Gabriel and Daniel made their way to school in silence. The two brothers were lost in thought as Gabriel pedaled to the school using muscle memory. Gabriel was wondering why his friend Jai-Lee had texted him that she wouldn't wait for him at the entrance to their school with him that morning, and Daniel was wondering why Gabriel was so silent. Soon Daniel found himself unable to stand the silence, so he broke it by clearing his throat.
"Gabe?" he started.
"What?" came his brother's curt response. Gabriel was in the stage of his life where he disliked his brother because his parents always wanted him to take care of the boy. He thought that just because he was older didn't mean he had to sacrifice his time to shadow Daniel everywhere like a bodyguard. It wasn't that he hated his brother, he just found it annoying when his parents expected him to act like he was his brother's keeper. This thought came to mind over and over again over the period of years, until he found that a ball of resentment had formed. That ball sat firmly in his stomach and he could feel it threatening to erupt every now and then.
"Do you think mom was right? Will dad really come back once he's done with this project?" In response, Gabriel let out a sarcastic chuckle.
"You're joking right?"
"No, I'm being for real right now. Be straight with me."
"Okay, you want the truth? You're too young to remember that he has always been this way. He always says it's just until he completes his project, but once he's done, he goes straight to the next one. Just… don't let yourself hope too much because it'll hurt more when you get your hopes crushed," Gabriel had a bitter look on his face as he spoke. It had taken him a long time to accept that for his father, work would always come before them.
"He had a project before this one?" Daniel asked.
"Yeah, you were still a baby, so you don't remember. He was super excited about it too. Something about a new energy source, it was very complicated and it kept him from coming home six nights out of seven every week. I waited for him one night so we could hang out, but he basically just told me he was too tired. He stumbled in looking sleepy and just fell asleep on the couch. I thought he was out for the night but not even ten minutes later, he got a call from work and he ran back out…" Gabriel paused for a moment.
"He was all about that project, but he promised me that once he was done, he would take us on a family trip to celebrate, and I believed him. Somehow that project didn't pan out, so he just jumped straight into the next one. He didn't even remember the promise he made and when I reminded him, he just said 'next year'. That was over eight years ago. That's when I knew that he was too tired for us, not for work."
"But he promised to take us to the fair on my birthday," Daniel complained, and Gabriel looked at him, feeling a burst of amusement and pity. He had lost count of the birthdays that his father had missed and the broken promises. He struggled internally for a few moments, not knowing if he should rip the bandaid off or just let his brother continue to hold hope for their dad.
"Maybe he will, maybe he won't. Just try not to get too disappointed if he doesn't show up. Don't worry, if he doesn't come, we'll go there together," he finally said. The weight of his words hung heavily between them and they continued cycling forward in silence.
Gabriel stopped at the middle school to drop Daniel off before making his way to his school.