Chapter 12: Brothers

"Ok, Pattel your good to go.." The police officer said.

As soon as Anthony walked outside of the police department he opened his arms waiting for a hug from his brother Martin. 

"Brother! Hug me will ya?" Anthony said earning a disgusted expression from Martin.

"Don't...You reek." Martin said and Anthony responded acting as if he was hurt.

"Ouchy, that hurts bro.." Anthony with a teasing smile said. "By the way thanks for bailing me out, Huu, I thought I had to stay there for another week! Just dealing with the other inmates was tiresome."

"Right..." Martin was already questioning himself as to why he bailed Anthony out. But since he has a mission to do, and his wife didn't allow him to go to New York without bringing Anthony, Martin who was a good husband abides by his wife's task.

As the two got inside the car and fastened their seatbelt, Anthony who was curious about why his big brother bailed him out opened his mouth to ask. "So why did you bail me out?"

"Well....It's about Ethan." Martin didn't know how to say it clearly to his troublesome little brother.

"Wait...Oh no. Did he you know?" Anthony waved his hand at his neck asking if Ethan was dead.

"What? No, why would you think of that?" Martin asked with horror in his eyes.

"I just thought that he ya know, So he's not Kachak? Then that's good, so what about him?" Anthony asked.

"Ethan...Made a name for himself in New York.." Martin said which earned a gasp from Anthony. 

"Wow, then he must be Hella rich now. Let's go and see him!" Anthony shouted excitedly. 

"That's what I have been planning, but first you have to change your clothes, you reek and it's killing me.." Martin covered his nose.

"Sure, let's stop by my place.." Anthony said.

Ethan who was inside his apartment eating cereal busily read the comments. There were tons of comments praising him, not only that Ethan had heard from his brothers.

At first, Ethan was quite baffled that after three years of no talking his siblings reached out to him. Their relationship wasn't that good.

Martin his older brother got married at 20 years old, he married his high school sweetheart Elaine. They had three children, an 11-year-old, an 8-year-old, and a five-year-old. They had a child when they were still teenagers, thus Martin couldn't help them a lot since he was busy with his own family.

Anthony was a problematic older brother. Drugs, gangs, even fights he was always present. Their mother couldn't control his behavior leading him to juvie a couple of times. 

Though Ethan was the youngest, he wasn't given that much attention from his mother due to work. Thus he lived watching his older brothers and his mother trying to survive in the harsh world.

"Hah...I just hope that this goes well." Ethan sighed.

It only took 4 hours and his siblings were standing at his apartment building. 

"It's here?" Anthony asked Martin. "I thought he lived somewhere. Ya know better?" 

"Don't say that, at least Ethan has his apartment instead of living off to a woman.." Martin rolled his eyes.

"Ah, you here!" Ethan came out of the apartment building hugging each of his brothers. "You came, sorry I was asleep and I recently woke up.."

"No worries.." Martin said.

"Damn, bro? Did you get even hotter or something?" Anthony asked.

"Huh?" Ethan replied confused.

"Umm Anyways, we brought drinks.." Martin said sensing the awkward atmosphere.

"Oh, thanks...I don't drink but thank you, so umm shall we go inside?" Ethan said and earned a nod from Martin and Anthony.

As they got inside the elevator Martin couldn't help his curiosity. "So umm I heard about your two songs..."

"Oh, you did? What do you think of the two songs?" Ethan asked happily.

"It was amazing, I'm proud of you Ethan," Martin said and earned a warm smile plastered on Ethan's face.

As they reached the fourth floor, Ethan escorted his two brothers inside his apartment. 

"Please enter.." Ethan said.

Martin and Anthony sat on the sofa looking at the clean apartment.

"It's not much..." Ethan said as he put the two beers on the coffee table.

"What do you mean it's not much? Affording your place, it's already amazing not only has your name been making rounds in Boston, but even my wife heard of you, and the kids also love your music!" Martin said.

"Oh right, how's Elaine and your kids?" Ethan asked.

"They're doing great, aside from them stuck at their phones, it's alright.." Martin replied.

"Oh, what about you brother?" Ethan asked Anthony.

"Oh hmm, doing good I guess...I have a baby girl, and I'm planning on getting married once I earn a bit." Anthony replied with a warm smile.

"Baby girl? You have a daughter?" Martin asked confused.

"Yeah, I do...My girlfriend Paige and I have a baby girl...She recently gave birth." Anthony nonchalantly said.

"Why didn't you tell me about this?" Martin asked.

"Why would I tell ya?" Anthony replied.

The atmosphere immediately got awkward. This made Ethan feel uneasy, thus to save the night Ethan decided to have some fun in a nearby bar with his brothers, luckily they agreed.

As they went inside the bar, Anthony immediately sat on the stool ordering drinks.

"Let's drink!" Anthony said giving the tequila to Martin and Ethan. "Hah I miss this, hey remember that time we used to sneak inside a bar to feel what it's like?" 

"That was a dumb thing to do.." Martin raised a smile.

"Yeah, but who's idea was it?" Anthony asked staring at Martin who chuckled in response.

"We were kids, we make dumb decisions.." Martin replied. 

Ethan didn't drink much and let his brothers drink all the way. In just two hours, his brothers were putting their heads on the table drunk, while Ethan quietly sipped some water.

"Damn it..." Anthony said gibberish. "We drank too much..."

"This is your fault, Anthony.." Martin said earning a groan from Anthony.

"You guys are drunk.." Ethan said earning a groan from the two.