funeral boy

missing

on top r gracie's three brothers

/ from right to left: jonah, tony, lucas /

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F U N E R A L B O Y - T H R E E

I didn't go to Shawn's garden, even though I wanted to escape the hectic children running through the halls of my house. I just sat on the roof of my home and smoked a cigarette. My siblings called for me but I ignored them, I really just didn't want to talk to them right now.

Mom was out of the house again, so I left Jonah, my 13 year old brother, in charge of ordering pizza. Tony, my 16 year old brother, was out tutoring some girl from his school for extra cash. He's a wiz in every subject, nobody really knows how that turned out.

"Gracie! Debbie stole my stuffed animals again!" My 6 year old sister, Lacey, called to me. I put out my smoke and climbed back inside. "Gracie! Gracie!"

"What, Lace? Debbie, give her toys back." Debbie, a moody 9 year old, looked at me and frowned, mumbling an apology before handing Lacey her pony toy back. "Go finish your homework. It's almost time for bed." Debbie obliged and ran to her room, her feet slamming on the floorboards with every step.

I walked into the kitchen and spotted Jonah sitting at the counter, finishing up some work while eating a slice of pizza. "Hey Jonah, is Lucas home yet? Tony's going to be out until ten, but I haven't heard from Lucas all day."

"No, haven't seen him. Sorry."

"Is there any pizza left?" He shook his head no and I groaned, walking over to the fridge. Our fridge was cluttered with food- mostly expired and moldy, but nobody ever went through it so it remained that way. "Hand me the phone?" I asked Jonah. He passed it to me quietly, nodding his head at me before looking back at his textbook and copying down some problems.

I dialed Lucas' school's number. Lucas was 10, and typically came home around seven (he stayed after school with his friends),but he was fifteen minutes late now and it was beginning to worry me.

"Hey, this is Lucas Adler's sister. I was just wondering if Lucas is still there?"

"Let me check for you," the woman paused. "No, sorry dear, he left about an hour ago."

My heartbeat quickened. "Okay. Thank you."

"Stay well. Bye now."

I put down the phone and closed my eyes. Without a word from Jonah, I grabbed my army jacket from the hanger and placed two fingers in between my lips, whistling loudly at the rest of my family.

"Hey! Guys! Get down here, now!" One by one my siblings piled down the staircase. Debbie and Lacey were in their pajamas, Jonah was still doing his homework, looking at me with a raised brow. "Lucas hasn't come home from school. We're splitting up to go look for him, Jonah, go with Lace and Debs to make sure they're okay, all right? Now get your coats on, it's getting late."

The neighborhood I grew up in wasn't exactly safe for children to be wandering around, but my family was born and raised to take care of ourselves. My siblings handled the shitty district well.

"But Gracie-" Lacey whined.

"Now, Lace!"

So the four of us left the house and separated in different directions in search for my ten year old brother. I kept telling myself he was fine- because he was always fine. He knew how to handle himself and I was just getting worried for no reason.

It was when I started sobbing that I didn't know where to go.

My feet carried my limp body to Shawn's house. My mascara was running down my face and my hair was unkempt from my hand running through it endlessly. I looked a mess.