“They’re the only thing I’m thinking of, otherwise I’d have told them to go to hell.”
“They need you. Mum’s getting tired and I can’t always be on-call. I do what I can, but I need you, they need you –bothof you. Maybe if we were all nearby, we could hold off looking for another solution for a while.”
“What are you talking about?”
“Dad asked me to—”
“No,” he says firmly, not letting me finish. “We’re not sending him off anywhere, ever. Mum won’t have it and neither will I.”
“Do you think it’s something I want for him?”
“I don’t know, is it?”
“Don’t be a dick,” I say standing up in front of him.
“Maybe you’re tired and don’t want to take on the responsibility.”
“Are you shitting me? I’m the one who stayed, Ryan, while you two ran as far away as possible.”
“Didn’t you want to run away, too?”
“I never did and never will.”
“What a great role model you are…”
“There are things that are more important than stupid fights between brothers.”
“Stupid fights?”
“Okay, maybe it’s something more than that, but not so serious you have to distance yourself from your parents. Especially now that they need you.”
Ryan snorts derisively and I sit back down.
“You’re not a little boy anymore, Ryan. You can’t keep running away. You haven’t got a lifelong career in front of you. You need to decide, now. Either you accept this offer or…”
“It’s over. I know.”
“You could always be a model like Nick, you’re not bad-looking.”
“Fuck off, Ian!”
I laugh because Ryan isn’t really angry: not with me at least.
“Think about it, bro. It could be a good opportunity.”
“What’s that? The return of your shadow?”
“You know it never was like that.”
“That’s what you think. You’ve always been the champion in the family.”
“Only because I’m the only one around here who takes it seriously. I don’t let everything else influence my work. Ever.”
“Yeah well…”
“What’s that?”
“That’s all changed now, hasn’t it?”
