My Brother - Chapter 4

Luke sat in Luna’s lap, watching her knit and listening to Jeff Burman’s Show me. It was a country song. “Show me those eyes; let me touch your hand”. Luke noticed that Luna nodded her head in beat to the song. Suddenly she put the wool and needles beside. She looked at Luke and smiled. “Show me that face; let me stare at you”. “Talk”, she commanded. Luke opened his mouth and closed it. Soon a few grunts came, then hazy sounds. She frowned thoughtfully. At times like this, Luke wished he could read peoples’ minds.

Luke played with his baby seat in the car. He wished he could stop the un-invited silence. It was Luna who first talked. “Perhaps we should call Megan and Ben, Rob”, she looked at the drivers seat. Robby was still frowning. Not in an angry way, but in a thoughtful way, like they usually did. Robby had a tight grip on the steering wheel, as if it would go out of control if he let go. “Mmm…” he grumbled. “Shoot! I don’t have their number on me mobile. Soz, sweety”, he said. After four years of marriage, Luna was used to Robby saying ‘me’ instead of ‘my’ and ‘soz’ instead of ‘sorry’. Luna put her head in her hands. Luke hoped she wouldn’t cry. “I just can’t believe it”, she sobbed. Robby took one hand off the steering wheel and put it on Luna’s lap. “He’s still the same boy. Nothings different. When we get home, you can lie down to counteract the shock”. He patted her thigh a couple of times, and then put his hand back on the steering wheels. Luna looked up. “I don’t know why we didn’t notice earlier. It’s just so...so...unpredictable. I don’t know what Megan and Ben are going to think. What about their little daughter…Heather, was it?” Luke wanted to open his mouth and say Hannah, but he couldn’t. He’d just arrived from the doctor and he couldn’t…couldn’t speak.

Luke couldn’t help what was wrong with him. None of it was his fault. He hoped his “parents’’ wouldn’t think differently of him. He didn’t even know what he meant when he said “parents’’. Megan and Benjamin? Or Luna and Robby? Luke was lost. Not physically, but mentally.