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Brothers

While your drive for success is commendable, you probably made the wrong choice here. Sometimes after working your mind on something for so long you just need to take a break.

You work on the essay until two in the morning. You're not really satisfied with the finished product, but you do get some satisfaction from the fact that it is a finished product.

The paper gets a C. Fact is, it wasn't a very well written paper. You get the impression that the professor was being generous with the C.

All day every day for close to a month all you hear about is how awesome the party was and how you should have gone. You missed out on a big social interaction. Remember, all work and no play makes Paul a socially inept asshole.

So whatever. Another two years go by and college is going well. You've been debating on selecting your major. Over much thought you've decided on child psychology, most likely as a result of what happened to your family.

Late one night you are awakened by a phone call. It's your father, he sounds drunk. Just as you start to give him a speech about his chronic alcohol abuse he blurts out the reason for his call. Mikey is dead. He died of an overdose.

You start to blame yourself for not being there for your family. You wonder how Kenny is going to come with this loss. He's eighteen now, and Mikey had to be the only person who paid him any attention.

You go home for the funeral. Mikey looks terrible, all skin and bones. The makeup can't cover the dark rings under his eyes. You wonder how your parents could have let this happen and feel the guilt for not being there all over again. You're family looks bad too, your dad is drunk for the funeral, and your mom is silent. Kenny actually seems to be the most sane of the bunch.

He silence and inner turmoil seem almost fitting in this setting. You see some cousins you haven't seen in a while, some aunts and some uncles. Gwen shows up to offer her condolences. She looks beautiful. She informs you that she is married now. She says it took allot to get over you, but she did eventually get over you. You wish you could say the same.

After the funeral, Kenny asks you to stay behind for a little while. He says he just wants some company. You have midterms in a week. You can't afford to fail the midterms and you have allot of studying ahead of you. But Kenny needs you, he has always needed you.