The Losing Game

iii. the missing boy

𝐍𝐨𝐰 𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠. . .

         HONESTLY, STEVE DOESN'T KNOW WHY he hates Theo so much; he always thought he was going to be the best older brother when they were growing up. Then Theo started beating Steve at everything. Theo was already smarter and had perfected his sport of choice. It was all too much on Steve, so he cracked. He began to take out all of his anger on his little brother, and he couldn't stop. Steve had threatened Theo before. Mainly over stupid things like leaving his wrestling bag in the middle of the hallway or hogging the bathroom to gel his spikes. However, Steve had only ever touched Theo once.

         One night after boxing practice, Theo arrived home at 10 pm. Steve was supposed to pick him up since the parents were out of town again, but it completely slipped his mind. Theo ended up walking back from one town over which took around 4 hours,

          Steve got home after some high school party, 10 minutes before Theo got home. He was drinking a glass of water in the kitchen when his younger brother stormed into the house.

         He knocked over a coat rack and a stack of envelopes while making his way toward the kitchen. Steve, still drunk, started to lecture his brother. He started a speech about violence that his father would always tell him but this fell short once the 5'2 6th grader attacked his brother. Theo couldn't control his anger as he lunged and held his brother in a choke hold on the kitchen floor. This lasted a rough 5 seconds before Steve grabbed his drink of water off the counter and shattered it onto Theo's head.

         At first, Theo let go cause he was mainly in shock that his brother would do such a thing, however, the younger Harrington brother's entire body became completely numb. The drunk older teenager, who had no concept of what was going on, continued to beat on his brother until the only other thing he could hear besides his repeated punches was small, rapid, breaths escaping Theo's mouth.

         Beating the shit out of his brother had gotten Steve to sober up, or it was possibly the sight of seeing him like that. His body was flat against the floor, his eyes filled with fear that refused to pull away from the ceiling. Something was fucking wrong.

         Steve was now standing over Theo. His knuckles were covered in a mix of both of their blood. Theo's face was hidden behind all the bruises and blood. His body was shaking softly, still completely numb. It took the older brother a minute to gather his thoughts before realizing the severity of the situation.

         That night ended with the brothers in a hospital room. It wasn't until 5 o'clock that next morning when Theo had finally awoken. His left eye was swollen shut yet his right eye could see nothing more than random blobs all around him. He was just lucky enough to not need a breathing tube, but his lungs were a tad bruised. His body was slightly damaged aside from prior injury. His face and head were a different story.

          Eventually, the police arrived in his room, kicking Steve out, and began asking questions. He doesn't know why he told them what he did, but he knew it was the right thing to do. He jumped in the town over as he was coming home and Steve took him to the hospital. That was the story he decided to go with. He protected his family's name, and most importantly, he protected Steve.

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          NANCY WHEELER WAS NOW TENDING to Theo's wounds as Steve and his two friends were cleaning up his fists in the upstairs hallway bathroom. Tommy had carried Theo downstairs to the kitchen, while Carol forced Steve into the bathroom. Nancy walked with Tommy, carefully making sure Theo's head didn't ram into anything else. Then she sat him upright on one of the counters and found a first aid kit in a junk drawer.