Chapter 23: Enter Yuna!

   "Stop hogging all the pancakes Jerimiah!" Kiara yells at me and wacks me. "But I'm hungry!" I protest. "So is everybody else!" She says. I groan then look over towards Sheiba. "Where in the world did you get a vest like that?" I ask. Kiara wacks me on the head again. "I made it for him." She says. I sigh and finish eating then go outside. A red mustang pulls up in the drive way and a girl with light brown hair and green eyes gets out. "Jerimiah!" She yells and hugs me. "Yuna...?" I ask. "I came for a visit! I hope that's no trouble, I just wanted to see you! I've missed you so much!" She says. "I didn't think you would ever come back..." I say. *I can't be with you anymore Jerimiah....there's someone else...* "Hey Jerimiah!" Sheiba says coming out of the house, "What's on todays....list....?" He gets quiet after seeing Yuna then gets a freaked out look on his face. "SHEIBA?!" Yuna yells and runs after him. He runs from her. I follow them in the house. She pumbles him to the ground and wraps him in a hug. "Let go of me!" Sheiba yells. "But I missed you Sheiba!" She yells. "Is he the one you left me for...?" I ask. "Hell no!!" Sheiba yells trying to get her away from him. "Why in the world would I date my baby brother?!" Yuna asks still hugging him with a huge smile.

   "Baby....brother?" I ask. "I'm not a baby!" Sheiba yells. He gets away from Yuna and runs outside, she follows him. I run out and he's on top of the barn trying to stay away from her. "Come down from there! I just wanna give you a hug!" Yuna yells. "You'll break my spine in half!" Sheiba yells. Tears form in Yuna's eyes. "I should've known....after all this time of course you would've grown apart from me..." She says and buries her face in her hands. Sheiba gets a defeated look on his face and jumps down. "...okay...but not too tight...." He says quietly staying as still as he can. Yuna smiles and hugs him. "Okay, you can stop now." Sheiba tells her after a minute. "I'm not done yet!" She yells. "So...she's your big sister?" I ask him. "Ya..." He says. "How come you never told us?!" I ask him. "You never asked." He says pushing Yuna off. "Sheiba! Why in the world are you here?! In California!?" Yuna yells. "I floated here." He says. "A boat? I never thought you'd be one to cross the ocean on a boat..." Yuna says. "It wasn't a boat. I found him on the beach a year ago." I tell her. Sheiba stays silent and Yuna gets quiet. "You shouldn't be worrying about me, there's someone here who seems surprised to see you too." Sheiba says. "Huh?" Yuna asks. He points towards Jerimiah who is staring at her. He blushes and turns away then walks into the barn. He must be really surprised to see her.

   I had completly forgot about Jerimiah, I was just so shocked to see Sheiba here! I feel so bad now! "I'll go tell him hi!" I say and rush into the barn. He's standing by a Black Jack petting his nose and feeding him some oats. "Uh...Jerimiah...?" I say stopping behind him. He looks back. "Oh....Yuna......it was really surprising to see you today..." He says. "I bet it was...." Is all I can say. "So...Sheiba's your little brother..." He says. "Ya..." I say. The quietness is so scary. He hasn't forgotten what I did to him. "You'd better go and unpack your things...Kiara will show you your room." Jerimiah says and leaves me standing there in the silence. Kiara takes me to her room and I put my bags down. "You can sleep in this extra bed here!" She says with a chipper smile, "I'll be downstairs if you need me!" She leaves and I look out the window. I see her run out to Sheiba and they talk for a minute. Then I see something I've never seen before. Something I never thought I would see. It takes me by complete surprise that I giggle and tears come into my eyes. The night comes slow. It's quiet out here on the porch. It's strange because Jerimiah would usually be here beside me, I'm lonely. Kiara appears beside me. "It's supposed to get cold tonight. You'd better come inside." She says. "Is Jerimiah okay?" I ask. "Well, he seems a little bummed out." She says. I stay quiet.

   "Y'know....he really surprised me today..." I say. "Jerimiah?" Kiara asks. "No...Sheiba...It's just that...I've never seen him smile like he did today." I tell her. "Never...? Why?" She asks. I hesitate, but if I don't tell her he never will. "Well....he didn't exactly have a good childhood..." I start, "Every day, since he was born, was life or death. I remember when mom got pregnant with him. She and dad were so happy. I was thrilled knowing I would have a little brother, after all...my parents never paid much attention to me. Mom was a beautiful actress and dad was an alchoholic so they had 'better' things to do than support me. So when Sheiba came I was so happy because then maybe I would have someone to play with and be a big sister. But....when he did come, there was no celebration and for a while I didn't understand why. They wouldn't even let me look at him, so one night I snuck into the nursery and saw him there asleep. I didn't see anything wrong with him until he opened his eyes. It scared me at first, but I knew that he needed me. Mom and dad would have nothing to do with him so I fed him and rocked him to sleep everynight...and as he got older mom would make him work his fingers to the bone cleaning and fixing stuff. Dad would come home drunk from bars and take out his frustrations on Sheiba....A day never went by that Sheiba didn't have blood on himself. It was like nothing would satisfy them, whatever he did for them and if he made one mistake no matter how tiny it was, he just ended up getting hurt again. He never fought back or cried, but I know that it hurt him......one day I decided enough was enough and called the Child Protective Agency, but they took the wrong kid that night. I was taken from the house and Sheiba was left there to fend for himself and that's how I got here.....I don't know what happened after I left, but I know that it had to be horrible..."

   Listening to Yuna tell me this about Sheiba makes me feel so bad for him....and her. *Well...you didn't spend most of your childhood in the hospital...* Tears are rolling down Yuna's cheeks. "When I saw him for the first time today after so many years, I was just glad to know that he was alive.....and seeing him smile today and laugh really threw me off...I think you've been a really big help to him.....if he can smile after all that, then there's hope for him..." She says with a little smile on her face. I think of the first time I saw Sheiba's smile. Was it really his first smile ever? No wonder he was so freaked out about it. "Why would he change just because of me?" I ask. Yuna looks at me and smiles then goes in the house. I look up at the stars and think of Sheiba then go to bed. 

   I listened to what Yuna told Kiara from on top of the porch. I don't know why I didn't try to stop her. If it was anybody else, but Kiara, listening I would've put a stop to it. Why Kiara? I put my hand up to my chest and feel the roughness of the skin under my shirt. I stand up and jump onto the roof. I look up and see all the stars and the huge moon and think of Kiara. All of a sudden I hear the poem.

The Darkness

It spreads from my head to my back and continues to my shoulders and arms. Pictures of Mii's ghost and Kiara keep flashing before my eyes. Before I know it everything is over. I stand there for a minute trying to gather what happened. "What in the....?" I ask myself. I try to forget it and jump through my window then go to bed.