Sometimes the house shook with how loud the screaming was. It shook with every punch, every scream and every faint breathe. The house creaked and groaned with every hit with every bang. It was alive just like everyone in it. It mourned just like everyone in it.
Sometimes there was never anyway to escape it. The cries, they never went away. The house never stopped, it never stopped crying. Night after night it would only get worse. It would only grow louder it would only grow more sorrowful. Sometimes Eris tried to escape it. Sometimes he'd sit in the shower for hours. He'd stay there as the boiling water blistered his skin. He'd sit there even when the water grew so cold his fingers turned blue. Anything to escape the sounds the house made. He didn't care if it got him in worse trouble. He just didn't want to hear the cries anymore. He wanted his head to be silent again.
Time shakes, found you by the water
Sometimes you'd find Milo sitting out by the water. Sometimes he'd sit there for hours straight. Sometimes he wouldn't come back, sometimes Eris had to carry him in from falling asleep at the creak. Sometimes Milo would try and fight him, even as a kid he knew he'd do anything to avoid the house. To avoid the cries, he wanted everything to be silent. Just like he was.
And sometimes Eris would sit with him. Sometimes he'd wonder what life would be like if they weren't at the creak. Sometimes he wondered what would have happened if Milo wasn't there besides him. He'd stare at his brother with pity. He'd talk for as long as he could and wouldn't get a single word in response. It made him wonder if Milo was broken. Maybe his brother had the voice beaten out of him. Maybe he didn't even understand the language they spoke. Was it possible? For someone to be born knowing a different language from everyone else?
When he took to long to think about it his heart would ache. He'd just wrap his arm around his brother and hope he knew that life wouldn't always be like this.
This world at times will blind you
Sometimes Eris hated his brother. Sometimes he blamed him for everything that happened in the house. The creaky floors and the crying walls. Sometimes he'd wake up on the living room floor with a throbbing face and weak legs. Sometimes he'd wake up and see Milo staring at him, and he hated him. He'd look into the eyes of his mute brother and curse at him. He'd yell at him, he'd beg him to talk.
Sometimes he wouldn't be able to control his anger. Sometimes he'd grab his brother by the hair of his head. And he'd slam his face into a wall. Over and over. He'd do it for as long as it took. He'd do it to get a word out of Milo. Any word, anything. And Milo wouldn't speak, he'd never speak. All he'd do is cry. And when he cried for long enough Eris would realize what he did and immediately try to fix it. He'd clean off the blood and make him a bowl of ice cream and let him watch cartoons on his shitty tv.
He'd watch Milo for hours until the eight year old fell asleep on his bed. He'd stay up all night making sure his father didn't come for them. He'd cry while his brother slept and pray someone would come and take them away from here. He'd pray he just didn't wake up the next morning.
Do you understand the things you been seein'
Sometimes Milo would get the bad end of the stick. Sometimes he'd be to slow with the chores, sometimes he'd cry whenever he got yelled at. And then he'd get hit, over and over again. Until Eris took his place. It always lasted longer for Eris than it did for Milo. And Milo would sit in a corner under the stairs with his hands covering his ears. And he'd ignore his big brother crying for hours on end. And he'd ignore his mother screaming. And he'd ignore his sister pleading. And he wouldn't move, no he wouldn't move until Eris came and got him.
He wouldn't move until Eris picked him up and brought him upstairs to clean him. He'd stay silent and watch as his brother clean him off even when he was drenched in his own blood. His blonde hair was always stained red, Milo hated his blonde hair. And sometimes Eris would pass out, for hours. And Milo would wait by his brother's side until he woke up. And he'd clean the blood out of his blonde hair until it looked normal again. And he'd lay with his brother four hours even if the blood started to stain him too.
the heavy world's upon your shoulders
And one night their father went too far. One night it didn't take hours for Eris to hit the ground and stain red. One night Milo didn't stay under the stairs and hide. He didn't wait for Eris to come and get him, he tried covering Eris. He tried stopping his dad, he screamed and he cried for him to stay away and it only made it worse.
And Eris couldn't fight back for Milo. He couldn't stop his dad when he'd grabbed the ten year old by the hair of his head. He couldn't stop him when his brother was getting kicked into the wall. He couldn't do anything but lay there. Until his brother screamed his name. Until he screamed his name so loudly it shook the house. Until Eris grabbed the metal bat that sat in the corner of the room and smashed it into his father's head. Until he beat him until he fell unconscious. Until Eris lifted his brother up and dragged him upstairs. Covering him up with bandages as quickly as he could and stuffing their bags as fast as he could. He took everything he could, ignoring as Milo asked where they were going. As he whispered his fears to Eris in shaky breaths, in a scratchy voice. Eris didn't have time to worry about his brother's new revelation, they had to leave.
And Eris took his brother and left. He took his brother and got on the first bus ride to who the fuck knows where.
Do you understand the things that you've been dreaming?
