Vladimir

There are 'bad days,' and there are life-altering days'; I am living one of the latter right now.

I noticed things were wrong the moment I felt rested as I woke up, something that should be impossible since I went to bed around five am and had to clock in at nine.

I rolled on the bed, reaching for my phone on the pc table, and was greeted by a black screen. I jumped out of bed with my heart pumping, groaning in pain as my lousy leg protested against the sudden movement. I tried turning on the pc to look at the time, and again, black screen. The power probably went down after I went to sleep, and now I was sure I was late.

"God damn it, not again," I mumbled, running to the bathroom. I splashed some cold water on my face and stared at the mirror, the scars that covered the left side of my face glaring back at me alongside the black hole that was my empty left eye socket. They used to bother me a lot, but as the years passed, I grew accustomed to them and learned to accept them as a part of me.

If only I could do the same with the memories.

A shower was out of the question, so I brushed my teeth, hair, and beard, put on my eye patch and uniform, and rushed to the store. Thirty minutes later, my boss was screaming at me in front of the clients. Fucking perfect.

It was my fault, but man… did he really have to scream at me in front of everyone?

I kept my head down and just took it quietly. Mr. Diniz was not a bad boss, nor an evil man, not by a long shot, but he did vent his anger by screaming once you got on his wrong side.

I apologized once he finally ran out of breath, seemed calm enough, and moved as fast as possible to the back of the store, starting to do the inventory to keep out of sight.

"Ooohhh big V, the man went all out on your ass today! Jesus!" A playful voice said some minutes after I started working.

I looked over my right shoulder, unable to hold a smile as Carlos approached me. He stopped by my side pretending to work, and our height difference gave me a privileged view of the bald spot starting to form on the top of his head.

"So, what got you late this time? Is the leg giving you problems again?" He said, pretending to inspect a box of cheap squeaky dog toys.

"It always gives me problems," I said, light hitting my left leg with my hand. "But a power outage is the culprit of the day."

"Tough luck," He said, shaking his head. "But it's not like he can get rid of you so easily; just don't make it a habit."

"I don't plan on it."

"Sure you don't." Carlos replied with a smirk, "It's not like it's the third time just this week."

"Everything will be okay if I don't make it five before we hit Friday!" I said, forcing a laugh but shutting up as I saw the serious look on his face.

"Seriously, Vladmir, is something wrong, man? The boys and I are worried about you." He said, stretching his arm and reaching out to hold my left shoulder. "You know you can always count on us if you have any problem."

I looked at Carlos, his brown eyes showing genuine concern for me, so much so that I felt ashamed and avoided his gaze, focusing on the boxes in front of me.

"I'm just… having a bad week, you know? It's nothing specific…."

"You sure it's just that?" He probed, putting a little pressure on my shoulder

I forced myself to look into his eyes again.

"Yeah," I lied. "Honestly."

"Okay…" Carlos said, letting go of my shoulder. "But if you have ANY problem."

"I will talk to you, don't worry."

"Good," He said, seeming satisfied with himself. "Drop by Dona Marias after work today; the boys and I are going to have a few drinks; it would be good to have you with us."

"I will as long as you guys don't try to get me drunk again."

"But that's the best part!" He said, laughing as he walked away

I followed Carlos with my eyes, feeling guilt forming in my heart. I knew the old man cared about me, but some problems were best to keep to ourselves.

I did a pretty good job of keeping out of Mr. Diniz's sight for the rest of the workday, and when I finally clocked out, the world outside had grown dark and windy; a storm was probably on its way.

The idea of meeting Carlos and the boys at Dona Maria was trying to solidify itself in my mind. Still, it was forgotten as I stared at the man approaching me with a nervous look on his face.

I gradually lost touch with my family after the accident. Even if it was more of a personal choice than anything else, they didn't really make any effort to not let it happen, not that I could blame them for that. I felt like I was sucker punched as my younger brother stood before me. His eyes nervously darted around as he shifted his weight from one foot to another, not really saying anything.

How long had it been since I'd seen him in the flesh? Five or six years? More? I couldn't tell… we still made video calls to one another every now and then, mostly on his kid's birthdays and Christmas. Still, I didn't remember really looking at him during those calls, to be honest.

His black hair had finally started to show the sights of graying, and his once cheerful face seemed older, tired looking, a far cry from what I remembered. But the most significant change I could see was his eyes; they had lost the spark they always carried as if something was lost or broken inside him. Looking at his eyes was just like looking inside my remaining eye… Seeing him that way deeply bothered me.

"Heck, this just feels so awkward," He said with a sigh after staring at me for some time.

"Kinda…" I said as I scratched the back of my neck, and silence fell upon us again.

"Is everything okay? Did… did something happen to Mom or Dad? With your wife or the kids?" I forced myself to ask, not thinking of any other reason for my brother to just pop out in front of me after such a long time. How the hell did he even know where I work? I couldn't remember telling anyone from my family that.

"No, nothing like that." He said after a pause and deeply sighed.

"Look, Vladmir, I… I just wanted to say I am sorry, okay?"

I blinked, stunned, as that got me completely off guard. If anyone had any reason to be sorry, that person was me.

"Sorry for what?"

"Here," He said, pulling a white envelope from his pocket and handing it to me. "Just read it when you get the chance, okay?"

"Er… Okay… But what is this?" I asked, looking the envelope over; it was not heavy by any means, so it would, at best, have a one-page letter inside it, if anything at all.

"You'll know once you read it," My brother said, getting closer to me. "For now, just keep it in your pocket."

"You're sounding awfully cryptic," I said, forcing a joke, but I couldn't even get him to crack a smile.

'Just what the hell is going on?' I thought while putting the envelope in my pant's back pocket.

Daniel looked around as the wind picked up force, and thunder rumbled in the sky, followed by the first rain droplets. I looked up, trying to remember if I closed my bedroom window, hoping I had so when Daniel interrupted my thoughts.

"I am really sorry, Vladmir."

'Daniel, what the hell are you sorry for?' I was going to ask him but didn't get the chance to as I felt something painfully slamming against my chest.

'Did he just punch me? Is this why he was saying sorry all the time?' I thought as I stumbled back a few steps due to the force of the punch and from being taken entirely by surprise by my brother's actions.

I looked down, and a confused 'Oh' escaped my lips as my mind registered the knife handle deeply embedded in my chest. I looked at Daniel, strength leaving my legs as they buckled, and I started to fall, and the little shit dared to whine, "I am sorry," as my head hit the street.

'Why?' I tried to ask him but couldn't find the strength. I had never been stabbed before, was it supposed to hurt so much? Did he pierce my heart? Was I really going to die so quickly and so fast? Didn't people last a couple of minutes after getting stabbed in movies?

My vision started to go black as the rain finally started to go down with force. The feeling of the cold water hitting my face grew fainter and fainter as darkness embraced me.

'Fucking asshole' Was my last cohesive thought before everything went dark.

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