like a zombie with my mouth half open. Daniel was like my father too; he had built a room for me on the side of the barn when my parents left for Florida my senior year in high school. My parents never really cared much I don’t think, but Daniel and Carol treated me like Hunter and Cameron. I understood Daniel’s decision, but I didn’t like it; I knew better than to impose my disagreement at this time though.
"How long did they give you?" I asked.
Daniel looked at me, "About six months."
I began to cry, "I’m sorry; I’m so sorry," I went over and hugged him and he hugged me back.
***
Later that week we moved Daniel home and while Carol was fixing up his room, Hunter and I sat in the kitchen eating some tuna sandwiches that she had made earlier; Cameron was at Alice’s house down the road. I could tell Hunter was hurting bad; he wasn’t eating much and I nudged him and asked if he was hungry. He grunted yeah. The house was different, now, I could feel it. Sara walked in with tears in her eyes.
"Oh baby," she ran to Hunter. He didn’t say anything.
"Are you ok?" she asked.
"No, I’m not." We sat in silence and finished our sandwiches while Sara went into the refrigerator and poured a glass of apple juice for Hunter then we moved into the den. The den smelled of wood lacquer; Daniel had just finished the mantel above the fireplace out of oak. I sat in an old easy-back chair and Hunter and Sara sat on the couch.
"So what’s going to happen now?" Sara asked.
"I don’t know, what do you mean?" Hunter said.
"Well, your father can’t really work, can he?"
"I didn’t even think about the farm." Hunter cupped his head in his hands realizing that there was a major issue. Daniel did the majority of work around the farm and managed it too; with him out of commission they would have to make up for the work their father did and rely on their mother to manage. The boys were headed back to school in a month and with them gone, there was no way the farm could stay in business.
"I don’t know what’s going on," said Hunter, "It’s too much to take in at once."
"Well, as I see it you’ll either have to sell the farm and move or you’ll have to stay home from college," Sara sort of smiled and I think it pissed Hunter off.
"You’d like that wouldn’t you? Jesus, Sara, I just found out my father’s going to die in six months and your smiling."
"I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I am absolutely not happy about this, I just love you so much," Sara started crying and it seemed a little fake to me. She knew Hunter was a sucker for tears. He hugged her and said it was ok and after a minute those magic tears turned themselves off.
"What are you thinking?" I asked Hunter.
"As I see it Levi, my father would never ask us to stay, he just wouldn’t do that. But if my mother asks us, then I would stay. I mean I could always go back to school later."
"What do you think Cameron would do?" I asked him interested.
"He’d stay," Hunter looked at us unsure.
"I don’t know," I said and I didn’t think so; Cameron was much more a lone ranger than a team player.
"He would definitely stay, we would make him," Hunter said.
"Have you ever made him do anything he didn’t want to?" I asked already knowing the answer.
"You don’t think he would stay, Levi?"
"I don’t know if he would or wouldn’t. All I’m saying is that when he makes up his mind you won’t be able to change it."
"He is so selfish," Sara said, "He would let this farm go under just because he doesn’t get along with your dad. I could see that. He’s never really cared about anything but himself and poor Alice…"
Jasper walked in from the kitchen with an apple, "You need to shut your mouth, Sara."
"Fuck you, Jasper," she shot back.
"You’re going to let your
girlfriend talk shit about your brother, real fucking nice," Jasper yelled at Hunter.
"Mind your own fucking business," Sara said again.
"Sara, you don’t know shit about what’s going on, so fuck off," laughed Jasper.
"Jasper, easy on her," Hunter said.
"You’re a real piece of shit," Sara kept pushing.
"I got news for you sweetheart," Jasper was coming with some heat you could tell, "When this kid makes it big in the music industry," he pointed at Hunter, "he’s going to be playing for millions of hot girls all around the country. Guess who is getting kicked off the team first? Yep, I think you know."
"And as for you," he looked at Hunter, "I don’t want to hear you talking shit about your brother, or I’ll do his dirty work for him."
And just like that Jasper walked back into the kitchen and was gone. Jasper and Cameron were really close friends and it didn’t surprise me that he felt the need to defend his friend. When they were younger they both had this sort of run and gun attitude and they’d challenge each other to do stupid shit like jump off of bridges or climb rocks. We were all like brothers but Jasper and Cameron understood each other because they were both bulls in the coral. I remember one time Jasper got into it with some bad guys in town and they beat up on him pretty good. That night Jasper came into the house all bloodied up and he had a broken nose I think and he and Cameron went back to where the guys were staying and beat them with a set of golf clubs, smashed up their house and then lit their car on fire; then after Cameron took Jasper to the hospital to get his nose fixed. They didn’t mess around when it came to that stuff and neither one of them were afraid of anything so it made sense to act that way. Jasper would never seriously hurt Hunter, but he’d lay into him pretty good if he felt he had to.
***
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