Back
John and Blake were on the bottom floor mock-fighting each other as we came back. John seemed to be loosing to his older brother till he swung round with a kick, flooring Blake. Blake jumped up with a punch, but John blocked it. �Boys,� Dennis placed his hands on the rail and gripped tightly. I could tell by the color difference in his knuckles. �I want to talk to you. Let�s go, up here.�
I stepped back, away from the rail, and followed my Dad down the hall to where Suzie was. She was finishing up the washing of dishes and turned to us as we entered. �What�s wrong?�
I pulled my hair loose and pulled it back again as my Dad spoke. �I�ll let Dennis tell you. He�ll be in here with your boys in a second.�
�Oh,� she nodded as I sat down at the table. �Something happened, didn�t it?�
I buried my head in my hands and sighed as I shook my head. I couldn�t take this. Joby was a really close friend. I heard my Dad sit down next to me at the table, but I never moved. Then the door creaked open.
Blake slid in across from me and poked my arm. �Hey, Petri, buddy, what hap-pened to Joby? Weren�t he going with you?�
I nodded. �Yeah, he was. Just listen. Dennis or Dad will tell you.� I looked up at him as he nodded.
Dennis sighed and we all turned to him. I couldn�t tell, as could everyone else, that he was trying not to cry, but at the loss of his nephew, his only family alive that he knew of, I didn�t blame him. �You all know that Joby and Petri went out this morning on a search for that Neoweapon�what was his name?�
�Bronze Seid�.� I said quietly as I put my head back on my hands. �Seid�.�
�And he found you two, right Petri?�
I nodded.
Dennis paused. I could tell he was ready to let the tears flow. �Jobiel was killed this morning when they went out. Petri what happened exactly?�
I looked up. My hair falling over my shoulder. The scene replayed in my mind as I stared at some distant point on the stove. One of the knobs actually, a silver black in color, the white numbers faded slightly. �He knew Joby was over there, but the whole time I never saw him look over there. How he knew? I don�t know. He just cocked the hammer back and aimed it in, what I thought, was the general direction. But then, after-wards, when I went over�he was dead.� I blinked and felt a tear roll down my cheek. My concentration on the dial was so harsh now that I was beginning to blur my vision; part of it though, was from the tears.
�So�� I heard Blake speak quietly. �You�ve�actually seen this guy Petri?�
It took me a second to shift my gaze to him. �Yeah, I have seen him. I�ve held conversations with him.�
�Why didn�t you kill him?� John�s voice was harsh as he leaned on the table. I knew every one agreed with him. �You just let him kill Joby?!�
�No,� I looked at him. �I�How�d I know Seid� knew Joby was there?�
�Then explain your actions when he came back?� Dennis looked down at me and I turned to look up at him.
�He didn�t come to fight! He came back to probably see you guys. You heard him. He�ll remember you�trust me.� Boy did I feel ganged up on! �I�m better then him! I�m not just gonna kill him when I see him!�
�Alright,� my Dad stood up. �Leave him alone. Dennis, you and me, and who over else wants to, let�s go take care of Joby. Petri, you go take a nap or something. I think you�ve had enough for one day.�
I nodded and slid to the edge to stand up. I didn�t say anything as I left the room and wandered down to my room. I collapsed onto my bed and sighed. How could I ex-plain to them that I just couldn�t kill Bronze Seid�? It wasn�t like he was a friend, but we had some sort of understanding. They would never understand it, unless they had been in some of the situations I�ve been in with him. More then once, both of us could have killed the other, but we didn�t.
I heard them leave, I think they all did. Then I finally fell asleep.