January
14, 2004
“What you doing big
brother?”
“I’m practicing.”
“You practice a
lot.”
“I have to, so I’m
good Kenni.”
“So we stay safe?”
Timmy nodded as he put his weapon down and picked up his sister. He carried her
to his bed, and sat down with her.
“It took me a long
time to learn that were safe here, nothing’s ever going to bother us here.”
“But why you go?”
“”I like to train,
makes me feel good, and lets me feel free Kenni, reminds me of when Papa was a
live, how he use to take me out and let me through the spear at what ever animal
that we were going to have that night for dinner.”
“You like that.”
Timmy nodded.
“Big Brother tell me about Papa and the Rose again.” The eight year old
winced at that comment, as he thought about it.
“You really want to
hear about that? Don’t you want to hear about anything else?”
“Nope I want that”
“Alright I’ll tell
you,” Timmy said scooting back against the wall, and pulled his little sister
nearer to him. Then began.
“The Rose wasn’t a
flower it was the name of the house that he and our other Mamma gave it before
me, you and Tobi were born.” He told her.
“They called it that
cause there was bushes and bushes of roses right?”
Timmy nodded.
“Papa would bring
one to Mamma everyday after he had gone hunting whether or not he had killed
anything, he always said that like the rose bud, tomorrow would bloom.” He told
her. Looking to see that she was still at the moment, and was just listening, That’s when he noticed the tears.
“Big Brother I
miss/” He understood,
“SO do I Kenya, so
do I”
“Why they died?”
“Because
of those humans that tried to take us before we came here.”
“They get us no
more?”
“No they can’t were
Mamma’s now, and they can’t take us for nothing.”
“I glad Big
Brother.” The three year old said as she snuggled up against her older brother
for a well needed sleep. As she did so,
Timmy half her tight and just let her rest. It had been awhile since the two
had talked like this. Funny this little girl only three years old understood
him better than anyone else in the world. It was so hard to believe that so
much had happened in such a short period of time. And he was being determined
to be ready for anything.