5
Tony was sitting on the apartment building front stairs. He could hear his mother and father screaming at each other, blaming each other for Victor's run-away from home. Tony partially blamed himself, as well, not to mention all of his wrong doings that day. Tears began to appear as he thought of all that happened that day.
Just that second, Tony saw a shadow, which startled him very much.
His head jolted toward the shadow... It was—
"Miles!" He cried, getting up from the stairs and walking over towards his best friend.
Him and Miles Miller had been best friends since kindergarten, not to mention on the same basketball team. Miles wasn't overjoyed to see him.
"Where'd you go, man? I was looking all over for you at school!" He said, looking angry like Tony has never seen.
"Oh, I uh... Had to run... Emergency, ya know?" He lied, putting on a painful smile.
"I waited for you at practice, which you never miss, and I held the team back! I looked like an idiot for 20 minutes! That was the worst 20 minutes of my life!" He looked as if he was about to cry, shaking his head and looking down on the ground. "What emergency?"
"...I...I jacked a kid up...." Tony muttered under his mouth, knowing it would be hard to hear.
"You what? Speak up!" Said Miles, getting angry now.
"I beat up some kid!" He yelled, now attracting some attention to himself.
"Don't you beat up kids all the time?" That sounded weird now that he said it. "I mean, you get in a lot of fights, right? That's not a reason to make me look like a fool and skip school!" (that rhymed)
"I know... And that's what I meant to tell you... It wasn't just any kid... Mr. Barkwood's!"
Miles looked taken aback. "Mr. Barkwood's? THE Mr. Barkwood? The one who hates your guts already?" Miles reminded.
"Yes, that one... He made me look even more like an idiot... Imagine what people said about me and my criminal brother.." Tony sniffed, not really wanting to talk about the incident he encountered with his brother. Miles put his hand on Tony's shoulder, trying to console him. "Where is he anyway?" Miles asked. Tony looked up, "Well, guess there's no reason to lie to you..." He told him what happened. About the fight, the conversation with the principal, and the argument he overheard with Vic and Tony. Miles was more sad than he was to hear all of this. "You mean... He left? And you fought him? And... And you're not coming back for three days? You might get kicked off the team! I always knew he was jealous of you and Vinny..."
There was the pressuring silence that filled the space again. The sound of Vinny's name...
"Well, did you win?" Said Miles, grinning at the thought of Vic getting a taste of his own medicine. "You bet!" Tony replied, high-fiving his best friend. They talked about basketball, how Miles was doing, how Miles finally got a date with his crush, and how Miles' family was.
"Oh yeah... I forgot to tell you... My mother got a letter, saying Dad was in pretty bad shape. He's in one of the infirmary tents in the camps... Vietnam's taken a toll on our family..."
He started to cry. Tony has never seen him this sad before, and to be honest, it was uncomfortable to see. He'd always been the class clown, cheering everyone up, not getting upset about anything going on in his family. You'd never know anything was wrong in his world...
"You know," Tony started, trying to change the subject. "I'm really proud of you, getting a date with a cute girl and all."
Miles did a slight chuckle. "Yeah, never thought I'd do it. I just ripped the bandage off, you know? Just like dad told me, once—" he stopped. "....Vinny and my dad are from the same pod. They're the best guys to hang with. It's always those guys who go to Vietnam..."
Miles was right. He was the only great guy that Tony has ever known who is lucky enough not to be forced to go to Vietnam. Life was a cruel pit of despair..
The next day, December 24th, 1948, the Verez family got a letter. It was only 3 in the morning when he was awaken by his father's voice.
"Son! Got some great news, gonna wanna hear this! Downstairs, 3:06 exactly!"
Tony always managed to follow his father's orders, and so he absolutely was down at the 2 seconds after 3:06 am. His father was impressed, he'd never taught his son to get up this early.
"Where's ma?" Said Tony sleepily. His father was searching frantically around the room, trying to find the letter. "She's sleeping," he finally replied. Why isn't she down here if it's so important? Thought Tony as he sat down on the couch.
His father finally found what he was looking for. A white envelope with the US Stamp. His father showed him what was written on the envelope first.
For Firestone Apartments, Room 506, to Juan Verez, from Vincent Verez
Tony blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't sleepy hallucinating. "Pop?" He asked, his excitement ramping up. "Kid, we've received God's miracle! Perfect timin'!" His father exclaimed, and it was true, the most perfect timing they could ask for.
"He's alive!" The two said in harmony, Tony's sleepiness drained out of him. He now started jumping up and down, his father doing the same. They sang, "He's alive! He's alive! Hallelujah! He's alive!" They started to cry, tears of joy, of course.
Finally, something good happened to the family. "Let's open this, no wastin' time!" His father said at one point. "Shouldn't we tell ma?" Tony said, taking a deep breath before saying it.
"We'll tell her after, come on, kid!" Rushed his father. Tony agreed, not wanting to spoil his father's mood. They opened the letter very slowly, enjoying every minute of anticipation.
Hello Father. I am sure you are reading this, as well as reading it to the rest of the family. Tonight's Christmas Eve. I wanted to give you all an unforgettable present. It's been busy here. I've actually been injured—not to badly, though. Is Antonio alright? I hope you all are doing swell without me. How's Ma? Is she doing okay? How's Victor? Is he still causing trouble like you told me? I'd like you all to write to me. If everything's okay at the house, you can send a letter back at 2700, Camp Mu-San. Have Tony write to, really want to hear about him.
I love all of you. Take care, this is Vinny, signing out.
—Vinny
Tony dropped a tear on the letter. For the only second time, Vinny has proven his life in a simple letter. "I'll definitely write back to him..." He wiped his eyes.
And just like that, after telling and showing his mother the letter, he went to his room, began to write back to his brother.
Dear Vinny...
There, Esie! I made it happier at the end! I'm so happy Vinny's alive, aren't you?
How'd you guys like the chapter? A little different from my unfinished one. Anyways, PLEASE ANSWER AND/OR COMMENT IF YOU SEE THIS, and give me feedback!
The next post will be a document of characters. How they are, and stuff like that. Do some theories! Who's your fave character?
Anyways, this is Nobi, signing out~
—nobodyimportant
