Jason Taylor is sitting in his family's small apartment living room playing video games while his little sister Ana studies at a small coffee table. Her legs are extended out straight both in barely comfortable braces. They don't bother her much now. It has been a few years since she got them after her surgery. Her studies are more important to her now than comfort. She is always working hard. All while Jason lazes about
She has to work hard now that 'they' are gone.
Their parents were hard working too, but that hard work wasn't enough when she got sick. Ana didn't have time to feel guilty through all the grief they all felt together. Jason wouldn't let her and their older brother, Kyle, wouldn't either.
Kyle opens the front door and sighs "Guess who's home?" He calls out. Kyle tries his best to leave work outside of the door. His engineering salary would be perfect if it was just him, but he was a fresh graduate now taking care of his siblings. That made every project more serious and every day harder.
Jason wishes he could do more, but he was just some highschool senior that could barely muster any courage to go to school.
Jason nods and does his best to smile at his brother and welcome him in and goes back to playing video games.
"I got pizza for dinner. Work ran late so no spaghetti tonight." Kyle sets down his bags and the hot piping pizza onto the counter and makes a plate for himself and Ana. Jason didn't bother getting up.
"Thanks Kyle. You can always cook later." Ana tries to comfort her brother although she was secretly happy. Kyle was 25 and sucked at cooking. Kyle had barely a year of practice being a stand in for their parents.
'I hate this. I miss their spaghetti.' Jason thinks to himself as he dies again to a boss. Every day after school he comes home and tries to drown out the thoughts. The feeling of emptiness that rushes over him. He is so tired of his family looking so sad, of himself being so sad and being unable to do anything about it.
He drowns himself every day waiting for the days to go by so he can enter college and get a job that pays well. A job that could help his little sister get her legs back. A job where he could pay back his brother back. Those thoughts don't help him now, so he plays games. He plays games and he reads and he does anything to ignore his life. He barely does his school work. Just enough to pass. Just enough to enter a college and get by.
'I miss them. Why did they have to fight back?' The voice he tries to push down reaches the surface again.
He gets up and grabs some pizza. Eating helps sometimes to not think about things. Kyle tries to talk to him, but Jason can barely utter a few words. Jason scruffs Ana's hair and sits back down. He continues playing. He is so close to the weekend, so close to get his mind off school and the hell hole that awaits him every week day.
He is tired of having to look into the faces of the people that caused him so much pain. The rich kids who's parents were responsible for the hell he lives in. He is tired of being able to do nothing.
'If only I could just die and be done with this. If only I could muster any energy to do something but even killing myself would take too much work.'
"Hey Jason, lets watch a movie together." Kyle suggests trying to spend some time together.
Jason shrugs and turns off the game. "You guys go ahead. I'll just be in my room."
"Jason, come on." Ana begs.
"Not tonight." Jason says.
Jason lays down in his bed and for the first time in a while, he cries. He doesn't know why, but he cries. He feels helpless and he wishes that something would change, even if it was something that would take him away from here.
'Please anything. I'm tired of this life.'