"Really?"
"Of course, you're my little brother. I'd move heaven and earth to find you a million times over."
A small tear escaped down his face.
The backs of my eyes stung. I knew it would be hard to keep it together while we had this conversation, but I had to try. I went over to him and gave him a hug, feeling his body sag slightly against mine.
"Let's take this to the living room," I said.
Afonso followed, and I was relieved that he sat right next to me.
"Do you want to tell me what happened?" I asked.
He shook his head. "I'm not the same person I was then. A lot of things happened."
I ran my hands through his short hair, and he looked into my eyes.
"I'm not the same person either, Afonso. I promise we can work through this together, and you'll never need to run again, okay?"
He nodded. His eyes were still shiny, but he wasn't crying any more. I steeled myself for what came next. Confessing what our father had done to me.
When I finished, Afonso was gripping my hands so hard, I could tell he was struggling to keep it together.
"Afonso, he did the same to you, didn't he?"
He looked down and more tears ran down his face.
"Yes. I wanted to tell you, but you were always working and then you went away to school and never came back. After you left, it was worse. He started calling me by your name whenever Mom wasn't around. I knew then he'd done the same to you."
"It started when I was still at home?"
My throat went dry, and I wished our father was still alive so I could kill him myself.
I could tell Afonso was struggling with the memories, and I wanted to give him some reprieve, but I remembered how I'd felt after I'd told Vítor and decided to let Afonso make the choice to continue.
"You were so brave. You got a job and studied. You were able to escape. I wanted to be like you, but I was too young to get a job. One day, Mom saw me crying and asked me what was wrong. I told her that dad sometimes touched me. She didn't believe me, so I couldn't tell her he did more than that.
"On my thirteenth birthday, I asked if I could come to see you on the bus. Mom didn't want to let me, but I promised I'd be careful. I packed a bag with a few things. When I got there, I saw you were so happy. You were free."
"I didn't know you came."
"After I saw you, I thought you'd be happier without the burden of caring for me. I went home and ran away a month later."
Our coffees were forgotten as we hugged each other and cried until there were no more tears left from our shared past.
"Afonso, do you want to tell me what happened after you ran?"
"Can we do that later? I'm tired now."
I ran my hands down his head and back. I'd hold him for as long as he needed, and I'd do it for the rest of our lives because I was determined to do everything in my power to take his pain away. My little brother was back. The rest was white noise.
"Sleep, Flea. I've got you."
