16. (Flashback #1)

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"Kevin, slow down!" Ricardo demanded of his older brother. "What's the rush?!"

"Just follow me!" Kevin encouraged, a broad smile plastered on his face as Ricardo fell behind. The chill of Hillbury Wisconsin that day wasn't helping the situation any and Ricardo desperately wanted to go home.

"Why are we in the woods?" Ricardo asked, dragging his feet along the ground covered in dead, crunchy leaves that had long fallen from their respective trees in the crisp autumn air.

"Because, like I've already told you, I want to show you something!" Came Kevin's nonchalant reply.

"I find it hard to believe that anything is worth this much trouble to get to," Ricardo spat.

"Aw, don't be a cry baby," Kevin mused.

Ricardo rolled his eyes. "I'm not a baby."

Kevin loved to pull that card with Ricardo. It was how he got his little brother to take risks, and Ricardo being in ninth grade while Kevin was in eleventh, Ricardo always felt that he had something to prove to his brother. Kevin was his biggest influencer after all, and he wanted to impress him when he could.

However, today was not a good day. Kevin had egged Ricardo to go on this trip through the woods right after school, and Ricardo had absolutely no idea what he was even getting into. Moreover, all he had was a thin sweater to keep warm which wasn't doing much good, and lastly he was just flat out tired.

"We've been walking for twenty-seven minutes exactly," Ricardo continued complaining, taking a look at his phone to verify the time.

He'd never actually considered how deep the woods near the edge of town went before.

"Shut u-u-u-u-p," Kevin responded in a sing-song voice. Kevin was actually a decent singer... Add that to the seemingly endless list of things Kevin was good at.

"Kevin—"

"Look dude, we're here!" Kevin interrupted.

Looking ahead Ricardo could see some type of structure... Like a miniature house.

"A shack?" He raised a brow.

"Precisely, little bro," Kevin said.

Ricardo admitted to himself that his curiosity had peaked, but he definitely didn't think that it was worth the long walk just to come see some silly shack in the woods.

As they approached, Kevin's smile grew wider.

"Okay, so what's so great about this?" Ricardo asked.

"I just wanted you to see it," Kevin replied.

"What, does it lead to Narnia or something?"

"If only it were that significant," Kevin chuckled. "I found it out here one day when I was with Luke."

"Luke?" Ricardo said, reaching out to touch the outer wall of the structure when they were finally up close.

"Yeah, the other day he and I were hanging out."

"Oh."

"What's wrong?" Kevin asked.

"Nothing," came Ricardo's reply, even though it was quite obvious that there was something on his mind.

Kevin sighed and walked over to Ricardo, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, talk to me."

"It's nothing really," Ricardo said, "I mean, it's not important."

"Not that you were hiding it well anyway, but nonetheless I know when something is bothering you, so just spill it," Kevin said matter-of-factly.

Ricardo shrugged Kevin's hand off of his shoulder. "I don't know, I just kinda feel like you enjoy Luke's company more than mine."

"Why would you ever think that?" Kevin asked, a bamboozled look coming over his facial features.

"Well, you guys are hanging out more now. You have more in common. Your friends like him more than me... It's like he's your brother and I'm... I don't know."

Kevin's features softened and he looked Ricardo right in the face.

"Listen," he started. "You are my brother. Nothing's ever going to change that. Granted, Luke and I have been spending more time together, and I'm sorry if you feel that I've been neglecting you. But Luke's my little homie too. We were just taking a stroll through the woods and he was venting to me. Same as you do."

"I guess," Ricardo shrugged.

Kevin chuckled. "No need to be jealous," he then proceeded to ruffle Ricardo's hair.

"I'm not jealous," Ricardo replied defensively, smacking Kevin's hand away.

"Is that so?" Kevin raised an eyebrow.

"It is, as a matter of fact," Ricardo retorted. "I was just telling you that so you wouldn't forget about the actual brother you have. I have to talk to someone around here or else I'll lose my mind so I have to settle for you."

"Settling is what you do, huh?"

"I've gotta take what I can get."

"You wouldn't know what to do without me around," Kevin playfully shoved Ricardo.

"Whatever, dickhead."

"Hey," Kevin with a faux scolding tone. "Don't use words like that."

"Okay, dickhead," Ricardo retorted. "Let's take a look at your trash shack."

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