My Brother's Keeper (a Superman story)

Chapter 2: Cold Reception

One Year Later

A year ago, my dad and my best friend were taken from me.

Their loss still felt fresh in my mind. It was as if it had happened just yesterday and while everyone told me, even Rüya, that it was not my fault, part of me felt responsible and somehow it felt like I could have done more to prevent what had happened.

As I walked down the hallway, I decided to skip the rest of the day as I did not have the headspace to deal with school. This place reminded me too much of my dad and my best friend and I could not even look Rüya in the eye.

"Omar" said Rüya.

"Hey" I said.

"Where are you going?"

"I'm ditching the rest of the day."

"Omar, it's the first day of senior year and the last thing you need is getting behind on your grades."

"I can care less about my grades at this point. Besides, my GPA is still in good shape and I doubt skipping one day of school is gonna hurt!"

"Still..."

"Rüya, leave me alone!"

"Omar! It was not your fault and Ozan did what anyone would have done. You were like a brother to him and he would have done whatever to keep you and the rest of us, safe. I'm still grieving his loss but I also know he would not want any of us to grieve him forever."

She was right and I knew that. I simply did not have the strength to care or to do even what was right.

I walked away. She still attempted to be there for me even though I had broken up with her because simply put, I could not be with the girl whose brother I had failed to save. I loved Rüya and she once did bring me happiness. But nothing made me happy anymore. I was depressed and angry all the time. I oftentimes even punched the wall and made my knuckles bleed.

I was not a self-injurer or anything, but if I was angry enough, even punching something hard was not nearly as painful as what I had lost. I was so angry, that I punched the brick wall as I left and again, busted my damn knuckles.

Riding my motorcycle back home, I walked up the steps leading to the porch. Entering, I heard laughter and one of the voices was of my brother, Clark.

The moment he and my mom saw me, their faces fell, likely because it was obvious I had skipped school.

"What are you doing here so early?" asked my mom.

There was no point in making any excuses.

"I decided to skip the rest of the day. I'm not in the mood for anything!"

I then noticed another girl, who was probably around my brother's age. Then I realized this was likely his girlfriend, Lois.

"Omar, you can't skip school. You're a senior and you're going to graduate" Clark insisted.

"Wow, and suddenly you give a shit about me!"

"Omar!" my mom shouted.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Clark looked at me, clearly surprised by my attitude, which was different from what it once was.

"You left and I understood why you felt the need to figure out your past, but I needed you and you weren't here!"

"Omar, I have a job and..."

"A life? Yeah, I get that but I needed my brother! You never even returned my calls nor did you ever try to. Until I finally gave up!"

"Please, just let me explain!"