Kevin put his head down to hide the grin on his face and decided not to tell them that Max had technically won the bet. “Jasmindoesn’t seem like the type? What about me?”
“You’re a horny bastard. If you can make out right outside a church, no place is sacred to you.” She must have seen something on his face because her smile faded. “You okay, Bink?”
“Just thinking.”
“About Perry?” Max asked.
“Yeah…I just miss him, that’s all. I keep wondering what he’d be doing right now.”
“He’d probably be wasted…and giving me a hard time.” Max’s smile was reminiscent. “You know, Perry might be gone, but he’s still alive in our memories. We’ll always have that. Take it from me. Memories are the most important thing we have.”
“Yeah,” Kevin replied with a nod. “I remember this one time…Jo, Perry and I went into town to buy groceries for mom and as we were walking back, this Rottweiler came out of nowhere and started chasing me down the street. I ended up throwing eggs at it so it would leave me alone and when that didn’t work, I threw the box and hit Perry. He just fell over. To this day I still don’t know how that happened. The physics doesn’t make sense. You remember that, Jo?”
“Yeah…though I remember it being a poodle.”
“It was a Rottweiler. It was snarling and had the biggest teeth I’ve ever seen.”
“You were smaller, Bink, so the dog probably seemed bigger, but it was definitely a poodle.”
He was too embarrassed to argue that point. Instead, they carried on talking about their favorite memories with Perry and it felt good. He spoke to Jasmin about him all the time, but it was different to share the memories with people who had actually been there, who knew what he was like. Thinking back on his childhood was bittersweet, reliving the moments in his mind only to realize that all he had now were those memories. But at least he had that. Someone up there had taken the time to create the best friend ever and then decided that Kevin was worthy enough to have fifteen great years with him.
“He’ll always be part of us,” Max said, placing his arm around Kevin’s shoulder, “He’ll always be a part of this family.”
Jordan, who was desperately trying not to cry, came in on the other side of him and also placed her one arm around him and the other around Max.
“What are you guys doing out here?” Shane asked.
Kevin looked to the door and saw Dom and Shane walking towards them. None of them answered, and Dom, the big brother who could communicate without talking, didn’t need an explanation. He came in between Kevin and Jordan and placed an arm around each of them.
“Oh, there’s hugging,” Shane said. “I’m out.”
Dom grabbed the back of his shirt before he walked away and pulled him back. “Get in here, Shane.”
Shane wasn’t the affectionate type and with a reluctant shrug, he huddled in between Max and Jordan.
“It’s okay, little brother.” Dom kissed the top of Kevin’s head and, noticing that Jordan was also an emotional mess, he kissedher as well. He protectively tightened his hold on both of them. “You still have us…We still have each other.”
Kevin nodded. Dom was right. They still had each other. Perry could never be replaced, but he still had so much to be grateful for. He had a great girl, who was blossoming into an incredible woman, and he loved her completely. And he had this. Amazing people who stood by him no matter what. They didn’t always get along. Over the years, there had been fights, arguments, threats, bribes. But in between shouting and door-slamming, there’d also been laughter, inside jokes, pranks and every now and then, a big, ol’ group hug.
In the face of tragedy, it had been easy to lose sight of what was important, but at that moment he relished in all the blessings God had given him, because there were four right in front of him and one inside. In one way or another, all of them showed him that he wasn’t alone in this world. They showed him the true meaning of family.
One year later…
Chicago, Illinois
“I hear you, Max,” Kevin said as he grabbed his bag and hopped out of the cab, “but it’s not gonna change my mind.”
Keeping the phone against his ear, he closed the cab door while his brother continued to tell him why he thought this was a bad idea.
“I really think you need to give this more thought,” Max said. “This is a very impulsive decision.”
“It’s not. I’ve thought long and hard about it. I’ve been with Jasmin for over a year and it’s hard. It’s so hard. I can’t take it anymore. It needs to end. I’ve made up my mind, so stop worrying about me. You’ve got a baby on the way and from what you’ve told me, your wife is consuming an unhealthy amount of peanut butter. That’s what you should be worrying about.”
Max laughed, but still didn’t let up. “Jasmin is a great girl, Kev—”
He knew exactly where this was going and there was nothing his brother could say that would talk him out of his decision. “Max,” he cut in promptly, “you’re my brother. You already know how I feel and I know how you feel, so there’s no need to talk about this.”
With a sigh of defeat, Max finally relented. “Okay. I just hope you don’t end up regretting this.”
