Smile, Part One.

August 21, 2017.

"You have to stay strong, Michael."

Michael Baker, a 16 year old boy. The son of the recently deceased couple, Julia and Ron Baker.

His grandma was worried for him. The burial had ended a few hours ago, and he hadn't spoken to anyone in days. Fearing the worst, she decided to stay around to talk him out of any harmful ideas. He had to live. At least for his sister.

"Grandma."

After being silent for so long, he called out to her.

"Can you take Nora back with you?"

He didn't trust himself. As negative as he was right now, he was sure that he couldn't be around his sister.

"Absolutely not!"

Grandma protested. She wasn't leaving him alone.

"You don't have to worry about me. I will not do anything stupid."

His sister was young. His will to protect her was greater than his will to give up on life.

He closed his eyes and said,

"My friend Billy has asked to stay with me for a month. We go to the same college, and his parents used to be good friends with mom and dad. I just-"

He was overwhelmed for a second. His emotions were ready to break him at a moment's notice.

"I just want to keep her away from me. If she sticks around, there is a chance that I might hurt her out of frustration. I am not mentally stable enough to be there for her. I need to make peace with myself first. Please. Take care of her on my behalf."

He bowed in front of her.

She looked at him and said,

"I will take her to my place tomorrow. Before that, I want to see that your friend has moved into the apartment. If that doesn't happen, you are coming to my house. Do you understand?"

She was struggling to keep her calm.

"Thank you, grandma."

He couldn't express it with more words, but he genuinely meant that.

-----------------------------------------

After the service was over, he took a cab back to his apartment.

On the way back, his mind was going back to the incident.

'Crash!'

He closed his eyes.

A faint echo, followed by an image of his father, holding a broken glass shard.

He was screaming loudly. But all of his screams sounded like muffled noises.

He knew exactly what his father was saying. But the muffled speech was a result of active denial. He didn't want to believe that his father would ever say that. That had to be the alcohol. There was no other reason. There could be no other reason.

'Slice.'

Blood started to spurt out from the cut. Michael hurried towards his father stop the bleeding, but he was pushed aside violently. He tripped on the blood, and banged the back of his head on the ground. After a single blink, he fell unconscious.

He opened his eyes.

"Sir."

The driver called out to him. They had reached the apartment.

He took out his wallet from his jacket. It was a gift from his mother at his 16th birthday, which he had celebrated around 6 months ago.

He handed him 20 dollars, and stepped out of the cab.

The cab left. He was left alone at the sidewalk.

The siren started to ring. An ambulance appeared in front of him.

This time, he was seeing himself. On his knees, and pleading for his mother's life.

The paramedic placed the defibrillator on her chest.

'Thump.'

Her body jerked upwards. No observable change. Unsuccessful.

'Thump.'

Another attempt. Another Failure.

'Thump.'

One last attempt. It was now or never.

He looked towards the ECG monitor.

A continuous beep sound, accompanied by a horizontally flat line.

The paramedic looked at his watch.

Cause of death, Cardiac Arrest due to Cardiomyopathy. Time of death, 8:52 pm.

He turned towards his apartment building, trying to hold his tears in.

'Nora must be waiting for me.'

Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

He was trying his level best to calm down. Just for this night, he had to stay strong.

He slowly started to climb up the stairs.

"You think you can beat your father at basketball?"

As a three-year old. Right at the entrance.

"Don't run down the stairs."

His mother used to say that a lot.

"Remember, don't stress yourself. It is just an exam."

The second floor. He had left his stationary back at the house. His father caught up to him and gave him this advice along with his pencil box.

"Why are you limping like that? You injured yourself again?"

He was trying to hide his sprain. But his mother caught his lie in a second.

"Here, relax and have some fun with your friends. But don't stay out for too long."

Prom night. His father handed him a bunch of cash to celebrate with his friends.

"Be a good brother to her. Don't let anyone bully your sister."

At the entrance. Where his parents had asked him to take care of his sister for the first time.

He took out the key from his wallet, and opened the door.

The lights were off.

"Nora?"

He pressed the switch. The lights in the hall turned on.

She was fast asleep on the sofa. Her snoring was a quick giveaway.

He went into her room and brought a blanket along with him. After wrapping the blanket around her, he softly whispered,

"Sleep tight, Kiddo."

He closed the lights, and went back to is room.

He laid down on his bed, plugged in his headphones to his smartphone, and tapped on play.

Smile, by Jimmy Durante. On an endless loop.

As he closed his eyes, a single tear managed to break away from it's captivity.

He face broke into a smile.

'Someone. Please, help me.'

A call for help, that would remain locked inside the depths of his broken mind.

A smile, that anyone could translate at a single glance.

But unfortunately, no one else could see it. He would allow no one else to see it.

For he is the only person that should suffer through this pain.

"You'll find that life is still worth while,

If you just..."

He whispered.

"Smile..."