It was my usual Saturday afternoon. I was watching a movie in my computer while my friend Ivan was chilling on my bed, reading one of my comic books. My parents were out for the weekend to attend a wedding party at a neighboring city. So when the doorbell rang, I knew I had to get it, but I was too lazy to move away from my seat.
“Hey Ivan, can you go and get the door?”
“Dude, this is your house.”
“Oh c’mon, it’s probably just my sister who forgot to bring her keys.”
“Or maybe it’s just an annoying salesman that would go away if we ignore him.”
We ignored the doorbell and continued to do our own things, but a few seconds after that, the doorbell was pressed again and this time, it rang even longer. I grudgingly got up from my seat and ran towards the front door. As expected, it was my younger sister Gwen. She went in immediately as soon as I opened the door. I closed the door and said, “Forgot to bring your keys again?” She continued to walk away while she gave me a brief reply. “Well, what took you so long?” she said.
After the short interruption, I quickly rushed back to my room to resume my paused movie. But the moment I sat down, Gwen entered my room and immediately took one slice of the pizza that was placed on my desk.
“Cool, pizza!”
“Hey!”
“You can’t finish this by yourself anyway.”
“Can’t you see my friend over there?”
“O-oh…” she was rather shocked, and then she whispered to me, “What was his name again?”
“Ivan.”
“Hi, Ivan…” she greeted while seemingly giving him a short glance.
“What happened?” I asked, “I thought you’re supposed to go out with your friends.”
“I did went out this morning, didn’t I? Are you becoming a grandpa or something?”
“I mean, why are you back so early?”
“They have that thing called boyfriends in the afternoon.”
“Right…”
She wasn’t very happy when she mentioned that as she munched on her pizza. Since she was going to be free in the afternoon, I told her my plan to see if she would want to tag along.
“We’re going to see Dylan later this afternoon-”
“Really? But you didn’t discuss it with me beforehand.”
“Huh? No, I mean Ivan and I are going to see him later. I wanted to ask if you would like to come.”
“Oh… I think you guys go ahead… I’ll stay at home and… um… watch TV.”
After knowing her answer, I turned to my computer screen again to continue watching my movie. Gwen went out from the room after she awkwardly greeted my friend. “W-well, goodbye Ivan,” she said without even looking at him. The door closed, but opened again soon enough with her head popping into my room. “Oh yeah,” she said, “Since you’re going out, can you stop by the convenience store and get a box of beers? We’re running out.” She was beginning to sound annoying to me, so I gave her a curt reply. “Yeah, whatever,” I said.
After a short moment, Ivan began to ask me about my sister. “Did uh… your sister ever mention about me?” he said. “No, I don’t think so. Why?” I asked him back. “N-no, nothing at all!” he answered immediately. “She can’t even remember your name just now bro,” I added.
When it was finally the scheduled time for me to go out, I grabbed my wallet, phone and car key. I passed through the living room and saw Gwen sitting on the couch while watching TV. “Don’t forget the beer!” she said. I heard it, but I just went out without giving her a reply.
I walked towards my car and saw my neighbour was out watering his plants. “Hi James, going out by yourself?” he asked. “Oh hello Mr. Scott,” I greeted him, “No, I’m with my friend.” He stared at me for a moment and said, “I don’t see anyone else here beside you and me.” I turned around and indeed I saw no sign of Ivan. “Huh? I’m sure he was here just now,” I said. “Well anyway, drive safely,” said Mr. Scott. “I will,” I replied, “Have a nice day.”
‘Where did he go?’ I thought. Nevertheless, I got into my car and started the engine. Suddenly, the passenger door beside me was opened and Ivan went in very quickly. I was shocked and said, “Dude, why did you go and hide? How old do you think you are?!” He just laughed and showed me that he was having fun with his little prank.
I drove pass the neighbourhood and stopped at our usual supermarket to get the box of beers that my sister asked me to get. “Hey hold on a sec, what do you think you’re doing?” said Ivan when I was about to turn off my car. “Buy beers,” I answered him. “Yeah I know that, but don’t turn off the car,” he said. “You’re not coming down? Well okay, I’ll be right back,” I said to him before I got off from my car.
I browsed through the store for a while and decided that I should just get the beers I was told to get. While I was paying at the cashier, one of the clerk decided to help me carry the box. “Let me help you with this,” he said as he lifted it up. “Oh thanks, my car is silver coloured and it is just right at the corner of this shop,” I told him, “Go on ahead, my friend is inside the car.” The young man who was probably around my age went out to the parking lot, while I was busy settling the bill at the cashier. Right after that, I bumped into him again when I was about to go out from the store. “Hey uh… I’ve put it on the backseat of your car, but there was no one in there,” he said, “You just left your car open.” I was a little bit surprised when I heard that, but still I thanked him properly before I went back to my car.
As I peeked through the windshield, Ivan was right there at the front seat. “Hey, did you go somewhere else just now?” I asked him. “Yeah, I went to the toilet,” he answered casually. I was a bit furious when I heard that. “Seriously? What if someone else came in while you were gone and ran off with my car?” I scolded him. “Oh yeah, sorry about that, but I made the effort to come back really fast!” he argued. “Whatever,” I sighed, “Just don’t let this happen again, okay?” He raised his hand and said, “Yes, sir!”
Finally, we arrived in front of a white building where our friend Dylan was staying at. I turned off my car engine, got out from my car, tucked my car key into my pocket, and walked through the parking area with Ivan. It was only until much later that I realized that Ivan had become very quiet as he followed closely behind me. We arrived at the elevator and I pressed the up button. The door opened and closed after we went in. “Are you still with me, Ivan?” I asked him casually. “Yeah,” he answered it hesitantly, “Yeah… I’m with you.”
We arrived at the sixth floor and walked across the corridor until we were right in front of a door that was numbered 648. I was about to go in, but then with a serious tone I said to Ivan, “It should be fine this time. Don’t worry about it.” He just gave me a faint smile.
The door was locked with a password, so I entered it and went in slowly. We saw Dylan sitting at one of the corner, but he got up as soon as he saw me. “James,” he called me with a smile on his face. “How have you been bro?” he asked. “I’m fine, but how about you? How do you feel right now?” I asked him back. “Never been better!” he answered happily.
“By the way, I’m not alone today,” I said. “Oh, who’s with you?” he asked even though Ivan was standing right beside me. “I’m with Ivan today, Dylan. He’s right here,” I explained while expecting for the worst. Dylan’s expression began to change. “Look, James… I don’t see anyone else here beside you and me. Who is this Ivan?” I looked away from him for a moment, before I gave him an answer that would probably make no difference.
“Ivan is my friend and he is also your brother, Dylan… We have known each other since high school!”
“You tell me that, but my eyes see only you right now! Why can’t you understand?!”
Ivan pat my back softly and said, “I’ll wait for you outside.” With a heavy feeling, I tried to talk to Dylan again when Ivan has left. “He’s gone now,” I said. “Who?! Who has gone?! Where is he, James?!” he began to speak to me agitatedly. “Calm down,” I said. “You tell me to calm down when you are the one that needs to take a look at yourself?! What do you think makes me angry at the first place?!” he shouted. I just stared at him silently after that. He was breathing heavily, but finally he took one step back and cooled down himself. “It has been 6 months, Dylan. Why can’t you accept the reality?” I asked. “Accept what?” he answered. I took one deep breath before I told him the truth once again. “Tina is dead. She has died 6 months ago,” I said. When Dylan heard that, he interrupted me and said, “James, listen to me… You are the one that needs to embrace the reality. Ever since this Ivan appeared, you have been telling me that Tina has died, but I still get to talk to her almost every night. In fact, it was just yesterday night that we were talking on the phone.”
“Dylan, Dylan stop,” I said. He stopped, and he looked into my eyes for a moment, and then he turned around and walked back to the same corner of the room. “Go away, James,” he said, “I want to be alone for now.” He rested his head on the wall that was made out of cushion, while I walked out from the room with sadness and disappointment. The doctor was speaking with Ivan when I came out, he told him that even though the recovery was slow, he should never give up on his brother.
~ First Edition, by D.S. Rain